What the Catholic Church teaches:
“The Roman Pontiff when he speaks ex cathedra, that is, when acting in the office of shepherd and teacher of all Christians, he defines, by virtue of his supreme apostolic authority, doctrine concerning faith and morals to be held by the universal Church, possesses through the divine assistance promised to him in the person of St. Peter, the infallibility with which the divine Redeemer willed his Church to be endowed in defining doctrine concerning faith or morals; and that such definitions are therefore irreformable of themselves, and not from the consent of the Church.” ~ First Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constituation I on the Church of Christ IV
Basically,what that means is that the pope is considered to speak under divine guidance of the Holy Spirit on issues of faith and morals, when he is speaking ex cathedra, or "from the chair of Peter".
Infallibility is NOT the same thing as impeccability. The pope commits sins just like everyone else. In fact, he participates in the sacrament of reconciliation very regularly. If he's going to confession that often, he has to have something to confess!
Also, infallibility does not mean that everything that comes out of the pope's mouth when he teaches must be accepted as absolute truth. He must be speaking specifically ex cathedra. When a pope speaks from the chair of Peter, he is knowingly and willingly speaking with the authority passed down to him from the Apostle Peter.
This idea of infallibility fulfills what Jesus said in Matthew's Gospel:
Matthew 16:18 ~ And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Jesus promised that "the gates of hell shall not prevail" against His Church. In other words, He promised that He would preserve His Church on earth from lies. This is something in which the Catholic Church differs from so many different Protestant denominations. We believe that Jesus would not allow His Church to teach something that is not true.
1 Timothy 3:15 ~ But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
Here, Paul calls the church "the pillar and ground of the truth". That raises an interesting question. Can something that is "the pillar and ground of the truth" teach error?
Now, there have been more than a few popes (and priests and bishops and cardinals...) who have been very corrupt. But, that does NOT mean that the Church itself has been corrupt. Thankfully, those popes that did lead sinful lives had no interest whatsoever in teaching on faith and morals. They never spoke heresy from Peter's chair. It just shows how God preserved His Church, even when evil leaders came into positions of authority. In fact, these popes could be compared to the scribes and pharisees in the New Testament, or even the unfaithful priests such as Eli and his sons in the Old Testament. Just because they weren't faithful to God's command doesn't mean that the Israelites weren't still God's chosen people. Really, it's precisely because the Israelites were God's chosen people that they were subject to so many spiritual attacks by the Devil.
Jesus gave a promise to His Apostles:
John 16:13 ~ Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that he shall speak: and he will show you things to come.
He promised the Apostles that the Holy Spirit would guide them into all truth.
Some people might say that a human can't possibly speak infallibly, but that only God can. We believe that it is God who gives the power to the pope to speak without error in order that His Church might be preserved. God inspired the men who wrote the Scriptures to write without error. Why would he not inspire the pope to an infallible interpretation of that infallible Scripture?
But, the thing we have to remember, first and foremost, is that all truth is ultimately defined in Jesus Christ.
John 14:6 ~ Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh to the Father, but by me.
And that is precisely why the Church exists. Not to distract people from Christ, but to guide us closer to Him.
Pax Christi,
~the Catholic apologist
Comments
Posted by ZitaLouise Zita Louise
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Posted by mime4jesus My name is Jessica and I'm thequietone's sister - the one who commented on your blog last month. I came across your blog by way of reading your comment on her blog (confused yet?).
I just wanted to let you know that although I am Protestant as well (well, I'd rather think of myself as non-denominational, because I think it's better for the church to be united as a whole, but ANYWAY), I am very impressed by your diligence to seek out the roots of your faith. Very few people these days - much less teenagers! - would be willing to take the time to study that in-depth into what they believe and that is very honorable.
Now, that said, I have a question that makes me feel dense asking it - do Catholics believe in the Holy Spirit? I don't know much about the Catholic faith, but I am interested in learning more.
For His glory,
Mime4Jesus
Posted by Lemonemony !~Dew~!
Posted by thecatholicapologist Thanks for your comment! I want to let you know that I admire the fact that you’re willing to ask questions and learn more about other’s faith. I think that shows real maturity on your part and you don’t need to feel dense about anything. :-)
To answer your question - yes, Catholics do believe in the Holy Spirit. In fact, the Church wouldn’t exist in the first place without the Holy Spirit! He is a VERY important part of everything we do and believe. The Apostle’s Creed, which you might have heard of, is like a summary of the Christian faith. It can be broken down into 3 parts, “I believe in God the Father Almighty”, “I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, Our Lord”, and “I believe in the Holy Spirit”. That’s the Trinity, which is the absolute central focus of our faith. I could try to explain what the Holy Spirit’s role is in the Church, but I think the Catechism explains it better than I ever could.
CCC #688 ~ “The Church, a communion living in the faith of the apostles which she transmits, is the place where we know the Holy Spirit:
- in the Scriptures he inspired;
- in the Tradition, to which the Church Fathers are always timely witnesses;
- in the Church's Magisterium, which he assists;
- in the sacramental liturgy, through its words and symbols, in which the Holy Spirit puts us into communion with Christ;
- in prayer, wherein he intercedes for us;
- in the charisms and ministries by which the Church is built up;
- in the signs of apostolic and missionary life;
- in the witness of saints through whom he manifests his holiness and continues the work of salvation.”
