By RAYMOND DE SOUZA, KM
Part 47
The first fundamental thing to understand about papal infallibility is this: The Pope is not, has never been, and will never be infallible in everything he says or does or thinks or writes or whatever. Above all, infallibility has absolutely nothing to do with impeccability — Jesus and Mary were the only people who did not sin, never, not even once. No. They were impeccable, which, literally speaking, means sinless.
Now, this is demonstrably not the case with the Popes. The Church has had good Popes and bad Popes; saintly Popes and sinful Popes; intelligent Popes and mediocre Popes.
Infallibility does not mean that on a Sunday morning the Pope wakes up in a creative mood after a late night of pepperoni pizza and red wine and decides to invent a dogma or two for us benighted lay folks to believe. No, there is nothing of the sort. The biblical and apostolic foundations of infallibility are well defined. Even though the belief has been constant in the Church since its beginning, the dogma obtained its definition, in precise terms, to avoid confusion and misinterpretation, during Vatican Council I, in 1870.
In plain English, papal infallibility means that the Pope is infallible when he speaks ex cathedra, which literally means from the chair. “The Chair of Peter” of the early Church is the continuation in the New Testament of the throne of the chief steward of the kingdom of David in the Old Testament. We have seen this topic in detail in a previous article, but to summarize it here will be useful.
In the Davidic kingdom, just as in most if not all kingdoms of the past and present, the dynastic ruler, the king, did not exercise all ministries by himself, for the simple reason that it would be impossible to see to all the needs of the country by himself. Even the absolute kings of the Renaissance had ministers who oversaw the performance of the officers and reported to the king. So the king appointed a minister of finance, of trade, of education, of agriculture, and of defense.
Then, over and above those ministers, the king would appoint a man of his confidence to oversee the performance of the ministers themselves. Such a trusted chosen one was called the prime minister, or the chancellor (St. Thomas More was the chancellor of England for a while). In Islamic countries he was called the grand vizier, who oversaw the viziers of the caliph or king.
Today we have in England, Australia, and New Zealand a prime minister who leads the government on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II (God Save the Queen — and bring her to the Catholic Church! But I digress). Joseph of Egypt fulfilled the same role: He governed on behalf of the pharaoh but did not sit on the throne.
In the kingdom of David it was the same. The top man was called the chief steward. We read in chapter 22 of the Book of Isaias about a chief steward who misbehaved and God told the prophet to fire him, so to speak. But the important point here is that God gave his throne away to his successor — because the chief steward of David’s kingdom had a throne as well as a chair, a cathedra, the symbol of his authority.
This tradition passed on to the New Testament, as we see in the very beginning of chapter 23 of St. Matthew’s Gospel: Jesus Himself acknowledges the authority of the Pharisees and tells the disciples to obey them — because they sat on Moses’ chair. . . .
The chair of Moses was the symbol of authority in the New Testament. So St. Peter, in his capacity as the chief steward of the new Kingdom, personally chosen by Christ, also adopted the same symbol of the chair.
Therefore, from the very beginning of the Church this tradition comes to us: When Peter — or his Successor — on the throne of the chief steward of the new Kingdom preaches from the chair, it is infallible teaching, guaranteed by Jesus’ prayer that his faith would not fail (Luke 22:31-32).
OK. Now, when does he speak from the chair? Can he speak standing, or must he be seated? And which chair must be used? Surely the chair of Peter used in the Acts of the Apostles is no longer around. . . . It is not a physical chair, of course not! It is an attitude, a set of circumstances that characterizes an infallible teaching. They are:
The Pope speaks as the pastor and teacher of all Christians;
He uses his supreme apostolic authority;
He defines a teaching to be observed by the whole Church;
He is speaks on matters of faith and/or morals.
Before going any further, let us chew this up a bit in order to better digest and absorb its nutrition. First of all, if the Pope speaks from his window in St. Peter’s, or at a conference in the United Nations, or at a sermon in St. Mary Major Basilica, or in a media interview, or just chatting on an airplane trip, he is addressing the people in front of him — so it is never infallible.
He must be addressing all Christians the world over at the same time! He is their universal pastor and teacher, and the gift of infallibility promised by Jesus applies only and exclusively when he speaks (or writes) to the whole of the Catholic Church in one single address. This is the first condition.
The second condition is that he speaks with authority, with the supreme authority given to him by Christ. In plain English, his opinions, preferences, personal choices, off-the-cuff comments are never protected by the gift of infallibility. He may be wrong in saying something under these circumstances. He must speak up as the chief steward of the new Kingdom of David, whose throne Jesus inherited (Luke 1:32).
The third condition is very specific: He must indicate the clear will to define something, a teaching, like the Immaculate Conception or the Assumption.
The fourth and last condition is that it must be a matter directly relevant to salvation — that is, faith and/or morals. So, his views, however strongly he may manifest them, on economic matters, politics, art, sport, the environment, and music are never infallible, either.
As we can see, the gift is rarely used, only to solve specific urgent or unavoidable or highly beneficial for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
Next article: Delving into the magnificent teaching of papal infallibility.
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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.)
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