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Course 11 · Lesson 4.2

Papal primacy and infallibility in Catholic teaching

13 minute read

Lessons in this course

Course 11 outline

Module 1: What the Church Is

  1. Biblical images of the church: body, people, temple and bride
  2. One, holy, catholic and apostolic: the four marks
  3. The mission of the church
  4. The visible and invisible church in Augustine, the Reformers and the East

Module 2: Ministry and Apostolic Succession

  1. Ministry in the New Testament: apostles, elders, overseers and deacons
  2. The bishop in the early church: Clement, Ignatius and Irenaeus
  3. Apostolic succession: three meanings (a line of bishops, the teaching, the mission)
  4. Ordination in the Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant traditions

Module 3: Scripture, Tradition and Church Authority

  1. Scripture and tradition in the early church
  2. The Catholic account: Scripture, tradition and the magisterium
  3. The Orthodox account: the living tradition of the church
  4. The Reformation and the question of sola scriptura

Module 4: Three Systems of Authority

  1. The bishop of Rome in early history
  2. Papal primacy and infallibility in Catholic teaching
  3. Orthodox conciliarity and the role of the patriarchs
  4. Protestant principles of authority: Scripture, confessions and the priesthood of believers
  5. The strongest objections each tradition raises against the others

Module 5: Sacramental Theology

  1. Mystery and sacrament: the words and their history
  2. Augustine and the definition of a sacrament
  3. How many sacraments? Seven, two, or none
  4. Validity, efficacy and the role of faith

Module 6: Baptism and the Eucharist

  1. Baptism in Scripture and the early church
  2. Infant baptism and believers baptism
  3. The Eucharist in the early church
  4. Real presence: transubstantiation, the Orthodox mystery, Lutheran, Reformed and memorial views

Module 7: Reconciliation and Liturgical Worship

  1. The forgiveness of sins in Scripture
  2. Confession and penance in the history of the church
  3. Confession across the traditions: Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran and Reformed practice
  4. Liturgy, word and table, and the church year
  5. Worship without a fixed liturgy and its principles

Module 8: Schism and Christian Unity

  1. Early schisms: the Donatists and the churches after Chalcedon
  2. East and West: the long division and the events of 1054
  3. The Reformation divisions
  4. Ecumenism and the prospects for unity

All courses

Program / Course 11: Church, Sacraments, and Authority / Lesson 4.2

What you will learn

  • State the Catholic teaching on papal primacy as defined at the First Vatican Council in 1870.
  • State the conditions for an infallible definition and what infallibility does not mean.
  • Describe the Second Vatican Council’s teaching on the bishops and collegiality.
  • Explain the main Orthodox and Protestant objections and the Catholic replies.

The big idea

The Catholic Church teaches that Christ gave Peter a primacy among the apostles, that the bishop of Rome is Peter’s successor, and that he has full, supreme and universal power over the whole church. The First Vatican Council in 1870 added that when the pope speaks ex cathedra, defining a doctrine of faith or morals for the whole church, he is preserved from error. The teaching is narrower than many suppose. It does not claim that the pope is sinless or that all his words are infallible. Orthodox and Protestant Christians deny both claims on scriptural and historical grounds.

Key terms

Primacy of the pope
The Catholic teaching that the bishop of Rome has supreme, full, immediate and universal ordinary power in the church.
Infallibility
In Catholic teaching, a gift by which the church, or the pope in certain conditions, is preserved from error in defining faith or morals.
Ex cathedra
Latin for from the chair. The solemn way in which the pope defines a doctrine for the whole church.
Pastor Aeternus
The 1870 dogmatic constitution of the First Vatican Council that defined papal primacy and infallibility.
Collegiality
The teaching, stressed at Vatican II, that the bishops as a body share in the care of the whole church together with the pope.
Ordinary jurisdiction
Authority that belongs to an office by its nature, not given case by case.
Ultramontanism
A movement, strong in the nineteenth century, that stressed papal authority. The word means beyond the mountains, that is, beyond the Alps.

Background

The Catholic teaching rests on three New Testament passages concerning Peter: Matthew 16:18-19, Luke 22:31-32 and John 21:15-17. In the first, Jesus says to Simon, “thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church” and promises him the keys of the kingdom. In the second Jesus prays that Peter’s faith may not fail and tells him to strengthen his brothers. In the third, Peter is told to feed the sheep. Catholics hold that these roles pass to Peter’s successors, the bishops of Rome.

The First Vatican Council met in 1869 and 1870, in the age of nationalism and Italian unification, during a time when the papal states were under threat. The council defined papal primacy and infallibility on 18 July 1870, and then was interrupted when Rome was seized. Many bishops had doubted whether to define the matter, and a minority left before the final vote. The Catholic Church holds the definitions as binding. This lesson gives the teaching, the clarifications, and the objections.