Every time we cross ourselves, we not only remember Christ’s death on the cross, but we proclaim the mystery of the Holy Trinity: “In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen”
I could keep writing and do an entire post on this subject! In fact, I think I could start a whole new blog! It’s too bad I don’t have the time. ;-)
Thanks again for coming and leaving your comment! Feel free to ask any more questions any time you want.
Pax Christi,
~the Catholic apologist
Posted by thecatholicapologist I’m not sure exactly what verse you’re talking about; I tried to find it because I think it would probably help me out in knowing how to reply. But I’ll just answer to what you wrote in your comment. :-)
I think what you’re trying to say is this:
1. When Jesus comes back He will reveal the things in the Bible that we never understood.
2. Therefore, we can’t always be right about everything the Bible says.
I agree with the first statement, but I don’t think that it makes the second statement true. I’ll try to explain what I mean. If we don’t understand something about the Bible, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it is untrue. It could be that we just can’t see the full picture. For example: I can’t say that I completely understand the mystery of the Trinity because with my finite human mind it’s impossible. But, that doesn’t mean that what I do understand about the Trinity is false. When Jesus comes back, He will show us more deeply and fully the mysteries of our faith. And I believe that in heaven, we’ll always be learning and understanding more and more about those mysteries for all of eternity.
~~~
Lemonemony: Every denomination is gonna have it's flaws.
~~~
To me, that doesn’t seem Biblical. Jesus promised the apostles that He would guide them into all truth. He never talked about denominations or splits. He spoke of one Church, the pillar and foundation of truth (1 Tim 3:15). That doesn’t mean that everyone in the Church is going to be perfect. Of course that’d be impossible. But Jesus can preserve His Church from teaching error just like He preserved the writers of the Bible from writing error.
I hope that makes sense!
Oh, and in answer to your question, yes. We believe that everything in the Book of Revelation is true and will take place just as it is written. :-)
Thanks for leaving your comment!
Pax Christi,
~the Catholic apologist
Posted by Anonymous Too many people think that the pope makes no mistakes. I do know that in the past popes have very often led people astray by their teaching. Often only for their own good.
Again, it does sound strange to me that God would give divine inspiration from a sacred chair but this is the first time I have heard of it, so I will not say anything.
I wouldn't say that infallible is quite the right word for that, though. At least all popes are not infallible all the time. There were some who were not infallible at all. (I know I am being very opinionated here, but I don't mean any offense, it is just that this stuff interests me.)
Now this is asking a lot, and if you don't have time for it that is ok, but I would appreciate it if you made a post on why the Church should be ruled by one mortal who has supreme authority. (the pope.) That could get dangerous when you have a corrupt person in power, and in the past it has proved fatal. At least from the history of the Church it seems to have.
Now this is really getting long. I hope you don't mind my commenting on this site.
- Sophia
P.S. I read Nerdanel's comment on sola scriptura and thought it very interesting. I will be reading your response to her when you get around to it.
P.P.S. Is there anything in the Scriptures that indicates the correctness of ex cathedra?
Posted by Anonymous P.S. I noticed you have not responded to my previous comments. I am certainly not upset and I understand you may have been very busy, but I want you to know that you will not offend me by disagreeing with my opinion, if that is what holds you back from replying.
Posted by thecatholicapologist I will get back to you on the sola scriptura topic as soon as I can. I haven't forgotten!!
And Sophia, I am working on a response to your comment that I'll hopefully be posting today. :-)
Thanks to both of you,
Pax Christi,
~the Catholic apologist
Posted by thecatholicapologist It was nice to get your comment! I’ll try to answer your questions as best I can.
First of all, the idea of God giving divine inspiration from a “sacred chair” may not be so foreign to you as you thought - that is, if you’ve read the Gospel of Matthew. :-)
Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to his disciples, saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not according to their works; for they say, and do not do. ~ Matthew 23:1-3 (NKJV)
Jesus called the Pharisees hypocrites, yet he still told his disciples to obey their words - because they sat in “Moses’ seat”. This could be compared to some very similar to some of the situations that have arisen in the Church’s history. Like you said, it could get dangerous if there’s a corrupt person in power - which has happened more than once. But, the Church is true because of Christ and not because of men. I think that you were right when you said that there were some popes who were not infallible at all. Some of them were so busy being heretical that they man not have even considered teaching from Peter’s chair!! It’s terrible when an unfaithful man comes to authority in the Church - just as it was terrible when it happened in the NT with the Pharisees. But, they still had God-given power. God was guiding them and in doing so, He was guiding His people. God will not let His Church fall into corruption, even if some of its members (and even leaders) are corrupted.
As for your request, I will work on writing a post on that subject. I can’t say when it’ll be done, but hopefully within the week!
God bless!!
Pax Christi,
~the Catholic apologist
Posted by Anonymous 