Infallibility
Mary Ann Collins (A Former Catholic Nun)
February 2002
According to Roman Catholic doctrine, popes
and Catholic church councils are infallible. This means that whenever they make
official declarations concerning matters of faith or morals, God supernaturally
protects them from making errors. Infallibility applies to all Roman Catholic
popes and church councils: past, present, and future. [Note 1] "Webster's
Dictionary" defines "infallible" as "not capable of
erring". It says that "infallible" as used by the Roman Catholic
Church means "incapable of error in defining doctrines touching faith or
morals".
What happens if a pope
or a Catholic church council makes an "infallible" declaration which
directly contradicts the "infallible" declaration of another pope or
church council?
Truth does not
contradict truth. Therefore, if the "infallible" pronouncements of
the popes and Catholic church councils really are infallible, they will never
contradict other "infallible" pronouncements. So if there is even one
contradiction, then the doctrine of infallibility cannot be correct.
The claim for papal
infallibility does not stand up to the test of history. Pope Zosimus (417-418
A.D.) reversed the pronouncement of a previous pope. He also retracted a
doctrinal pronouncement that he himself had previously made. Pope Honorious was
condemned as a heretic by the Sixth Ecumenical Council (680-681 A.D.). (This
means that Honorious made doctrinal statements which are contrary to the Roman
Catholic faith.) He was also condemned as a heretic by Pope Leo II, as well as
by every other pope until the eleventh century. So here we have "infallible"
popes condemning another "infallible" pope as a heretic. In 1870, the
First Vatican Council abolished "infallible" papal decrees and the
decrees of two "infallible" councils. [Note 2]
The doctrine of the
Assumption of Mary was officially declared to be a dogma of the Roman Catholic
faith on November 1, 1950. This means that every Roman Catholic is required to
believe this doctrine without questioning it. However, as we will see, the
teaching of the Assumption of Mary originated with heretical writings which were
officially condemned by the early Church.
In 495 A.D., Pope
Gelasius issued a decree which rejected this teaching as heresy and its
proponents as heretics. In the sixth century, Pope Hormisdas also condemned as
heretics those authors who taught the doctrine of the Assumption of Mary. Here
we have "infallible" popes declaring a doctrine to be a heresy. Then
on November 1, 1950, we have Pope Pius XII (another "infallible"
pope) declaring the same doctrine to be official Roman Catholic doctrine, which
all Catholics are required to believe. [Note 3]
So before November 1,
1950, any Catholic who believed in the Assumption of Mary was a heretic
(because of "infallible" declarations of popes). But after November
1, 1950, any Catholic who failed to believe in the Assumption of Mary was a
heretic (because of the "infallible" declaration of Pope Pius XII).
In 1864, Pope Pius IX
"infallibly" declared that the idea that people have a right to
freedom of conscience and freedom of worship is "insanity,"
"evil," "depraved," and "reprobate". He also
declared that non-Catholics who live in Catholic countries should not be
allowed to publicly practice their religion. In 1888, Pope Leo XIII
"infallibly" declared that freedom of thought and freedom of worship
are wrong. These encyclicals are available on-line. [Note 4 gives addresses for
them.]
The Second Vatican
Council (1962-1965) produced a document entitled "Declaration on Religious
Liberty" which states that all people have a right to freedom of religion.
[Note 5]
Now I certainly agree
with the idea of freedom of religion. However, it totally contradicts the
"infallible" declarations of Popes Pius IX and Leo XIII. It also
contradicts the anathemas of the Council of Trent, the killing of
"heretics," the Inquisition, the burning of people who translated the
Bible into the language of the common people, and the persecution of
Protestants.
Freedom of religion
also contradicts modern Canon Law (1988). Canon 1366 says that parents are to
be punished with "a just penalty" if they allow their children to
"be baptized or educated in a non-Catholic religion". The reference
to baptism shows that this refers to Christian religions which are not Roman
Catholic. [Note 6] (During the Inquisition, "a just penalty" included
things like torture and being burned at the stake. The Inquisition was based on
Canon Law.) (See the article "Hunting 'Heretics'".)
Here the Catholic
Church is on the horns of a dilemma. If it says that people have a right to
freedom of religion, then it admits that it is not infallible. If it says that
it is infallible, then it admits that it really does not believe that people
have a right to freedom of religion.
The Catholic Church
can claim infallibility, or it can claim that it has seen the error of its ways
and it now supports freedom of religion. But it can't have it both ways.