Step-by-step explanation

Step 1: The definition of primacy

Pastor Aeternus teaches that Christ gave Peter a true and proper primacy of jurisdiction, and not only of honor, and that the Roman pontiffs are his successors in this primacy. The pope has full and supreme power of jurisdiction over the whole church, in matters of faith and morals, discipline and government. This power is ordinary and immediate over all churches and all the faithful, meaning that it belongs to the office and reaches each person without a go-between.

The council also said that this power does not diminish the power of bishops, who are true pastors of their own flocks. The pope is not a bishop of bishops in the sense of replacing them. Catholic teaching since has stressed that the pope exercises his role as a servant, and Pope Gregory the Great in the sixth century used the title servant of the servants of God.

Step 2: The definition of infallibility

Pastor Aeternus defines that when the Roman pontiff speaks ex cathedra, that is, when in the exercise of his office as pastor and teacher of all Christians, by his supreme apostolic authority, he defines a doctrine of faith or morals to be held by the whole church, he possesses, through the assistance promised to him in Peter, the infallibility with which Christ willed his church to be endowed. Such definitions are irreformable of themselves, and not by consent of the church.

The conditions are strict: the pope must speak as head of the whole church, on faith or morals, and make clear that the doctrine is to be held by all. Catholic theologians commonly count only two papal definitions as clearly ex cathedra: the Immaculate Conception of Mary (1854) and the Assumption of Mary (1950). Some include others. Infallibility is also attributed to the whole college of bishops when they define a doctrine together, as in ecumenical councils, and to the church’s universal teaching.

Step 3: What infallibility does not mean

Infallibility does not mean impeccability. A pope can be a sinner, and some have been. It does not mean that every statement of the pope is free from error, whether on science, politics or even theology. It does not mean the pope receives new revelation. The Vatican Council said that the Holy Spirit was promised to the successors of Peter not so that they might make known new doctrine, but so that they might guard and faithfully set forth the revelation handed on through the apostles.

The definition is also limited by consultation. Catholic teaching says the pope should use the means of finding out the faith of the church, such as consulting bishops, Scripture and tradition. The council added that the definitions are not made true by the consent of the church, meaning that they do not require ratification afterwards.

Step 4: Vatican II and collegiality

The Second Vatican Council (1962 to 1965) set the teaching of Vatican I inside a fuller teaching about the bishops. Lumen Gentium 22 teaches that the bishops together with the pope form a college, which has supreme and full power over the whole church, though never without its head. Bishops are not mere delegates of the pope but vicars of Christ in their own dioceses, as Lumen Gentium 27 states. Lumen Gentium 25 repeats the teaching on infallibility and places it within the church’s whole teaching life.

Since the council, Catholic theologians and some Catholic bishops have debated how collegiality works in practice, through synods, bishops’ conferences and the Roman curia. Pope John Paul II in his 1995 encyclical Ut Unum Sint invited other Christians to discuss with him how the papal ministry could be exercised in a way that would be accepted by all.

Step 5: Objections and replies

Orthodox objection: the early church knew no universal jurisdiction. Primacy was honor, and doctrine was decided by councils and received by the church. Papal infallibility apart from the church’s consent is a novelty. Catholic reply: the Petrine texts and the early practice of appeal to Rome show a ministry that developed. The 1870 definition makes explicit what was implied, and it does not remove the importance of councils.

Protestant objection: Matthew 16 can refer to Peter’s confession or to Peter himself, and the church fathers differed on its meaning. The text does not speak of successors. The history of popes who acted badly counts against the claim. Catholic reply: many fathers read the passage as referring to Peter, Peter’s role must be of lasting value for the church, and moral failure of individuals does not defeat the promise of Christ concerning the office.

Historical objection: the case of Honorius, the condemnation of Galileo and some medieval decisions are cited as problems. Catholic replies are that the first was not an ex cathedra definition, and that the others did not involve a definition of faith or morals. Historians outside the Catholic Church often find these replies unpersuasive, and Catholic theologians debate the details.

  1. Which exact words of the council define primacy, and which define infallibility?
  2. What conditions must be met for an ex cathedra definition?
  3. What does infallibility not claim?
  4. How does Vatican II place the pope within the college of bishops?
  5. What does Matthew 16:18 mean in the Catholic reading, and what are the other readings?
  6. Which objection seems strongest, and how would a Catholic reply?

Examples

The Assumption of Mary, 1950

In 1950 Pius XII, after consulting the bishops, defined that Mary was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory. It is the clearest modern example that Catholics cite of an ex cathedra definition. Orthodox Christians also honor the Dormition of Mary, but deny the pope’s right to define it. Protestants say there is no scriptural basis.

