Infallibility
Papal Infallibility There are some errors people have about Papal Infallibility: Catholics have to believe whatever the Pope says. If the Pope says it is raining, even if it isn t, Catholics have to believe it. The Pope gets to make up the faith and add to it whatever he wants. The Pope is never wrong or the Pope is always right. The Pope does not sin. The Pope is not infallible because he sins.
Papal Infallibility Those views on the previous slide might be easy to say that those views are wrong, but it is still difficult to say why they are wrong. In this PowerPoint we will examine: What Infallibility means The contradiction in claiming there is no infallibility A history of the Popes (focusing on the bad ones to demonstrate Papal Infallibility) Peter as a model of the history of the Papacy
Papal Infallibility As Catholics we believe that when the Pope speaks ex cathedra, as the supreme pastor and teacher of all the faithful, that is when he speaks as the spokesperson for the whole Church, the Holy Spirit keeps him from error. The first example is in Acts Chapter 2. Luke tells us that they were all speaking and then only tells us what Peter said. Luke presents Peter as the spokesperson for the whole Church.
Papal Infallibility Take the statement, There is no Infallibility. This statement would be an infallible statement in the Catholic understanding of infallibility The person is claiming that no where in the Body of Christ, the Church, is infallibility to be found, everyone is in error or sin or just doesn t know The person is speaking for the whole Body of Christ and claiming that this statement is true for the whole Body of Christ. Thus, no infallibility would be an infallible statement. But this is a contradiction and no contradiction is true.
Papal Infallibility As Catholics we believe that Infallibility is found in Christ who has united himself to us and shares his life with us. He is the Truth so infallibility shows up in these ways The sense of the faithful The Pope as Pastor of the whole Church An Ecumenical Council The Bishops who teach in union with the Pope
Overview of the Popes In this PowerPoint I want to show how Papal Infallibility works but ONLY using the bad Popes. There are a lot of them But in each case their badness, their errors, their wrong choices, will stand as a witness to their not teaching their error as the faith of the whole Church.
Victor I (189-199)--First African Pope--he excommunicated Palestinian Christians over the celebration of Easter. Irenaeus counseled him to lift the excommunication because practice (when to celebrate Easter) is not the same as Faith (Jesus is Risen). Victor lifted the excommunication.
Marcellinus (296-304)-- During the Diocletian persecutions he handed over copies of Sacred Scripture and offered incense to pagan gods. He was later martyred and this story discredited, but the rumor is there because Rome was not as persecuted as harshly as in the East and in Africa The Popes
Liberius (352-366)--he was the First Pope not to be called a Saint. He approved of the excommunication of St. Athanasius and signed a document (under pressure) claiming Jesus is like the Father. When he got back to Rome he renounced his decision to sign the document.
Vigilius (537-555) was guilty of an error in his understanding of the faith. He was the first Pope to be excommunicated because of his vacillating over the teaching of the Council of Chalcedon. He never taught against the Council, he simply tried to accommodate it and the monophysite teachings
Sabinianus (604-606)--A famine broke out and he sold grain to the hungry for profit.
Honorius I (625-638) He was the first and only Pope to be condemned by a council for his adherence to Monothelistism. He had once again tried to accommodate the heresy by looking for unitive language. The Popes
Formosus (891-896) When he was a Bishop he was the Bishop of 2 Dioceses at the same time (not bad but wrong). He was twice defrocked as bishop for immorality (bad and wrong). As Pope he carried the scandal with him, but not the sin.
Stephen VI (896-897) he dug up the body of Formosus and put him on trial. the Cadaver Synod Formosus was found innocent but still had his three fingers of his right hand cut off so he couldn t bless anyone. Stephen then had the body of Formosus thrown in the river. Another person recovered the body and reburied it. The Popes
Sergius III (904-911)--he ordered the murder of the Pope who was his predecessor. When he became Pope he ordered the death of the antipope Christopher Then he reaffirmed the Cadaver Synod.
John XII (955-964)--he was the youngest Pope to be elected, 18 years old He was the third Pope to change his name (Octavian). He was accused by one Cardinal of turning the Vatican into a brothel. He died in bed with a women who was married to a different man. The Popes
John XIX (1024-1032)-- he was the second of three laymen in a row to be elected to the Papacy. He bribed his way into the Papacy.
Urban II (1088-1099)--he was the first Pope to call a Crusade to liberate the Holy Land. Whether or not this is bad, the effects have been terrible He also established the Roman Curia. Not bad just thought you should know The Popes
Lucius III (1144-1145)-- he established procedure for the Inquisition.
Innocent III (1198-1216) Some Saints said he would be in Purgatory until the second coming He was the only Pope to call two crusades to the Holy Land. He did give approval of the Franciscans and Dominicans. The Popes
Gregory IX (1227-1241) He begins the Papal Inquisition.
Innocent IV (1243-1254) He approved of the use of torture by the Inquisition (3 forms). 1--garrucha--hung by the wrists, heavy weights attached to the feet, hoisted by a pulley and then dropped with a jerk. 2--toca--tied down and a cloth stuffed in the mouth which gradually conducted water into the throat simulating drowning. 3--potro--bound with cords which were gradually tightened. Confessions received under torture had to be verified the next day and a person could only be tortured once, so multiple sessions were suspended rather than ended. The Popes
Boniface VIII (1294-1303) He was the first Pope to call a holy year (1300). He commissioned so many statues of himself that he was accused of encouraging idolatry.
