What was the last infallible statement by a pope?

[Don_Ruggero]

From the perspective of the vast majority of the theological community, the most recent exercise of papal infallibility would have been October 18th of last year and the canonisations of the four saints who were canonised that day.

 

[StBenedictLabre]

This guy makes lots of judgements against Ordinatio Sacerdotalis being infallibly declared. I wouldn’t be fit to argue with him. Some of you on here might want to take a look at it and give your say…

astro.temple.edu/~arcc/burns.htm

 

[StBenedictLabre]

Below is a statement according to Fr. Robert Burns, a Jesuit on the whether or not Ordinatio Sacerdotalis is infallible. From the link I gave. Keep in mind, he appears to be in favour of women’s ordination so he may have an agenda…

"Ordinatio sacerdotalis was declared by the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to be a teaching act that was, and I quote, “not itself infallible.” It was made explicit by the Congregation at the press conference held to publicize its Responsio ad dubium (relating to the Apostolic Letter) that ordinatio sacerdotalis was NOT an exercise of the pope’s extraordinary infallible magisterium. This was reiterated in the official Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano at the time, and both these points were noted by Fr. Avery Dulles, S.J. (a noted opponent of women’s ordination) in an article he wrote for The Tablet last year. I won’t go looking for the exact details and more extensive quotes, because I’ve done this before in other fora and I can’t be bothered now, since I lost the relevant e-mail files and the relevant information concerning exact references and dates, etc. But these are the facts. If you don’t believe me, hunt them out for yourself.

Now, the next question we must ask: is the CDF’s opinion about the infallible status of the doctrine itself infallible? The answer is definitely NO. Why? Because NOTHING the CDF says is EVER infallibly said. The CDF is not the pope speaking ex cathedra, nor is it a valid ecumenical council, nor is it the College of Bishops in union with the pope. The only way a doctrine can be infallibly taught is by one of the 3 modes of infallible teaching I described above. The CDF can give an opinion about if or when a teaching has been infallibly taught, but ITS OPINION IS ITSELF ALWAYS FALLIBLE. THE CDF IS NOT ENDOWED WITH INFALLIBILITY. Of course, the CDF can state a doctrine which has been infallibly taught. But so can anyone. If I simply repeated an infallibly defined doctrine, such as the Assumption, I would say something which has been infallibly taught. I would be uttering an infallible truth. But I would not be infallible then or ever. Same with the CDF. Its opinion on this as on any other matter is fallible."

 

[commenter]

This guy makes lots of judgements against Ordinatio Sacerdotalis being infallibly declared. I wouldn’t be fit to argue with him. Some of you on here might want to take a look at it and give your say…

astro.temple.edu/~arcc/burns.htm

He’s not orthodox.

No reason to argue with him, or seriously consider him. He has dissented from the Magisterium on many issues, not just this one. I can quote people with doctorates in Theology, who say abortion should be legal, who say there is no God, who believe the pope is the antichrist, who reject those who do not accept the Book of Mormon as inspired, etc.

All those experts have views on papal infallibility, like this man. Why bother, we just don’t have time to refute the million or so experts who weigh in on the infallibility issue. For me, being in union with the Magisterium is part of being a credible expert. He is not.

 

[StBenedictLabre]

He’s not orthodox.

No reason to argue with him, or seriously consider him. He has dissented from the Magisterium on many issues, not just this one. I can quote people with doctorates in Theology, who say abortion should be legal, who say there is no God, who believe the pope is the antichrist, who reject those who do not accept the Book of Mormon as inspired, etc.

All those experts have views on papal infallibility, like this man. Why bother, we just don’t have time to refute the million or so experts who weigh in on the infallibility issue.

Apologies commenter - I was wrong and I stand corrected. I accept the infallibility of the document as declared by CDF. My mistake…

 

[Brendan]

According to Wikipedia, “Ordinatio Sacerdotalis was not issued under the extraordinary papal magisterium as an ex cathedra statement, and is so not considered infallible in itself”

Ordinatio Sacerdotalis is not an infallible teaching because it does not define a teaching relating to faith or morals…

Ordinatio Sacredotalis is infallible as a part of the Ordinary Infallible Magisterium of the Church.

It is infallible because it is part of the body of Sacred Tradition that was received from Christ by the Apostles and has been handed down since.

