Bob Crowley #34
I’ll give you my thoughts on “Papal Infallibility”. It was brought in as part of Vatican I in 1870. Prior to that the Church got along without it, and it still doesn’t need it. All it achieves is a barrier to Church Unity.
The doctrine of Papal infallibility is found in Scripture (Mt 16:17-19; Jn 21: 15-17; Mt 28:19-20; 1 Tim 3:15), and for the final proposed definition of Vatican I there were 471 bishops for and 130 against; more than two-thirds bishops for. Sixty-six bishops then returned to their dioceses before the Public Session, but all eventually declared full acceptance of the defined doctrine. [Dr Leslie Rumble, *Questions People Ask, Chevalier, 1975, p 159].
So much for your divisive “thoughts”.
**A Return to Infallibility, with Help from Newman
By Dr. Jeff Mirus | Apr 16, 2013 **
Extract:
“Newman, you may recall, was opposed – not to the concept that the pope was infallible, which he believed – but to the manner in which the aggressive ultramontanists (who had no love for Newman) sought (but did not get) a decree which would make the pope infallible nearly every time he opened his mouth to sneeze.
catholicculture.org/commentary/otc.cfm?id=1071
Here’s a summary of Newman’s thoughts on Papal Infallibility from Wikipedia
That source cannot be relied upon. In fact, John Henry Cardinal Newman himself stressed in
An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine
Chapter 2. On the Antecedent Argument in behalf of Developments in Christian Doctrine
Extract:
“
The absolute need of a spiritual supremacy is at present the strongest of arguments in favour of the fact of its supply. Surely, either an objective revelation has not been given, or it has been provided with means for impressing its objectiveness on the world. If Christianity be a social religion, as it certainly is, and if it be based on certain ideas acknowledged as divine, or a creed, (which shall here be assumed,) and if these ideas have various aspects, and make distinct impressions on different minds, and issue in consequence in a multiplicity of developments, true, or false, or mixed, as has been shown, what power will suffice to meet and to do justice to these conflicting conditions, but a supreme authority ruling and reconciling individual judgments by a divine right and a recognized wisdom? In barbarous times the will is reached through the senses; but in an age in which reason, as it is called, is the standard of {90} truth and right,
it is abundantly evident to any one, who mixes ever so little with the world, that, if things are left to themselves, every individual will have his own view of them, and take his own course; that two or three will agree today to part company tomorrow; that Scripture will be read in contrary ways, and history, according to the apologue, will have to different comers its silver shield and its golden; that philosophy, taste, prejudice, passion, party, caprice, will find no common measure, unless there be some supreme power to control the mind and to compel agreement.” [My emphasis].
newmanreader.org/Works/development/chapter2.html#present
Catholic answers
Did Cardinal Newman initially reject the doctrine of papal infallibility?
Full Question
Is it true that Cardinal John Henry Newman, the Anglican convert from the Oxford Movement of the last century, rejected the doctrine of papal infallibility up until the definition at Vatican I and only accepted it out of obedience afterward?
Answer
No, it is not true. Cardinal Newman professed that he personally believed that the pope must be infallible, but he questioned the issuing of a formal definition of the doctrine at that particular time. He was not alone among the Church hierarchy in holding this opinion and was perfectly within his rights to do so.
Once the definition was issued he embraced it unhesitatingly. [My emphasis].
catholic.com/quickquestions/did-cardinal-newman-initially-reject-the-doctrine-of-papal-infallibility
And why was it brought in? Because the then magisterium was afraid of “modernity”, and felt threatened!
On the contrary the faithful are being protected from Gallicanism, ultramontanism, and the other heresies through the years:
“14. In recalling these essential points of Catholic doctrine on the primacy of Peter’s Successor, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is certain that the authoritative reaffirmation of these doctrinal achievements offers greater clarity on the way to be followed. **This reminder is also useful for avoiding the continual possibility of relapsing into biased and one-sided positions already rejected by the Church in the past (Febronianism, Gallicanism, ultramontanism, conciliarism, etc.). **Above all, by seeing the ministry of the Servant of the servants of God as a great gift of divine mercy to the Church, we will all find with the grace of the Holy Spirit - the energy to live and faithfully maintain full and real union with the Roman Pontiff in the everyday life of the Church, in the way desired by Christ.45” [My emphasis].
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
THE PRIMACY OF THE SUCCESSOR OF PETER IN THE MYSTERY OF THE CHURCH
vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19981031_primato-successore-pietro_en.html
We need to be converted daily to Christ and his teachings because we are in a war for our souls against the world, the flesh, and the devil. Ask for God’s help in all sincerity with those things that you struggle and he will guide you into understanding your place before him and in his Church–something we all must do in our fallen state.