Clement V (1305-1314)--he was the first Avignon Pope He suppressed the Knights Templar. Special Note: Dan Brown in The Da Vinci Code, said that the Pope burned the last Knight Templar and then threw the body in the Tiber River. The fact that the French burned the last of the Knights Templar in Northern France seems to have escaped Mr. Brown. Not to mention the fact that if Clement threw the body of the Last Templar in the Tiber River then he is the envy of every outfielder in baseball history. To throw a body from southern France into a river in Rome, wow, what an arm! The Popes
John XXII (1316-1334) He was the second of the Avignon Popes He was accused of heresy because a letter he wrote implied that saints in heaven do not see God until after the final judgment.
It is about John XXII that the phrase Papal Infallibility is used for the first time. It was used against him being the true Pope: He could not be a true pope because he was not teaching the consistent teaching of the Church Papal infallibility is used to limit a pope s teachings, not to expand his power. No one, especially not the Pope, can add to the life of Christ Jesus.
Benedict XII (1334-1342) The third of the Avignon Popes He corrected the statement made by John XXII. Popes can have theological difference but must teach the same faith.
Clement VI (1342-1352) He lived more like a worldly prince the way he threw banquets and parties. He also gave Church offices to family and friends. During the Bubonic Plague he defended the Jews against charges that they were responsible for the Plague. One very good thing
The Avignon Papacy From 1305-1377 the Bishop of Rome lived in Avignon France The Papacy was seen as being a tool of or controlled by the King of France The whole time of the Avignon Papacy was called the Babylonian Captivity of the Papacy
Urban VI (1378-1389) He was the last non-cardinal to be elected Pope. He was simply flat out rude. He was so rude and unstable that the Cardinals who elected him went on to elect another man to be the Pope thus starting the Great Western Schism. He had five of the Cardinals who criticized him tortured and executed. The Popes
Boniface IX (1389-1404) He sold Church Offices to the highest bidders He increased church taxes exorbitantly And he sold indulgences.
Callistus III (1455-1458) He was the first of two Spanish Popes He practiced blatant nepotism He revived harsh anti- Jewish laws and banned all social communication between Christians and Jews.
Sixtus IV (1471-1484) He was the Pope who built the Sistine Chapel. He is also the Pope who started the Spanish Inquisition He appointed Torquemada as grand inquisitor. He depleted the Vatican funds fighting wars He sold indulgences to cover the loss of funds.
Innocent VIII (1484-1492) He ordered the Inquisition in Germany to punish witches. He created new Church Offices and sold them to the highest bidder. He died asking the Cardinals to elect someone better than him.
Alexander VI (1492-1503) He was the second and last Spanish Pope. He rivals John XII for being the worst Pope in History. He was the worldliest of the Popes and the most notorious. Nepotism and unbridled sensuality were his hallmarks of his Pontificate. He lived an openly promiscuous life, fathering several children both before and after becoming Pope.
Julius II (1503-1513) He was the patron of Michelangelo and other artists He was the warrior Pope He sold indulgences to such an extent that he actually set the stage for the reformation. The Popes
Leo X (1513-1521) He missed the opportunity to reform the Church after the Fifth Lateran Council He sold indulgences He ignited the reformation by excommunicating Martin Luther.
Paul IV (1555-1559) He was anti-protestant and anti-semitic He forced Jews to live in a special quarter in Rome He forced them to wear distinctive headgear He personally supported the Inquisition and created the Index of Forbidden Books. The Popes
Clement XIV (1769-1774) Bad because he caved in under political pressure His suppression of the Jesuits had disastrous effects on the missions.
Leo XII (1823-1829) He reinforced the Index of Forbidden Books He confined Jews to ghettos in Rome. Business transactions between Jews and Christians were forbidden
Gregory XVI (1831-1846) He was the last Pope elected who was not a bishop. He banned railroads in the Papal States He condemned Italian nationalism He crushed a rebellion in the Papal States using Austrian troops. He did denounced slavery and the slave trade.
Popes--Peter Continues his Ministry Peter denied Jesus and proclaimed his love for Jesus. Peter started the allowing of Gentiles into the Church and separated himself from them in Antioch. Peter was sometimes right, often wrong, sometimes daring, sometimes a fool. The history of the Popes is the continuation of Peter acting as the spokesperson for the whole Church. The Spirit continues to work through Peter to proclaim the Truth of God s self-revelation to us. Listen, Peter speaks.
Summary of the Popes Throughout Papal history, the unfaithfulness and poor witness and personal sin of many of the Popes have brought about scandal. But they never change the very teaching that makes them look like hypocrites, unfaithful, poor witnesses or sinners. In other words their sin is a witness to the reality of God preserving his faithful from error. The Spirit still leads us to all truth, even through some sinful men who hold the office of Peter.
Summary of the Popes Infallibility is not a characteristic of the Pope, but of Jesus who continues to teaches us through sinful and broken men who hold the office of Peter. The sin and error of the Popes is not a rejection of infallibility.
Papal Infallibility Jesus is the Truth, not an opinion. Faith is the life and work of God in us. Church is the Body of Christ and His Body is not a chaotic blob but an organic unity that reflects and participates in the Unity of the Trinity because of the Incarnation of Christ Jesus. In order to preserve the Church in the purity of the faith handed on by the apostles, Christ who is the Truth willed to confer on her a share in his own infallibility. (CCC #889) The Roman Pontiff... enjoys this infallibility in virtue of his office, when, as supreme pastor and teacher of all the faithful... he proclaims by a definitive act a doctrine pertaining to the faith or morals.... This infallibility extends as far as the deposit of divine Revelation itself. (CCC #891)