Catholic Replies
Editor’s Note: This series on Apologetics is based on the book Catholicism & Reason. Please feel free to use the series for high schoolers or adults. We will continue to welcome your questions for the column as well. You can send them either to the postal mailing address or to the email address below, and we will interrupt this series to answer them.
Special Course On Catholicism And Reason (Chapter 12)
It was important to Jesus that the leader of His Church be able to teach the truth without falling into error. Otherwise, one could never be sure about the teaching of Jesus. So the Pope was given the charism of infallibility, which means that he cannot teach something that is false, provided it has to do with faith and morals. The Pope is not protected from teaching error if he speaks about sports or economics or politics or science. It is only when he speaks on religious or moral matters that he is protected from teaching falsehood.
This charism does not mean that the Pope is sinless — he is a sinner just like the rest of us and goes to Confession frequently. What it does mean is that when the Holy Father, in his official capacity, with the fullness of his authority as the Successor of St. Peter and head of the Church on Earth, proclaims a doctrine or teaching on Catholic beliefs or morals and binds all Catholics to adhere to that teaching, he is preserved from teaching error.
In other words, there are the four conditions that must be present for an infallible statement: (1) the Pope must speak on a matter of faith and morals, (2) he must speak in his official capacity as the Successor of Peter and shepherd of the Church on earth, (3) he must make a solemn and final pronouncement on a doctrine that may have been in dispute up until then, and (4) he must require all Catholics to accept the new teaching or put themselves outside the Church.
Infallible declarations are rare. There have been only three of them in the past 200 years. In 1854, Pope Pius IX proclaimed the Immaculate Conception of Mary, meaning that she was conceived without original sin in the womb of her mother, St. Anne. In 1950, Pope Pius XII defined the Assumption of Mary, which means that at the end of her life she was taken up into Heaven body and soul. In 1994, Pope John Paul II declared that women cannot be ordained as priests.
Is there evidence from the Bible that Jesus gave this authority to the Pope? Yes, there is. For example, when Jesus founded His Church, and made Simon Peter her first leader, He said to Peter, “Whatever you bind on Earth shall be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on Earth shall be loosed in Heaven.” In other words, Jesus was saying to Peter that whatever decisions he, or his Successors, made on Earth, Jesus would back them up in Heaven.
He told Peter that Satan would attempt to turn the apostles away from Jesus, but promised that He would pray for Peter and make him stronger so that Peter in turn could “strengthen your brothers.” And He also told Peter to “feed my lambs” and “feed my sheep” with the healthy food of sound doctrine and not the poison of error. Knowing that Peter would die, Jesus also promised this same authority to those who would succeed Peter when He said, “I am with you always, until the end of the world.” And Jesus said that He would send the Holy Spirit, “the spirit of truth,” to protect Peter against making wrong decisions.
The importance of having an infallible authority to tell us what is true and false cannot be overstated. Other Christians believe in private interpretation of the Bible, where individual persons decide for themselves what is true. The dangers of that approach is obvious today when there are more than 30,000 Christian denominations claiming to be the Church of Christ. Catholics are blessed to have an infallible interpreter of what Christ said and did. And the historical record is clear — the Church is still teaching today what Jesus and the apostles taught two thousand years ago.
It should be noted, too, that Catholics must listen to the Pope, even when he is not speaking infallibly, because he still receives the assistance of the Holy Spirit. The idea that a Catholic can dissent from a clear teaching of the Church, say, on abortion or contraception (birth control), is, said Pope St. John Paul II, “a grave error.” He said that “dissent from Church doctrine” can never be placed “on an equal footing with the Church’s authentic teaching.”
List of Answers:
ASSUMPTION
DISSENT
FAITH
HOLY SPIRIT
INFALLIBILITY
INTERPRETER
MARY
MORALS
ORIGINAL
PETER
PRIVATE
PRONOUNCEMENT
SATAN
WOMEN
Quiz:
- _____means that the Pope cannot teach something that is false.
- However, this guarantee applies only to matters of and _.
- Another condition is that the Pope must make a final _________on a doctrine that may have been disputed up until then.
- In 1854, Pope Pius IX proclaimed the Immaculate Conception of __.
- This means that the Blessed Virgin was free from _ sin.
- In 1950, Pope Pius XII proclaimed the ________of Mary, which means that she went directly to Heaven, body and soul, at the end of her life.
- In 1994, Pope John Paul II said that ___________could not be ordained priests.
- The authority of __________was guaranteed by Jesus, who said that He would back up in Heaven whatever decisions Peter, or his Successors, made on Earth.
- Jesus said that He would strengthen Peter against the temptations of _.
- He said that He would send the __________to guide Peter.
- _________interpretation of the Bible is a dangerous policy.
- Catholics are blessed to have an infallible __ of what Jesus said.
- _ from Catholic teaching is a “grave error,” said Pope John Paul.