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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