The
solemn declaration of papal infallibility by the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) took
place 150 years ago this week, on July 18, 1870.
The
Meaning of Papal Infallibility
In
the history of the RCC, there have been 21 “ecumenical councils,” the first
being the Council of Nicaea in 325 and the last one was the Second Vatican
Council in 1962~65.
Dictionary.com
explains that the ecumenical councils of the RCC are “convoked and presided
over by the pope and composed of cardinals, bishops, and certain other prelates
whose decrees, when confirmed by the pope, become binding.”
The
20th ecumenical council of the RCC was held in 1869~70, and the most
important decision made in that solemn meeting was about papal infallibility.
Succinctly,
the doctrine of papal infallibility means that when the Pope speaks “ex
cathedra” (from the papal chair) on matters of faith and morals, by the power
of the Holy Spirit that pronouncement is unfailingly without error.
Since
that time, the only example of an ex cathedra decree took place in 1950, when
Pope Pius XII defined the Assumption of Mary as an article of faith.
The
Rejection of Papal Infallibility
It
goes without saying, perhaps, that there has been universal rejection of the
doctrine of papal infallibility by Protestants. In some circles, the response
to the Catholic assertion of infallibility led to an emphasis on the inerrancy
of the Bible, dubbed the “paper Pope” by some.
But
there has also been some opposition within the Roman Catholic Church. One
hundred years after the declaration of papal infallibility at Vatican I, Hans
Küng wrote a book entitled Infallible? An Inquiry (published in 1971).
Several
years later, in 1979, Küng was stripped of his license to teach as a Roman
Catholic theologian, although he was able to continue teaching as a tenured professor
of ecumenical theology at the University of Tübingen until his retirement in
1996.
The
one example of the use of papal infallibility, the bodily taking up of Mary,
the mother of Jesus, into Heaven at the end of her earthly life, tends to
strengthen the non-Catholic rejection of the dogma.
Still,
papal infallibility remains a dogma of the Roman Catholic Church.
The
Tendency toward “Popishness”
“Popish”
is an offensive term that has from time to time been used by non-Catholics to
refer derisively to the Roman Catholic Church.
But
it is also sometimes used in a derogatory sense meaning to act or speak in a manner similar to the
pope—a usage that is based on the common misunderstanding of the meaning of
papal infallibility, that is, thinking the Pope is always right in whatever he
says.
Some
of us have strong ideas or beliefs that we think are absolutely right. Holding
on to those ideas or beliefs despite strong counterarguments can cause one to
be thought of or criticized as being “popish.”
There
is nothing wrong with having strong ideas/beliefs, though. Michael Polanyi, one
of my favorite philosophers, in his magnum opus Personal Knowledge (1958)
referred to what he called “heuristic passion,” which then is turned into
“persuasive passion.”
But
Polanyi’s main emphasis is that all knowledge is “personal knowledge.” Consequently,
we must always admit the possibility that we might be wrong.
We
can avoid being “popish” if we keep in mind the paradoxical situation we are
in: because of our heuristic passion we often are certain we are right and seek
by persuasive passion to convince others of the truth we have embraced; nevertheless,
we must acknowledge that, indeed, we might be wrong.
That’s
how you, and I, can keep from being “popish.”
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