The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1916-09-30

| gift OF impeccability or sinlessness,
think that they have sufficiently shown
how Incompatible with historic evil
dence is the claim Of papal infallibility
when they triumphantly point to the
unworthy lives of a few bad popes
But they merely succeed in disclosing
their own ignorance of the meaning
of the gift of infallibility. Most popes
have been sanity men, as beftted
their high office; but personal holt
ness is not entailed in, nor is it prom
I Used to, the office OF supreme ruler
and teacher OF the Church. God may
use sinner as the instrument Of His
infallible teaching in the Church, as
He used the wicked Caiphas as the
organ of prophecy or the traitorous
Judas as the valid minister of His
Sacramento. Neither in Church nor
State must official authority and it's
valid exercise be confused with the
personal character of the officer; for
authority is bestowed not for the
benefit of the possessor, but for the
welfare and protection of the people.
Nature Of This Power.
In the next place, the gift of in
fallibility must be clearly distin-
guished from revelation and inspira-
| tion-a distinction which, If realized,
would help to remove a common Prot
estant prejudice against papal infalli-
| bility. They enormously believe that
| when the pope defines a dogma of
Faith he adds new doctrine to the
Christian religion, as though he were
| the inspired organ of a new divine
| revelation, just as Christ Himself or
the apostles and prophets, and so they
manifest alarm lest the true religion
of Christ become perverted. Nothing
| is farther from the true meaning of
papal infallibility We hold that the
Christian revelation, Or as it is called,
the Deposit of Faith" was completed
and closed with the death of st. John,
the last of the apostles, after which
no new public revelation must be ex-
pected. The error expressed should
| be Obviated by the very terms which
| describe the exercise of this papal
| privilege-infallibl definition. This
| means freedom from error in making
definite or determining the doctrine OF
revelation to be believed. Note, then
that the dogma proposed by the pope
must have been revealed by God prior
to the close of the apostolic age, and
that all the pope does is to define or
| decide with precision and irrevocably
| what is the revealed doctrine and its
true sense. His decision dissipates all
doubt and precludes all further de-
| bate, since his judgment by the as
| sistance of the Holy Ghost is immune
from error, is infallible. We believe
then, a dogma, or defined doctrine
because it is revealed by God Through
Christ or the apostles or prophets)
and we are assured by the infallible
voice of the Church or the pope that
the dogma was revealed.
We must bear in mind, however
that the pope does not always make
use of his infallible power, even wher
he performs the Office of teacher in
the Church. How know, then, what
announcements of his are fallible
what infallible? The words of the
Vatican Council, quoted above, leave
no room for doubt. The pope speaks
infallibly, and is therefore immune
from error, when he speaks eX cathe
dra-that is, when he speaks, first, as
the universal teacher; secondly, in the
name and with the authority of the
apostles; thirdly, on a point of Faith
or morals; fourthly, with the purpose
of binding every member of the
Church to accept and believe his deci
sion. On such occasions, and they
are few and far between-only wher
the needs of the Faithful and preser
walton of the orthodox Faith demand
docs he exercise his supreme doc
trinal authority.
|