An Apologetics Course… Papal Infallibility: Objections Answered
By RAYMOND DE SOUZA, KM
Part 49
As often happened when Jesus was teaching the people in Judea, He faced objections to what He taught them from the Scribes, Sadducees, and Pharisees. The same happens to His Mystical Body, the Church, His Bride. In this article and in the next few ones we shall consider the objections raised against papal infallibility, and answer them.
Objection: I have read some arguments given by Popes to justify their teaching that seemed totally childish to me. Why should something like that be infallible?
Reply: The authority of the Pope’s teaching is not based on his argumentation. He may or may not use the best arguments, and we may or may not have the education to appreciate his reasons. But even if his exposition is faultless, arguments are always convincing to some and obscure to others. We are not bound to accept the arguments as such, but only the conclusions and doctrines proposed for belief. If he teaches according to the four conditions defined by Vatican I, his teaching will be infallible.
We must bear in mind that the Pope also teaches the Church with infallibility when he confirms previously defined teaching. In this sense, the ordinary Magisterium is endowed with infallibility. For instance, Paul VI’s teaching of Humanae Vitae confirms previous teaching on morals and John Paul II’s teaching on Ordinatio Sacerdotalis confirms previous teaching on faith. Both teachings of the ordinary Magisterium involve infallibility.
Objection: What about bad Popes? Bad political decisions? How can you justify the way that Vatican abandoned the Catholics in the Iron Curtain for the sake of diplomacy with the Kremlin?
Reply: We don’t. Papal infallibility, like that of the Church, extends only to faith and morals, but not to government.
“These examples of human weakness are rare on the chair of St. Peter; but history records them, and the Church’s children have no reason to cover them up, since they know that He who has assured the Roman Pontiffs of infallibility in teaching of the faith, has not at all protected them from every defect in the exercise of the supreme government” (Institutions Liturgiques, Dom Prosper Guéranger, OSB [1805-1875], volume 3).
As to bad Popes, the Pope himself may give bad example and even scandal to the Church. He may compromise with her enemies and mislead the faithful. We have had such Popes in the past, and may have them in the future. The first “bad Pope” was St. Peter himself. The Bible records how he compromised with the Judiazer Christians who were insisting upon Jewish practices, and was rightly rebuked by St. Paul (Gal. 2:11-16; cf. Acts 10:9-11:18).
However, the number of bad Popes is surprisingly low.
Francis is the 266th Pope; of all the Popes up to and including him, more than 80 are canonized saints and only about six were bad Popes who led immoral lives, so that Dr. Leslie Rumble observes, “The proportion of Popes who have been really unworthy of their office works out at about one in forty, whereas the proportion of failures among the apostles chosen by Christ Himself was one in twelve” (Fr. Leslie Rumble, MSC, Questions People Ask About the Catholic Church, Chevalier Books, Sydney: 1972).
In fact, of the twelve apostles personally chosen by Christ, one betrayed Him and committed suicide, another (the first Pope, Peter) denied Him publicly three times, and the rest ran away like chickens when the going got tough. That proves to you that from the very beginning the Holy Spirit protects the Church, because in spite of all of this, the Church received the same Holy Spirit on Pentecost, and has produced millions of saints the world over. Without Pentecost, the apostles would have remained in hiding.
Objection: I heard that the Church has changed her teaching, admitting that a previous declaration of doctrine supposed to be infallible was mistaken. That proves that infallibility is not true.
Reply: You heard it wrong. It has never happened. The Church has never changed an infallible teaching. She may have revised a teaching of the ordinary Magisterium in order to make it more explicit, clearer for the understanding of the faithful, but never by way of correcting a mistake.
Objection: What about the “fish on Fridays” law that was changed, and so many other practices? Does it not show that the previous teaching was wrong?
Reply: You do not understand Church laws. What you call “fish on Fridays” and many other similar practices are not articles of faith or morals. They are called “disciplines” in the Church; they are man-made and can be changed by men. Infallibility refers to divine Revelation, God-made, and cannot be changed by men, not even the Pope.
I can give you more examples of disciplines that have been changed: The holy days of obligation outside of Sundays; the length of the fast required before Holy Communion; the liturgical laws regarding the sacraments and rituals in general; Communion for the laity under one or both kinds; the age fixed for Confirmation and First Holy Communion, and many more.
These are not doctrines of faith or morals, these are practices. In short, we believe the teachings of the Church; we obey the laws of the Church.
The change in the discipline may not be for the better, and sometimes faithful Catholics disagree with the change because it does not improve reverence in devotion (Communion in the hand, removal of altar rails, abolition of Latin and of Gregorian Chant, introduction of secular music in Mass). The faithful are entitled to manifest their disagreement in a respectful manner and request a proper change in the practice.
Pope Benedict XVI wisely heeded the request of millions of Catholics and granted permission to any priest who wants to celebrate Mass in the previous Traditional Rite to do so, without having to request permission from his ordinary.
Objection: So many times in history we have seen Popes making imprudent decisions, which caused scandal to the faithful. How do you justify that?
Reply: We don’t. We’ve said it before, and say it again: The gift of infallibility does not apply to Church policies in any area whatsoever. It applies only to teachings on faith and/or morals under the four conditions defined by Vatican I.
Even if every single decision of a given Pope in any area outside of faith and morals were always wrong or imprudent, in no way whatsoever would it affect the gift of infallibility. Period.
Next article: Answering more objections.
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(Raymond de Souza is an EWTN program host; regional coordinator for Portuguese-speaking countries for Human Life International [HLI]; president of the Sacred Heart Institute, and a member of the Sovereign, Military, and Hospitaller Order of the Knights of Malta. His website is: www.RaymonddeSouza.com.)