A papal encyclical on social questions

A pope writes a letter to the whole church on labor and justice. Catholics treat it as authoritative teaching to be received with respect, and not as an infallible definition. The line between the two is part of what a Catholic student learns. (A constructed example.)

Ut Unum Sint

In 1995 John Paul II wrote that he was ready to find a way of exercising the primacy that, while in no way renouncing what is essential to its mission, is open to a new situation. It is an example of Catholic acknowledgement that the exercise of the papacy can be rethought, and that other Christians have a stake in it.

Different perspectives

Catholic

The pope is the visible head of the church on earth, the successor of Peter, and a servant of unity. Infallibility is a gift for the preservation of the faith, and applies only in defined conditions. Catholics hold that without such a ministry, the church is without a final voice. Many Catholics also welcome a more collegial exercise of the papacy.

Orthodox

Orthodox theologians accept that Rome held a primacy of honor in the early church and that its bishops often spoke with great weight. They hold that the 1870 definitions overturned the balance of the early church, in which primacy and conciliarity were joined, and that they are an obstacle to reunion. Some Orthodox writers have said that a primacy of a kind could be discussed after reconciliation.

Protestant

Protestants broadly reject papal primacy of jurisdiction and infallibility, holding that Christ alone is the head of the church and that only Scripture is the final norm. A few Protestants, including some Lutherans and Anglicans in official dialogues, have said that a universal ministry of unity might be accepted if exercised in a way that serves the gospel.

Scholarly view

Historians note that Vatican I was held during political crisis, that many bishops had doubts, and that the definition was formed by debates between different Catholic schools. They also note that the council’s text is more careful than popular accounts. Catholic and non-Catholic scholars agree on these facts and differ on their significance.

Why it matters

The papacy is the main point of Catholic difference from both Orthodox and Protestant Christians, and the central issue in most discussions of reunion. It is also easily misrepresented. Stating the definition exactly, including what it excludes, allows a student to understand the real claim and to examine objections to it, not to an exaggerated version.

Common misunderstandings

Misunderstanding: Catholics believe the pope can never sin or be wrong.

Correction: Catholic teaching limits infallibility to solemn definitions of faith or morals for the whole church. Popes confess their sins like other Catholics, and may be mistaken in many matters.

Misunderstanding: The pope invents new doctrines.

Correction: Vatican I states that the pope has no power to make new revelation. A definition declares what is held to be contained in the faith already received.

Misunderstanding: The pope is a dictator who can overrule any bishop.

Correction: The council described his power as universal and immediate but also as supporting the power of bishops, who are true pastors. Vatican II added the teaching on the college of bishops.

Misunderstanding: Infallibility has been used often.

Correction: Theologians commonly count very few ex cathedra definitions, and most Catholic doctrine comes from councils and the ordinary teaching of the bishops.

Knowledge check

What did Vatican I define about primacy?

That Christ gave Peter a true primacy of jurisdiction, and the Roman pontiffs are his successors, so the pope has full, supreme, ordinary and immediate power over the whole church in faith, morals, discipline and government. It also said this does not diminish the power of the bishops.

What conditions apply to an ex cathedra definition?

The pope must speak in his office as pastor and teacher of all Christians, use his supreme apostolic authority, define a doctrine of faith or morals, and intend that the whole church hold it. Outside those conditions, his teaching is authoritative but not claimed to be infallible.

How does Vatican II relate the pope to the bishops?

It teaches that the bishops with the pope as head form a college with supreme power over the whole church, and that bishops are vicars of Christ in their own dioceses and not merely agents of the pope. It restates Vatican I and does not revoke it.

State one Orthodox objection and one Protestant objection.

Orthodox: the early church knew only a primacy of honor, and doctrine was decided by councils received by the whole church. Protestant: the New Testament does not establish successors to Peter, Matthew 16 may refer to his confession, and Scripture is the final norm.

Think it through

  1. What problems might a universal teaching office solve, and what new problems might it create?
  2. Is a primacy of honor really different from a primacy of jurisdiction? What would show it?
  3. How should a student treat the claim that the definition of 1870 clarified what was already believed?
  4. What would a form of primacy acceptable to all Christians need to include or exclude?

Independent assignment

The text of Pastor Aeternus

In your notebook, read chapters 1 to 4 of Pastor Aeternus (in the library or in the Vatican I decrees) and Lumen Gentium 18 to 25. Write a one-page summary of what the council defined, including what it did not define. Then write 250 to 350 words presenting the strongest Orthodox objection and the strongest Protestant objection in their own terms, and the Catholic reply to each. Keep the work in your notebook.

Further study