Infallibility

Infallibility means, literally, immunity from error. In Christian theology, the term is applied to the whole church, which, it is believed by many Christians, cannot err in its teaching of revealed truth because it is aided by the Holy Spirit.

Christians disagree, however, about how infallibility can be recognized. Some accept as infallible those doctrines universally taught and believed from antiquity. Others recognize as infallible the doctrinal decisions of the ecumenical councils of the church.

Roman Catholics believe that the pope can make infallible definitions on faith or morals when he speaks ex cathedra--as head of the church--and when he has the clear intention of binding the whole church to accept as dogma whatever he is defining. Papal infallibility was formally defined at the First Vatican Council (1870). The doctrine was reaffirmed at the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), which also stressed that the entire body of bishops in union with the pope teach infallibly when all concur in a single viewpoint on matters of faith and morals.

Richard P. McBrien

Bibliography
Kirvan, John, ed., The Infallibility Debate (1971); Kung, Hans, Infallible? An Inquiry (1971).

Infallibility

Infallibility, in Christian theology, is the doctrine that in matters of faith and morals the church, both in teaching and in believing, is protected from substantive error by divine dispensation. The doctrine is generally associated with the Roman Catholic church, but it is also applied by the Orthodox church to decisions of ecumenical councils. The doctrine is widely rejected by Protestants on the grounds that only God can be described as infallible.

Roman Catholic theology asserts that the entire church is infallible (and therefore cannot err in matters of faith) when, from bishops to laity, it shows universal agreement in matters of faith and morals. Only the following persons in the church - those who hold its highest teaching office - are believed to proclaim Christian doctrine infallibly:

• (1) the entire body of bishops in union with the pope, the bishop of Rome, when it teaches with moral unanimity;
• (2) an ecumenical council that receives papal approval; and
• (3) under certain conditions, the pope alone.

According to the definition promulgated in 1870 by the First Vatican Council the pope exercises an infallible teaching office only when

• (1) he speaks ex cathedra, that is, in his official capacity as pastor and teacher;
• (2) he speaks with the manifest intention of binding the entire church to acceptance; and
• (3) the matter pertains to faith or morals taught as a part of divine revelation handed down from apostolic times.

The pope is never considered infallible in his personal or private views. Since the middle of the 19th century, only two ex cathedra pronouncements have been made in the Roman Catholic church: the definition of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in 1854 by Pope Pius IX, and the definition of the Assumption of the Virgin in 1950 by Pope Pius XII.

Infallibility is not regarded by its adherents as something miraculous or as a kind of clairvoyance. Rather, it is considered a grace, or divine gift, that is biblically and theologically grounded. Proponents point to many scriptural passages, such as the farewell discourses in John, especially the promise of the Spirit of truth (see John 14:17; 15:26; 16:13). They hold that the church derives this gift from God, who alone is the ultimate source of infallibility. The matters subject to infallibility are doctrines rooted in Scripture and in the ancient traditions of the church, neither of which can be contradicted; thus, novel doctrines and other innovations are believed to be excluded. Infallibility is therefore seen as a gift that is to be exercised with the utmost care in the service of the gospel.