page_title: Papal infallibility
section_title: Ex cathedra
hierarchical_section_title: Papal infallibility / Background / Ex cathedra
context_page_description: Papal infallibility is a dogma of the Catholic Church which states that, in virtue of the promise of Jesus to Peter, the pope when appealing to his highest authority is preserved from the possibility of error on doctrine "initially given to the apostolic Church and handed down in Scripture and tradition". This doctrine was defined dogmatically at the First Vatican Council of 1869–1870 in the document Pastor aeternus, but had been defended before that, existing already in medieval theology and being the majority opinion at the time of the Counter-Reformation.
  The infallible teachings of the Pope are part of the Church's magisterium, which also consists of ecumenical councils and the "ordinary and universal magisterium". In Catholic theology, papal infallibility is one of the channels of the infallibility of the Church.
  The doctrine of infallibility relies on one of the cornerstones of Catholic dogma: that of papal supremacy, and his authority as the ruling agent who decides what are accepted as formal beliefs in the Roman Catholic Church. The use of this power is referred to as speaking ex cathedra.
context_section_description: Cathedra and sedes are Latin words for a chair, the symbol of the teacher in the ancient world; the "chair" is still used metaphorically as the office of a university professor, and to the "see" of a bishop (from sedes). The pope is said to occupy the "chair of Peter" or the "Holy See", since Catholics hold that the pope is the successor of Peter. Also, Catholics hold that Peter had a special role among the apostles as the preserver of unity, and that the pope therefore holds the role of spokesman for the whole church among the bishops, whom Catholics hold to be the successors of the apostles.
  The doctrine of papal infallibility, the Latin phrase ex cathedra (literally, "from the chair"), was proclaimed by Pius IX in 1870 as meaning "when, in the exercise of his office as shepherd and teacher of all Christians, in virtue of his supreme apostolic authority, [the Bishop of Rome] defines a doctrine concerning faith or morals to be held by the whole Church."
  The response demanded from believers has been characterized as "assent" in the case of ex cathedra declarations of the popes and "due respect" with regard to their other declarations.
caption: The only ex cathedra application of papal infallibility since its solemn declaration has been for the Marian Dogma of Assumption in 1950. Painting of the Assumption, Rubens, 1626
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