The Irish standard., 1886-09-04
INFALLIBIL|TY or THE POPE.
The Sensible Acknowledgment Of Mr..
Richard A. Proctor, the Eminent
Scientist and Author.
SOME HERETO ABsUROITIEs.

The Doctrine Of Papal Infallibility is Al
most a Corollary on the Doctrine
Of Divine Inspiration.
Mr.. Richard A. Proctor, the eminent
English scientist, comes toward in his
magazine, knowledge, with an argu-
ment to prove that from the Catholic
standpoint there is nothing Illogical or
absurd in the doctrine Of the infallibility
of the Pope. AS rule Protestants are
apparently incapable Of grasping the
idea Of Papal infallibility. 1t is at
first sight so impossible to there method
of thinking that vhey cannot even be
persuaded to consider the evidences.
For this reason the candid acknowledg-
ment of sensible Protestant author,
who has a worldwide reputation as an
exact and well-informed writer on mat
ters connectedwith astronomical science
is we'll worth notice.
Mr.. Proctor writes: 1.-THE doctrine of
Papal infallib1lity, as commonly under
stood, is, of course, preposterous on the
face Of it. But the common mistakes
about the dQctrine are themselves prepo-
sterous. One hears an ignorant but most
jealous Protestant talk such nonsense
as this: How can the Pope be infallible
when such and such a Pope was notori~
ously unwise, and such another man of
evil life?' Itwould be Just as unreason~
bic to say, how can we believe David to
have been inspired when we find that he
behaved not only villainously but most
foo]ishly in regard to Uriah the Hittite
and his wife? Not quite so absurd,
though quite as incorrect in the idea
that Papal infallibility is disproved by
the decision (supposing for the moment
it received the Papal sanetjon) against
Galileo; it is fairly matched by the mis-
take Of supposing that areasonable doc
trine as to Bible Inspiration would be
shaken by the mistake Of Matthew in
asserting that all The Kingdoms of the
earth could be seen from some exceed
ing high mountain.
'':The fact really is that the doctrine
Of Papal infallibility, as it is really
taught by the Catholic Church, is al
most acorollary Oh the doctrine of Bible
inspiration. According to the later doc.
trine in It's own reasonable form. men
like Moses, David, Soloman, Ezra,
Isaiah, and the like, in no sense to be
regarded as perfect either in wisdom OF
conduct, were inspired as respects GER
tain matters which they addressed to
men in regard to religion. The former
doctrine, in the only form ever adopted
by the Catholic Church, asserts that
the Popes, though in no sense to be re-
garded as perfect either in wisdom orin
conduct, have always been and always
will be SO guided or restrained Gas the
case may be) that if, or when. they ad-
dress the Church ex cathedra, OH mat
ters relating to morals or doctrine
their teaching will be true.
"In conduct Pope may be imperfect
or even wicked; in regard to science,
art or literature, he may be ignorant Or
unwise; in theological matters, even
dealt with by a priest Or a doctor of
the Church, a Pope may make serious
mistakes: but no Pope, let his personal
qualifications be what they may (let
him even be cverbearing as Moses, as
unscrupulous as David. as selfish as
Solomon, as ignorant as Matthew, as
contentious as Paul. will even address
to the whole Church, ex cathedra, false
teaching as to mortals or as to doc
trine.
ssIhe Catholic doctrine on the subject
is perfectly definite; and it is abso-
lutely certain that the decision III re-
gard to Galileo's teaching: shown now
to have been unsound, does not in the
slightest degree affect the doctrine of
the infallibility either of the Pope Or of
the Church. The subject matter be-
longed neither to morals nor to faith !;
the decision was neither ex cathedra
nor addressed to the whole Church; in
not one single point does the case illus
trate this doctrine of Papal mfallabil-
ity as defined by the Vatican Council
which pronounced that The Roman
Pontitf when he speaks ex cathedra, i.
e., when in discharge of his Office as
pastor and teacher Of all Christians he,
in virtue of his supreme apostolic au-
thority. defines doctrine Of faith or
morals to be held by the Universal
Church, is, by the divine assistance
promised to him in the Blessed Peter,
endowed with that fallibility, where
with our divine Redeemer Willed that
His Church should be endowed in de-
fning doctrines of faith and morals
This is Of course the teaching Of his
tory and the Judgment Of common
sense. But how many Protestant Wri-
tors can pass by the case Of Calico
without sneer, and how many have