So the article is correct, it is not infallible by it’s own authority, but rather, Pope John Paul II was stating was is, and always has been, an infallible teaching of the Church.

CONCERNING THE TEACHING CONTAINED IN ORDINATIO SACERDOTALIS RESPONSUM AD DUBIUM

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

October 28, 1995

Dubium: Whether the teaching that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women, which is presented in the Apostolic Letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis to be held definitively, is to be understood as belonging to the deposit of faith.

Responsum: In the affirmative.

This teaching requires definitive assent, since, founded on the written Word of God, and from the beginning constantly preserved and applied in the Tradition of the Church, it has been set forth infallibly by the ordinary and universal Magisterium (cf. Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium 25, 2). Thus, in the present circumstances, the Roman Pontiff, exercising his proper office of confirming the brethren (cf. Lk 22:32), has handed on this same teaching by a formal declaration, explicitly stating what is to be held always, everywhere, and by all, as belonging to the deposit of the faith.

The Sovereign Pontiff John Paul II, at the Audience granted to the undersigned Cardinal Prefect, approved this Reply, adopted in the ordinary session of this Congregation, and ordered it to be published.

Rome, from the offices of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, on the Feast of the Apostles SS. Simon and Jude, October 28, 1995.

Joseph Card. Ratzinger
Prefect

ewtn.com/library/curia/cdfrespo.htm

 

[StBenedictLabre]

Ordinatio Sacredotalis is infallible as a part of the Ordinary Infallible Magisterium of the Church.

It is infallible because it is part of the body of Sacred Tradition that was received from Christ by the Apostles and has been handed down since.

So the article is correct, it is not infallible by it’s own authority, but rather, Pope John Paul II was stating was is, and always has been, an infallible teaching of the Church.

ewtn.com/library/curia/cdfrespo.htm

Oh ok. Yeah, I realized a few minutes ago that I had perceived the document wrongly, Brendan. Thanks for clarifying that. Sorry again…

 

[porthos11]

What about ORDINATIO SACERDOTALIS OF JOHN PAUL II from 1994?

" ORDINATIO SACERDOTALIS: AN EXERCISE OF INFALLIBILITY"

“I have been astonished over the past few days at how many commentators, including Catholics widely known for their orthodoxy, have hastened to state that the Pope’s recent Apostolic Letter, “Ordinatio Sacerdotalis”, is not infallible.** In fact, it is a textbook case of infallibility in action.**”
ewtn.com/library/ISSUES/ORDIN.TXT

This, in fact, is what I truly believe to be the most recent infallible declaration (extraordinary/Papal magisterium) by a Pope. And I really mean, the document itself is infallible; not merely restating infallible teaching of the ordinary Magisterium. All the required criteria are met.

 

[twf]

This, in fact, is what I truly believe to be the most recent infallible declaration (extraordinary/Papal magisterium) by a Pope. And I really mean, the document itself is infallible; not merely restating infallible teaching of the ordinary Magisterium. All the required criteria are met.

Joseph Ratzinger disagrees with you.

Whenever the question of infallibility comes up, people always jump to papal infallibility. The Church is infallible. The infallibilty of the Church can be exercised in three ways: by the pope alone exercising his extraordinary magisterium, by an ecumenical council exercising the extraordinary magisterium, or by the pope and bishops throughout the world exercising the ordinary magisterium. The first scenario (pope alone) is extremely rare. There is no doubt that the doctrine in question (the ordination of women) is infallible - but it didn’t require an infallible papal decree… It has always been infallible by virtue of the ordinary magisterium. The intrinsic evil of contraception falls into the same category. Pope Paul VI didn’t promulgate any new dogmas. He didn’t exercise papal infallibility. He, like St John Paul, used his apostolic authority to reiterate what the ordinary magisterium infallibly teaches.

 

[alwayswill]

This, in fact, is what I truly believe to be the most recent infallible declaration (extraordinary/Papal magisterium) by a Pope. And I really mean, the document itself is infallible; not merely restating infallible teaching of the ordinary Magisterium. All the required criteria are met.

“And I really mean, the document itself is infallible”
I have been told multiple times by other Catholics here at CAF that is no such thing as an infallible document.

 

[porthos11]

Joseph Ratzinger disagrees with you.