Two Roman Catholic
organizations have found contradictions between "infallible"
doctrinal declarations of the Second Vatican Council and "infallible"
doctrinal pronouncements of Pope Pius IX. [Note 7 gives addresses of on-line
articles dealing with these contradictions.]
The conservative group
(True Catholic) concludes that, therefore, the Second Vatican Council must not
be legitimate. The liberal group (Women Priests) concludes that, therefore, Pope
Pius IX taught "errors". Either way, there are contradictions between
official doctrinal declarations of an "infallible" pope and an
"infallible" church council.
True Catholic also
claims that Pope John Paul II has taught 101 things which are contrary to
"infallible" Catholic doctrines which were declared by
"infallible" popes and church councils. They conclude that John Paul
is therefore a heretic, which, according to Canon Law, means that he is not a
valid pope. So they call him an anti-pope. [Note 8 gives the address of an
on-line article.]
If John Paul II is not
a valid pope, then the papal chair has been vacant. In order to rectify this
situation, True Catholic has elected a pope. On May 20, 1998, Pope Pius XIII
was elected. [Note 9 gives the address of an on-line article.]
So we now have two men who claim to be Pope:
John Paul II and Pius XIII. It seems that having two popes at the same time is
not confined to the Middle Ages.
SUMMARY
There are
"infallible" doctrinal declarations which contradict one another.
Therefore, the doctrine of infallibility is not valid.
The contradiction of "infallible"
doctrines has caused some very conservative Catholics to believe that John Paul
II is not a valid pope, and the Second Vatican Council was not a valid council.
It has also caused some very liberal Catholics to believe that Pope Pius IX
taught doctrinal errors.
USE OF THIS ARTICLE
I encourage you to link to this article. You
have permission to quote from this article, as long as you do it fairly and
accurately. You have permission to make copies of this article for friends and
for use in classes.
NOTES
1. "Catechism of
the Catholic Church" (Washington, DC: U.S. Catholic Conference, 2000),
paragraph 891. This book comes in numerous editions and languages. Because it
has numbered paragraphs, statements can be accurately located in spite of the
variety of editions.
The "Catechism" is available
on-line. It does searches by topic or by paragraph number.
2. William Webster,
"The Church of Rome at the Bar of History" (Carlisle, Pennsylvania:
The Banner of Truth Trust, 1995), pages 63-71.
3. William Webster,
"The Church of Rome at the Bar of History," pages 81-85.
4. Pope Pius IX, "Quanta Cura"
("Condemning Current Errors"), December 8, 1864. The
"error" is given in Section 3, second paragraph. (Most numbered
sections consist of only one paragraph. This section has two paragraphs.) The
condemnation of all of the "errors" described in the encyclical is
given in paragraph 6. This encyclical is available on-line.
Pope Pius IX, "The Syllabus of
Errors," December 8, 1864, paragraphs 15, 77, and 78. The "Syllabus
of Errors" accompanied the encyclical "Quanta Cura". In reading
it, remember that Pius condemned every statement that you are reading. This
encyclical is available on-line.
Pope Leo XIII,"Libertas
Praestantissimum" ("On the Nature of Human Liberty"), June 20,
1888, paragraph 42. This encyclical is available on-line.
5. "Dignitatis
Humanae" ("Declaration on Religious Liberty") in Austin Flannery
(editor), "Vatican Council II, The Conciliar and Post Conciliar
Documents," New Revised Edition, Volume 1 (Northport, New York: Costello
Publishing Company, 1975, 1996), pages 799-812.
6. Canon 1366,
"Code of Canon Law," Latin English edition, New English Translation.
(Washington, DC: Canon Law Society of America, 1988), page 427. Canon Laws
provide the legal basis for everything that the Roman Catholic Church
officially does. Even the Inquisition and the persecution of Protestants were
supported by Canon Law.
7. "The Errors of Pope Pius IX".
This article gives extensive quotations, with references to Pope Pius IX's
encyclicals and documents from the Second Vatican Council. It is on-line.
"Summary of the Principal Errors of
Vatican II Ecclesiology." This article is on-line.
Lucian Pulvermacher, "Vatican II Council
-- Accepts Freedom of Religion, Teaches Heresy" in "Caritas
Newsletter," August 19, 1989. This article is on the Internet.
8. Patrick John Pollock, "101 Heresies of
Anti-Pope John Paul II." Internet article.
9. Lucian Pulvermacher, "Papal
Election," "Caritas Election News #1". Internet article.
Copyright 2002 by Mary Ann Collins. All rights
reserved.
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