Newspaper Page Text
THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
7
THE INFALLIBILITY OF THE POPE
(Third Article on the Papacy, by Rt. Rev. B. J. Keiley, D.D.)
There is, I am quite sure, no one doctrine of the
Catholic Church which is so misunderstood and so
often misrepresented as Papal Infallibility. Many per
sons seem to imagine that Catholics believe that the
Pope can do no wrong. Others, that we believe that
everything the Pope says must be held by us under
penalty of damnation to be true.
Many years ago a lady came to see me. She was
a member of one of the Protestant churches of At
lanta, and on the preceding Sunday had heard a
sermon by her minister on the Infallibility of the Pope.
On speaking to her husband, a Catholic, of the ser
mon, he told her that the minister evidently did not
know what he was talking about, and advised her
to ask me the precise nature of our belief on the
subject of the Infallibility of the Pope. She said that
her minister had insisted that God had given an In
fallible Book, the Bible, as our guide, and that there
was not one word in the Bible about the Infallibility
of the Pope. He denounced the doctrine as being
blasphemous, in attributing to a frail human being
powers which belonged solely to God; contended that
only since 1870 were Catholics bound to belies this
doctrine; and that as a consequence of this definition
'the Pope of Rome might tomorrow declare some man
ifest error to be a divinely revealed truth and every
Catholic on account of this doctrine would be bound
to accept the Pope’s definition.
I said to her: “When you came into my room you
were carrying in your hand a little box. I don’t see it
now, though I have no doubt you yet have it. Now
the Catholic Church has always proclaimed that she
was established by Christ to teach all men, in every
age, the way of salvation, and that Christ gave her
the solemn promise of His abiding presence until the
end of time. Moreover, He promised that He would
send the Spirit of Truth to remain with her always.
Hence she has always claimed to be the Infallible
guide of men to salvation. The Infallibility of the
Church has ever been held and asserted by all Cath
olics. Now the question began to be mooted where
exactly does this Infallibility rest? Is it in the Bishops
in council assembled? But a council must be called
by the Pope and its decisions approved by him, else
they have no authority or v/eight. So you see, my
dear Madam, we come back to the difficulty I had—
Where is the box?’ You have it, but where? The
Catholic Church is and must be Infallible according
to Christ’s promises, but where precisely is the In
fallibility to be found? How is it exercised? The
question was definitely settled in 1870.’’
And now let us take up this minister’s objections,
for I rather surmise that they represent the views
of most of the objectors. But I think it will be well
before everything else to explain what we Catholics
mean and teach. We mean that in virtue of the
abiding presence and assistance of the Holy Spirit of
God which Christ promised to His apostles, the Pope,
as successor of St. Peter, not only inviolably guards
and keeps the revelation made by Christ through His
apostles, and which is contained in the deposit of
Faith, but that he also faithfully and infallibly de
clares it. Hence, when in the exercise of his apos
tolic office as successor of Peter he defines or de
clares that a certain doctrine is contained in the
revelation of Christ, he will not, nor can he, fall into
error, because of the promises made by Christ to
Peter and his successors.
The Infallibility of the Pope is limited and confined
to matters of faith and morals, that is to say that in
the exercise of his office of Chief Shepherd of all
the flock of Christ he must not only unerringly de
clare what is the revelation made by Christ and by
Him confided to the apostles as its teachers, but he
must also determine what is in consonance with the
law of Christ and what is opposed to it. Infallibility
does not mean that the Pope cannot sin, for he is a
weak human being who, as all others, has no other
ground for hope of salvation than the infinite merits
of the Precious Blood of Christ which was shed on
Calvary for all men. The Pope, like every other
Catholic, regularly confesses his sins to a priest, and
on bended knees begs that God will pardon them for
Christ’s sake.
We do not claim that every word he says or writes,
even if it is concerned with matters of faith and
morals, is infallible. Much less do we claim for him
infallibility in discussing any question outside of the
domain of faith and morals. His word on these sub
jects may have little or great weight as he has or
has not had opportunity of finding out the truth.
In every civilized country it has been found neces
sary to establish courts for the purpose of settling
matters in dispute between the people and vindicating
justice by punishing criminals. In these courts under
ordinary conditions the evidence of the witnesses se
cures a verdict. Matters of the gravest interest to
citizens are there decided. When there is no jury
trial the word of the presiding judge is decisive. No
one believes that either judge or jury is infallible.
But God has the power, if He pleases, to bestow in
fallibility J?y preserving the judge from possibility of
error, when questions of supreme moment are at
issue.
The supreme issue for man is salvation. Christ
came to save all men. He has established a court of
last resort, to which man may appeal, and He gives
to the judge who always sits there His divine assist
ance in deciding. He made him judge and teacher
and commanded all men to hear and believe under
the penalty of damnation. This even God could not
do if the judge could make an error in deciding the
question. In our land we have such courts, and in
Washington We have a supreme court whose decisions
are final. As is well known if the congress by unani
mous vote passes a measure which afterwards receives