Vatican Council I in 1870 formally defined the infallibility of the Pope, although the Church has firmly trusted in that fact since the beginning:
“‘Faithful to the tradition passed on since the beginning of Christian faith, We declare and define as dogma of faith of Divine Revelation that, when speaking “ex-cathedra”, i.e. when performing His munus of Shepherd and Doctor of all Christians, the Roman Pontiff defines, with his supreme Apostolic authority, the doctrine on faith and morals in which the Universal Church must believe, because due to Divine Assistance promised to Him in the person of the blessed Peter, the Pope has received the infallibility that the Divine Redeemer granted to His Church, that enables the Roman Pontiff to define articles of faith and morals concerning the doctrine; and that therefore the definitions of the Supreme Roman Pontiff are irrevocable in themselves and not due to the consensus of the Church” (De Ecclesia Christi, Chapter IV).
Vatican Council II, almost a hundred years later. Re-affirmed that same dogma, by declaring that:
“And this is the infallibility which the Roman Pontiff, the head of the college of bishops, enjoys in virtue of his office, when, as the supreme shepherd and teacher of all the faithful, who confirms his brethren in their faith, by a definitive act he proclaims a doctrine of faith or morals. And therefore his definitions, of themselves, and not from the consent of the Church, are justly styled irreformable, since they are pronounced with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, promised to him in blessed Peter, and therefore they need no approval of others, nor do they allow an appeal to any other judgment. For then the Roman Pontiff is not pronouncing judgment as a private person, but as the supreme teacher of the universal Church, in whom the charisma of infallibility of the Church itself is individually present, he is expounding or defending a doctrine of Catholic faith” (Lumen Gentium # 25).
It is important to have in mind that no Papal definition is made on a hasty decision: it takes many years of study, analysis and prayer. Papal definitions are the outcome of a very slow process, during which a piece of truth inside the depositary of Revelation becomes gradually “visible” to the hierarchy of the Church and to God’s people. Papal definitions are just explicit proclamations of a truth that had not yet been clearly realized or defined before but that have belonged to the Depositary of Faith since the beginning of times.
Sometimes the Ministry of the Church proclaims an article of faith due to new heresies that contradict some piece of truth generally accepted by the Church since the beginning, which that had not been explicitly worded before. Therefore, definitions “ex-cathedra” proclaimed by the Pope are rare. The common Ministry of the Church is responsibility of the Bishops, when they teach the people in communion with the Pope: that is the normal way the Church uses to teach God’s people. In order to belong to the Depositary of Faith, a piece of truth does not necessarily have to be formally defined by Peter’s Successor: an article of truth is something that has always been generally accepted and followed by Christians since the beginning of the Church. It is a millennial piece of wisdom that belongs to the Tradition of the Church and it is not always formally expressed in documents, but generally adopted by God’s People. Saint Vincent of Lerins (died on 450 A.D.), affirmed that:
“Articles of faith believed by everybody everywhere are truly Catholic per se” (Communitorium).
Papal definitions must meet three pre-requisites to be considered a dogma, i.e. “an infallible decision”:
- The Pope must speak “ex-cathedra”, i.e. “in a decisive final way”, in the quality of Shepherd and Doctor of all Christians, and not only in private individual character. The Supreme Pontiff is not obliged to listen to any Council or anyone, though he can do it and actually does it most of the times.
- The Pope must define exclusively articles of faith and morals, i.e. it must be a matter of Christian behavior or faith.
- The Supreme Pontiff must be willing to proclaim a definite irrevocable immutable sentence about the matter.
Professor Felipe Aquino
Professor Felipe Aquino is a widower, father of five children. On TV Canção Nova he presents the program “Escola da Fé” [School of faith] and “Pergunte e Responderemos” [Ask and respond], on Radio he presents the program “in the heart of the Church”. On weekends he preaches deepening meetings throughout Brazil and abroad. He wrote 73 books of Catholic background by publishers, Loyola and Cleopas and Canção Nova. His teacher’s page:www.cleofas.com.br Twitter: @pfelipeaquino