The Catholic bulletin., 1916-04-29
Please explain fully what the infaI
libility of the Pope means?

Please explain fully what the infaI
Iibility of the Pope means?
This request for complete eXplana
tion of the Catholic doctrine OF tht
infallibility of the Pope is answered
fully and at the same time briefly by
n leafiet of the London Catholic Trutf
Society, which runs as follows: In
fallibility, according to JohnSon's Die
tfonary, means "Incapability of beins
deceived - exemption from error.
Catholics believe that the Pope is, un
der certain circumstances to be men
toned further on, incapable of beins
deceived and is exempt from error.
|. Because the Church of Christ i.
an infallible Church.
The Church is infallible:
(a) Because, being commissioned by
our Divine Lord to teach all nations
(St. Matt. XVIII, 1920, and all ma
tiOns being bound to believe in he1
teachings under pain of damnation CSt
Mark XVI, 16), she must know for Ger
tain, that is, without being capable o
being deceived, what to teach; other
wise those to be taught might run the
risk of being damned for refusing tt
believe what after all might not b(
true.
(b) Because in her teaching the
Church is, in accordance with ou
Lords promise, guided by. God the
Holy Ghost, the Spirit of Truth est
John XIV, 25, &c, and XVI, 13), anC
must therefore be infallible. Ou1
Blessed Lord, Who is the Truth (St
John XIV, g., also promised to be
with the Church always even unto The
end of the world" (St. Matt. XXVIlI
1920. What stronger guarantee o
infallibility can we have than this
st. Paul fully recognizes the infalli
bility of the Church when he describe:
her as the pillar and ground of the
Truth" (1 Tim. III, 15).
II. Because in founding a visible
and infallible Church, Christ gave thi!
Church a visible and infallible Heat
in the person of st. Peter and hi!
successors.
The one objection sometimes made
that the Church of Christ is only in
visible is absurd on the face of it. Al
invisible Church could not teach al
nations, neither could all nations BIZ
bound to hear Church they could no
see. Far from the Church Of Chris
being invisible, her Divine Founder
specially prayed the night before His
crucifxion that her visible unity would
be a proof to the world of His Divine
mission (St. John XVII, 20-2D.
st. Peter was constituted by Chris
the visible and infallible Head of the
visible and infallible Church when
after having changed his name from
Simon to Cephas, which means {
stone or rock (St. John |, 40, IL, 42)
Christ said, Thou art Peter; and up
on this Rock | will build my Church
and the gates of hell shall not pre-
vail against it. And | will give to thee
the keys of the Kingdom Of Heaven
and whatsoever thou shalt loose upOI
earth shall be loosed in Heaven" (St
Matt. XVI, 1870. st. Peter, then, be
ing the Rock, or foundation, upol
which the infallible Church was to b.
so securely built, was necessarily in
fallible himself 1t would be impos
sible to believe that God would raise
an infallible structure upon a fallibl'
base.
(Note. In the Speakers Commen
tary, the late Protestant Dean of st
Paul's, DR.. Mansel, thus disposes 0
the popular objection that Christ bull
His Church upon the confession o
faith of ST. Peter alone and not upol
st. Peter himself. "'And upon thi
Rock. The verbal allusiOn is lost il
our translation, but the Greek ca
hardly be naturally interpreted eXcep
as referring to the person of Peter
The personal allusion to 81
Peter cannot be set aside by distir
gushing between petros and petra'D
Then again, the gift of the keys an
the power of binding and loosing il
wolves infallibility. Unless st. Pete
knew for certain how to use the key
and what to bind and what to loose
such a power would be worse tha
useless. Then again, when Satan de
sired to sift the apostle "as wheat,
our Lord said, Il have prayed for the
(Peter) that thy faith fail not, an
when thou art converted strengthe
Cestablish in the Protestant revise
version) thy brethren" (St. LUX
XXI, 80, 81, 32). AS, therefore, ou
Lords prayer must have been ar
swered, st. Peter must have been il
fallible in matters of faith, otherwis
his faith would be liable to fail, and h
could not establish" his brethren
Lastly, there was the divine con
mand to st. Peter, Feed my lamb
:. feed (tend' or shepherd
in the original Creek my shee
- feed my sheep" est. job
XXI, Is, 16, 10. Now this commissio
to teach and to guide C'shepherdise"
implies that all the flock of Chris
are bound to be taught and to ODE!
But if the teacher and guide wer
not preserved from error the Who'll