The Infallibility Act of the Pope
Fact or Fiction of the Belief in Papal Infallibility
Exploring the beginnings and truth behind the Infallibility Act of Pope Pius IX.
Although there were standing Pope for approximately one thousand eight hundred and forty years before, in 1870 a Pope named Pius IX declared in what is now called ‘The Infallibility Act’ that in teaching circumstances that he is in fact acting as if he were completely infallible.
In fact, here is exactly what Pope Pius IX did say about himself, all former Pontiffs, and the ones yet to come;
“The Roman Pontiff, when speaking en cathedra, that is, when in the exercise of his office and teacher of all Christians, he defines by virtue of his supreme apostolic authority the doctrine concerning faith and morals to be held by the universal Church, is, by the divine assistance promised to him in the person of St. Peter, possessed of that infallibility where with the divine Redeemer wishes His Church should be endowed in defining doctrine concerning faith and morals; and that for this cause such definitions of the Roman Pontiff are irreformable of themselves and not because of the consent of the church.” - Vicars of Christ, p.250)
Facts
This is quite a sentence, in one lengthy and politically appearing statement, he has told any opposition to what he says, “You are wrong, and I am right”. With the powerful and immense Roman Catholic Church behind him, Pope Pius IX has stated that when talking about anything that has to do with the church and religions he and anyone else that has ever held the life long office at the Vatican, cannot for any reason what so ever be wrong.
Discrediting Fact #1: Galileo
Here is where we run into catch 22’s so to speak all over the place. Let’s look at three instances that shoot a few holes into Pope Pius’ decree. First let us look at the story of Galileo.
Galileo, as most know still to this day, contrary to the beliefs of his day, stated that the Sun did not revolve around the Earth, but it was in fact the other way around. This was the year 1633, Pope Urban VIII was going to have none of this science that was opposed to the teachings of the book of Genesis. With an inquisitor and guards present while he was writing the next statement, Galileo sealed the fate of himself for the remainder of his life. Here is what Galileo wrote to satisfy the Pope;
“Wishing to remove from the minds of your Eminences and all faithful Christians this vehement suspicion reasonably conceived against me, I abjure with sincere heart and unfeigned faith, I curse and detest the said errors and heresies, and generally all and every error and sect contrary to the Holy Catholic Church. And I swear that for the future I will neither say nor assert in speaking or writing such things as may bring upon me similar suspicion; and if I know any heretic, or one suspected of heresy, I will denounce him to this Holy Office, or to the Inquisitor and Ordinary of the place in which I may be.”
Good thing this sounds heart felt and not forced in any way. Galileo then spent the next nine years after his great scientific find under house arrest until his death in 1642.
The first error by Pope Urban VIII was that in this completely religious matter, the interpretation of the first book of the Bible, he was in fact wrong. The Bible was in error in the fact that the Earth had the Sun revolving around it. The second error in Papal judgment came a few years later, as after the death of Galileo the standing Pope at the time did come out and say that he was correct, the Earth did in fact travel around the Sun. This, incredibly, was Pope John Paul II on December 26th, 1991, 358 years later.
Discrediting Fact #2: Saint or No Saint
The second incident we will look into is the Canonizing of Saints and then years later having them removed from the list of Saints for one reason or another. This is a relatively simple argument, since a Pope somewhere down the line saw through his ‘infallibility’ that a man through his works and deeds in life was worthy of Sainthood, how could a future Pope decide through his ‘infallibility’ that the already canonized saint was really not worthy of the title (i.e. St. Christopher, St. Nicholas, and St. Valentine to name a few of the more popular almost 200 revoked saints). This being another of the catch 22’s that we see.
Discrediting Fact #3: The History of The Assumption of Mary
Last and most definitive is the dogma of the Assumption of Mary, officially declared on November 1, 1950, was rejected as heresy by Pope Gelasius in 495 C.E. Not even one hundred years after that, Pope Hormisdas condemned as heretics any authors that taught the doctrine of the Assumption of Mary. Hormisdas was condemned as a heretic himself around a hundred years after that at the Sixth Ecumenical Council (680-681 C.E.) So now we have an ‘Infallible Heretic’, interesting.
Conclusion
There are other differences to be found, some that came be proven such as the inquisitions, the witch hunts throughout Europe, Mary Magdalene as a prostitute, Jesus having no siblings, and many more. As a personal note, it seems plainly obvious to me that the ‘Infallibility Act of Pope Pius IX was simply a political move used at a time when the Church was losing its hold to quiet the opposition to the Vatican, and nothing more.
