Home | The folly of the belief in Papal Infallibility

There are things of which we can certain, such as two plus two equals four. A person who subscribes to certain things is infallible or incapable of being in error in that sense. But there are things that we cannot be so sure. We cannot be sure of everything that we perceive by our senses for they are often deceiving. As we go to the higher realms of knowledge, infallibility becomes even more remote. This is even more so as we go to the realms of faith and morals where society recognizes relativity as the rule rather than the exception, as we can see in the multiplicity of faiths and morals among peoples of the earth.

There is a human being, however, who claimed infallibility in matters of faith and morals in 1870, a claim that he made for himself, his predecessors, and successors. This is a claim he and his successors are surprisingly reluctant to put into practice in spite of the benefits that should accrue to the church he heads. This human being is Pope Pius IX of the Roman Catholic Church. On this claim we shall focus this study.

Papal Infallibility defined

Vatican I defined Papal Infallibility as follows:

“The Roman Pontiff, when he speaks ex cathedra, that is, when in the exercise of his office as the pastor and teacher of all Christians, he defines by virtue of his supreme apostolic authority the doctrine concerning faith and morals to be held by the universal Church, is, by the divine assistance promised to him in the person of St. Peter, possessed of that infallibility where with the divine Redeemer wished His Church should be endowed in defining doctrine concerning faith and morals; and that for this cause such definitions of the Roman Pontiff are irreformable of themselves and not because of the consent of the church.”

(Vicars of Christ, p. 250)

This claim of infallibility by Pope Pius IX, who convoked Vatican I after he was dispossessed of the Papal States by the newly unified kingdom of Italy, is in operation only when he speaks ex cathedra and not when he expresses private opinion or interpretation, or even when he makes public pronouncements or decrees. Thus, he claims to be infallible when he does not speak ex cathedra and infallible only when he does.

The record of papal infallibility

History is so full of instances in which the Pope is seen to have erred. This is explained by the escape clause in the doctrine of Papal Infallibility—that he does not speak ex cathedra. But what a litany of errors for the head of Catholicism! Some Popes certainly did not exercise infallibility; Pope Stephen put to trial for heresy the rotting cadaver of Pope Formosus; Pope Paul V declared the Copernican theory to be false, heretical, and contrary to the word of God; Pope Urban VIII condemned Galileo for his scientific discoveries (Everything You Always Wanted to Know about the Catholic Church But Were Afraid to Ask for Fear of Excommunication, pp. 17-22, 27-28)

The book Vicars of Christ, written by Peter de Rosa, a former Catholic priest who graduated from the Gregorian University in Rome, reveals a litany of instances of papal infallibility from the earliest Popes to the present.

In spite of the benefits that should accrue to the Catholic Church from infallible or ex cathedra papal pronouncements on faith and morals, the Popes—from Pope Pius IX to the present Pope—have been very niggardly with such pronouncements. In fact, there are only three pronouncements considered to be ex cathedra, namely, the Immaculate Conception  of Mary (pronounced by Pope Pius IX in 1854), the Assumption of Mary (as pronounced by Pope Pius XII in 1950) (Everything You Always Wanted to Know about the Catholic Church But Were Afraid to Ask for Fear of Excommunication, p. 28) and the canonization of saints (Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 7, p.799)

Thus, in contrast to the multitude of pronouncements which the Popes admit to be possibly erroneous since they were not made ex cathedra, the Catholic Church  has only three doctrines to show that it claims to be absolutely free from error, these being made ex cathedra.

The Falsity of ex cathedra papal announcements

A false statement is one that is contrary to the truth. Since we are dealing here with doctrinal truth, we must take the biblical definition of the truth to be the word of God (Jn. 17:7). And if the word of God, the gospel, is the truth (Mk. 16:5-6; Gal. 2:5), and if all scriptures is inspired by God (II Tim. 3:16), then we have a standard by which to judge the truth of falsity of the so-called infallible of papal announcements.

Is it true that Mary was conceived without sin and preserved from sin as pronounced ex cathedra by Pope Pius IX? The gospel states that all men sinned except Christ (Rom. 3:23; I Pet. 2:21-22. Thus, there was no other human being who did not sin aside from the Lord Jesus Christ. Mary acknowledged God to be her savior (Lk. 1:47). She would not need a savior if she had no sin! Thus Pope Pius IX lied, erred, ex cathedra!

Is it true that Mary was assumed, body and soul, into heaven as pronounced ex cathedra by Pope Pius XII? Is it true that Mary is, therefore, in heaven?

The Bible records only three men to be in heaven, namely Enoch (Gen. 5:24; Heb. 11:5), Elijah (II Kings 2:11), and Christ (Mk. 16:19). There is no mention of any woman being in heaven. Mary, just like other human beings, suffered the lot of all men (Gen. 3:17-19). She sleep (I Thess. 4:13), waiting for the resurrection at the return of Christ (I Cor. 15:51-53). Therefore, it is not true that Mary, the mother of Christ, is already in heaven. Thus, Pope Pius XII lied, erred ex cathedra!

Is it true that the Popes do not err in the making of saints? A saint, declared to be so by the Pope, is supposed holy man, allegedly already in heaven with God and worthy of veneration.

Such claims is false for the same reasons that it is false to claim that Mary is already in heaven. Besides, there were about 200 saints—among them St. Christopher, St. Valentine, St. Nicholas (or Sta. Claus), St. George, and St. Patrick—who were stricken from the list of saints (Time Magazine, Asia Edition, May 16, 1969). This means that the Popes who pronounced them saints erred. They lied ex cathedra 200 times!

The folly of believing in Papal Infallibility

Thus, the Popes admit of the possibility of error in their pronouncements made not ex cathedra. And it is shown that even in the three instances alone where they claimed infallibility ex cathedra, they also erred! It would be wrong to follow a leader like that. But the fact is that there are millions of them! They follow this leader who has more errors to show than truths, particularly in matters of doctrine wherein is based man’s salvation. Is this surprising?

The Bible has already foretold of seducing spirits who would come in the latter times teaching lies and doctrines of devils, two of which are forbidding to marry (the law of celibacy) and commanding to abstain from meats which God created to be received with thanksgiving of them who believe and know the truth (I Tim. 4:1-3)

A Catholic priest (of which the Pope is of the highest kind) is bound by the law of celibacy and he and the Catholic faithful are bound by the commandment to abstain from meats during Lent which, according to the Bible, are commandments of devils!

Thus, the truth is not in the Pope nor in his church but in the gospel and the Church of Christ which upholds it in its pristine purity, neither adding to its depository of faiths as written nor subtracting anything from it.

It is an act of supreme folly to follow a leader who claims infallibility , but whose actions have proven otherwise. A blind leader will lead his followers astray. Beware!

References:

De Rosa, Peter. Vicars of Christ: The Dark Side of the Papacy, New York: Crown publishers, Inc. 1988

Williams, Paul L. Everything You Always Wanted to Know about the Catholic Church but Were Afraid to Ask for Fear of Excommunication: New York: Doubleday, 1989

Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 7, p. 799

Time Magazine, Asia Edition, May 16, 1969, p.61

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