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By Fr Dylan James, 24/8/08
µInfallibility¶ is the term that is used to describe the fact that the Catholic Church teaches the
truth and the way that it teaches the truth. Without it we cannot know the truth with certainty.

     

Jesus Christ declared Himself to be ³the way the truth and the life´ (Jn 14:6)
He came to teach the truth. Christ willed that the truth be known by all peoples and so
He appointed His apostles to go out and teach the truth:
"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make
disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and
of the Holy spirit,   them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I
am with you always, to the close of the age" (Mt 28:18-20).
The r
points out that the Church¶s mission is the same as the mission of Christ
and was founded by Christ for this very purpose:
"The Church's mission is not an addition to that of Christ and the Holy Spirit, but is its
sacrament" (r


r
 r  n. 738).
This teaching mission was entrusted in a particular way to the 12 Apostles who Christ
singled out for this role , and these Apostles appointed the bishops to continue this role.
The Church thus has a structure that was given to it by Christ:
"The Lord Jesus endowed his community with a structure that will remain until the
Kingdom is fully achieved. Before all else there is the choice of the Twelve with
Peter as their head" (r
 n. 765).

          
 

Christ not only commanded His Apostles to teach the truth but He promise d that when
they taught they would teach faithfully:
³He that hears you hears me; and he that rejects you rejects me (Lk 10:16).
By the gift of the Holy Spirit the Apostles were promised to know the 
 truth:
³When the Spirit of truth comes he will lead you to the complete truth´ (Jn 16:13).
The Apostles thus teach accurately not by their own ability or wisdom but by the Holy
Spirit. This was the same with the first pope, St Peter, who recognised Jesus as the
Christ only by the power of God:
"Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to
you, but my Father who is in heaven´ (Mt 16:17).

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The teaching authority in the Church was given to us by Christ in order that we might
have a focus for unity when divisions come. Christ knew that divisions would come (e.g.
Mt 24:24).
Pope Clement in 96AD wrote:
³Our Apostles knew, through our Lord Jesus Christ, that there would be
dissensions over the title of bishop. In their full knowledge of this, therefore, they
proceeded to appoint the ministers I spoke of , and they went on to add an
instruction that if these would die, other accredited persons should succeed them
in their office´ (r 
  n. 44).
When divisions come we should listen to those who hold _
_ authority. It is the pope,
as the successor of St Peter who possesses the fullness of Christ¶s teaching authority. It
was St Peter who was appointed as the visible head of Christ¶s Church:
³And I tell you, you are Peter [µRock¶], and on this rock I will build my church, and
the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the
kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven,
and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven´ (Mt 16:18 -19).
 The bishops as individuals do ‘
 all possess the full charism of infallibility. They
possess it if they speak in union with the p ope and in as much as they speak in union
with the pope:
³the bishops, taken individually, do not enjoy the privilege of infallibility, they do,
however, proclaim infallibly the doctrine of Christ on the following conditions:
namely, when, even though dispersed throughout the world but preserving for all
that amongst themselves and with Peter's Successor the bond of communion, in
their authoritative teachings concerning matters of faith and morals, they are in
agreement that a particular teaching is to be he ld definitively and absolutely ´
(r
 n.25).

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Literally, the dictionary definition of infallible is: "incapability of error or deception".
This means that when the Church teaches authoritatively it is not capable of error, i.e. it
is protected by Christ from teaching error.
Similarly the Bible is called µinerrant¶, free from error.
However, neither the writers of the Bible nor the popes are free from sin. The promise of
Christ concerns their role of teaching and is restricted to their role of teaching -it does not
concern their personal lives.
Note also: being free from error does not necessarily guarantee that the p ope will be
courageous in his teaching and it does not even guarantee that he will teach beautifully ±
but it does guarantee that he will teach free from error. Thi s means that we can listen to
the pope with confidence and believe what he teaches.

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The pope¶s infallibility relates only to those act s by which he is acts Ê
_
_. i.e. there
are certain conditions that must hold for his teaching to be infallible.
Vatican I and II taught that there are four conditions for a papal teaching to be infallible:
The pope must be speaking "ex cathedra" ("that is, when in the discharge of h is office as
shepherd and teacher of all Christians, and by virtue of his supreme apostolic
authority«."); he must be à
 something (in ³a definitive act´); it must concern ³faith
or morals´; and he must be teaching something that "must be held by the whole Church".
i.e. a µdefinitive¶ act is not just a casual comment or even a usual Sunday sermon.
The bishops met in union with the pope in Council, or in a Council authorised by the
pope, teach infallibly when they define doctrine under the same conditions. The bishops
and pope also teach infallibly outside of a Council when they re-iterate what the Church
has always taught.
Bishops or church leaders who have separated themselves from the authority of th e pope
lack the authority that would otherwise give them infallibility. They thus do not have this
guarantee of truth. It is thus unsurprising that the Protestant ecclesial communities that
have separated themselves from Rome divide again and again o ver doctrine. Present
divisions in the Anglican Communion over homosexuality and women bishops are a
tragic example of this.

   
It matters to us that the Church teaches infallibly because if the Church is not infallible
then there is no secure means by which we can know the truth. If we cannot know the
truth then we cannot know Christ.
If the Church is not infallible then Christ¶s mission to teach the truth was only successful
for His own generation. Conversely, because the Church  infallible then the truth of
Christ can be known in every age by all those who choose to recognise the authority of
the Vicar of Christ, the pope, the successor of St Peter and Christ¶s voice on earth.