- Can I be Catholic and not believe in the infallibility of the Pope?
First, I’d suggest you do a LOT of study on just exactly what “infallibility” means before you use it as any kind of decision maker. It means different things to different people. I believe that “infallibility” actually pertains to “ex cathedra” announcements. Literally, “from the chair” as in, of one’s position.
Personally I have no problem with the Pope being making ex cathedra announcements, as the right given to him by the chair. He is allowed to say what is sinful and what is not, according to the Church. Because he is in charge of the Church. So he is infallible as in there is no second-guessing allowed within the Church.
There are two problems I have with it. First, there is apparently no systematic way to determine whether any given pronouncement by a pope is ex cathedra. It usually ends up in matters of opinion among whoever is arguing about it. For example I’ve seen extended discussions among what seemed like scholars, over the wording and how certain phrases make it “more likely” that a pope was writing ex cathedra on any given document. I’ve even seen lengthy threads debating whether “Humanae Vitae,” or portions of it, is ex cathedra. So to me there is a definition problem. And as far as I’ve been able to figure out, there is no one particular authority who can decisively pronounce whether any given document is ex cathedra. If I’m wrong about that, I’m begging somebody to tell me who can actually make such a determination, and how we are supposed to access the decisions of that person(s).
The second problem is with the idea that everything a pope says, that is somehow determined to be ex cathedra, is the Absolute Truth of God. In other words, its authority carries beyond the Catholic Church and applies to everything even non-Catholic. I honestly don’t know if this is what is meant by ex cathedra, but if it is then I’m not necessarily able to believe it.
And I say “able to believe it” because I cannot just decide what I believe. I can decide what I profess, and I can wish I believed something, and I can pretend I believe it, but my “core beliefs” are not subject to my will. I either believe something or I don’t. I might fool someone into thinking I do or don’t believe something, even myself. So I reject the notion that we “must” believe or we are in a state of sin. Because IMO belief is not subject to will, and without a will to sin there is no sin. Except possible for what people have recently posted on other threads that even honest mistakes and accidents are venial sins, although I’m not buying that at this time.
That said, come on and join the Church. Really, we have everything. Yes we have our disagreements, but so does every religion, including atheism. And of course on this forums we all think we’re geniuses and others who disagree are “less than.”
But if you know where to look, you will find an amazingly rich treasure trove of information and ideas and resources and traditions that can help with the spiritual journey, that I suspect is unmatched by other religions – western ones, anyway.
Alan
) - but I only see ‘infallible’ as an adjective meaning Incapable of making mistakes or being wrong.
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