kfarose2585:
I think I understand most of the doctrine surrounding papal infallibility, but one thing is still unclear to me: what if the Pope says or does something radically anti-Catholic? What if, in an encyclical, something possess the Holy Father to promote homosexuality and abortion? Surely that means that he has lost his “infallibility.” But what does the Church do in such a circumstance? Has something like this happened before?
Okay, it appears you don’t have a grasp on papal infallibity. Let’s go back to the beginning. Frist, papal infallibilty is a “negative protection.” That is, it protects the Church from error, it does not mean the pope is always right. Second, the pope must take a specific action for his teaching to be infallible: it must be done in his role as the head of the Church, it must be binding on all Christians, and it must touch on matters of faith or morals. Canonically it must also be clear that he intends this teaching to be infallible. This is called the Extraordinary Magisterium which the pope can exercise.
Papal writings are, in general, infallible only in so far as they contain the teachings of the Ordinary Magisterium, that is, the constant teachings of the Church. Further, while writings of the pope are held to be valid teachings of the Church, they carry different weights depending on the method of their presentation. An encyclical is a fairly high level teaching by the pope. A
moto proprio (by his own hand) could be anything, but it is usually a directive written by the pope himself. The highest level of papal teaching short of an infallible one is an Apostolic Constitution.
Has a pope ever written something contrary to Church teaching? No, but one came close. Pope Honorius wrote a document that did not deny Catholic teaching, but appeared to accept a heretical position.
There are so many safeguards against a pope writing something contrary to the faith that it is, at least in this day and age, virtually impossible for it to happen.
Deacon Ed