Whenever the question of infallibility comes up, people always jump to papal infallibility. The Church is infallible. The infallibilty of the Church can be exercised in three ways: by the pope alone exercising his extraordinary magisterium, by an ecumenical council exercising the extraordinary magisterium, or by the pope and bishops throughout the world exercising the ordinary magisterium. The first scenario (pope alone) is extremely rare. There is no doubt that the doctrine in question (the ordination of women) is infallible - but it didn’t require an infallible papal decree… It has always been infallible by virtue of the ordinary magisterium. The intrinsic evil of contraception falls into the same category. Pope Paul VI didn’t promulgate any new dogmas. He didn’t exercise papal infallibility. He, like St John Paul, used his apostolic authority to reiterate what the ordinary magisterium infallibly teaches.

And I’m insisting. I’m convinced OS is an exercise of the extraordinary magisterium, i.e. papal infallibility, not merely a restatement of the infallible ordinary magisterium.

 

[clem456]

**The teaching office
**
888 Bishops, with priests as co-workers, have as their first task “to preach the Gospel of God to all men,” in keeping with the Lord’s command.415 They are “heralds of faith, who draw new disciples to Christ; they are authentic teachers” of the apostolic faith "endowed with the authority of Christ."416

889 In order to preserve the Church in the purity of the faith handed on by the apostles, Christ who is the Truth willed to confer on her a share in his own infallibility. By a “supernatural sense of faith” the People of God, under the guidance of the Church’s living Magisterium, "unfailingly adheres to this faith."417

890 The mission of the Magisterium is linked to the definitive nature of the covenant established by God with his people in Christ. It is this Magisterium’s task to preserve God’s people from deviations and defections and to guarantee them the objective possibility of professing the true faith without error. Thus, the pastoral duty of the Magisterium is aimed at seeing to it that the People of God abides in the truth that liberates. To fulfill this service, Christ endowed the Church’s shepherds with the charism of infallibility in matters of faith and morals. The exercise of this charism takes several forms:

891 “The Roman Pontiff, head of the college of bishops, enjoys this infallibility in virtue of his office, when, as supreme pastor and teacher of all the faithful - who confirms his brethren in the faith he proclaims by a definitive act a doctrine pertaining to faith or morals. . . . The infallibility promised to the Church is also present in the body of bishops when, together with Peter’s successor, they exercise the supreme Magisterium,” above all in an Ecumenical Council.418 When the Church through its supreme Magisterium proposes a doctrine "for belief as being divinely revealed,"419 and as the teaching of Christ, the definitions "must be adhered to with the obedience of faith."420 This infallibility extends as far as the deposit of divine Revelation itself.421

892 Divine assistance is also given to the successors of the apostles, teaching in communion with the successor of Peter, and, in a particular way, to the bishop of Rome, pastor of the whole Church, when, without arriving at an infallible definition and without pronouncing in a "definitive manner," they propose in the exercise of the ordinary Magisterium a teaching that leads to better understanding of Revelation in matters of faith and morals. To this ordinary teaching the faithful "are to adhere to it with religious assent"422 which, though distinct from the assent of faith, is nonetheless an extension of it.

 

[alwayswill]

yes, ALL teachings of the Church, whether infallibly defined or not are authoritative.

but if and when teaching of the church changes; shouldn’t you know in advance if that teaching was considered infallible or not?
ex : does the Church teach that is a mortal sin for a divorced and remarried (in a sexual relationship) Catholic to receive the Eucharist?
Is that an infallible teaching?

 

[Marie5890]

Last statement?

That Mother Teresa is a saint.
Raising someone to the alter is an infallible statement.

 

[Abu]

Ordinatio Sacerdotalis contains an infallible definition.
See:
Joseph Card. Ratzinger
Prefect
ewtn.com/library/curia/cdfrespo.htm

My notes on the above:

1. It “has been”, that is already, “infallibly proposed by the ordinary and universal Magisterium.”
2. “Therefore” – precisely because the Holy Father knew that the doctrine had been taught already by the ordinary and universal Magisterium that he felt obliged to reassert it by a “formal declaration”.
3. The Pope’s own words in Ordinatio Sacerdotalis: *definitive tenendum *mean precisely “requiring to be held definitively.”

Thus the teaching in Ordinatio Sacerdotalis is *ex cathedra *as now a formal declaration, to be held definitively, as belonging to the deposit of faith.

See Ordinatio Sacerdotalis: A definition ex cathedra
Ignatius Press, 1999, Homiletic & Pastoral Review
catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=835

**Answer by David M. Gregson, Ph.D. of EWTN to me on Nov-22-2002: **
“You are correct in stating that the Pope exercises his charism of infallibility not only in dogmatic definitions issued, ex cathedra, as divinely revealed (of which there have been only two), but also in doctrines definitively proposed by him, also ex cathedra, which would include canonizations (that they are in fact Saints, enjoying the Beatific Vision in heaven), moral teachings (such as contained in Humanae vitae), and other doctrines he has taught as necessarily connected with truths divinely revealed, such as that priestly ordination is reserved to men. Further details on levels of certainty with which the teachings of the Magisterium (either the Pope alone, or in company with his Bishops) may be found in Summary of Categories of Belief.”

 

[alwayswill]

From the perspective of the vast majority of the theological community, the most recent exercise of papal infallibility would have been October 18th of last year and the canonisations of the four saints who were canonised that day.

Last statement?

That Mother Teresa is a saint.
Raising someone to the alter is an infallible statement.

EWTN disagrees:

Q: When the Pope presides over an ordinary public consistory regarding the cause of canonization of three blesseds, as Benedict XVI did last February in the Vatican Apostolic Palace for Guido Maria Conforti, Luigi Guanella and Bonifacia Rodríguez de Castro,** is the proclamation made at the consistory — that the blesseds are saints — an infallible proclamation? **— R.J., Villanova, Pennsylvania
**
A: The short answer is no, or at least not yet. **

 

[Abu]

The Pope speaks infallibly in Canonization.
**
Answer by Matthew Bunson [EWTN] on 09-18-2004:**
Beatification is the tentative decision to permit limited veneration and culminates in full canonization, by which an irrevocable decree is issued by the pope prescribing universal veneration. **In canonizing a person, the pope speaks infallibly and for the whole Church, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. **The person’s name is entered in the canon of the saints, listing all who are to receive veneration universally in the Church. Canonization is an earthly decision, which means that it has nothing to do with the actual entry of a saint into heaven. [My emphasis].
ewtn.com/v/experts/showresult.asp?RecNum=411762&Forums=0&Experts=0&Days=2001&Author=&Keyword=sainthood&pgnu=2&groupnum=0&record_bookmark=90

 

[alwayswill]

The Pope speaks infallibly in Canonization.
**
Answer by Matthew Bunson [EWTN] on 09-18-2004:**
Beatification is the tentative decision to permit limited veneration and culminates in full canonization, by which an irrevocable decree is issued by the pope prescribing universal veneration. In canonizing a person, the pope speaks infallibly and for the whole Church, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The person’s name is entered in the canon of the saints, listing all who are to receive veneration universally in the Church. Canonization is an earthly decision, which means that it has nothing to do with the actual entry of a saint into heaven. [My emphasis].
ewtn.com/v/experts/showresult.asp?RecNum=411762&Forums=0&Experts=0&Days=2001&Author=&Keyword=sainthood&pgnu=2&groupnum=0&record_bookmark=90

Canonizations and Infallibility
Answered by Legionary of Christ Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum university. 23 AUG. 2011

Q: When the Pope presides over an ordinary public consistory regarding the cause of canonization of three blesseds, as Benedict XVI did last February in the Vatican Apostolic Palace for Guido Maria Conforti, Luigi Guanella and Bonifacia Rodríguez de Castro, **is the proclamation made at the consistory — that the blesseds are saints — an infallible proclamation? **— R.J., Villanova, Pennsylvania

A: The short answer is no, or at least not yet

ewtn.com/library/Liturgy/zlitur373.htm

Papal infallibility was defined by Vatican I in 1870, 16 years after Pope Pius IX had solemnly declared the Immaculate Conception of Mary.

Various people have gone backwards from 1870 and sometimes inaccurately labeled various statements as infallible.

The pope’s infallibility in his extraordinary magisterium (teaching role) has been used only once since 1870—when Pope Pius XII solemnly defined in 1950 that belief in Mary’s Assumption is part of Catholic faith. Belief in that teaching had long been reflected in the Church’s liturgy.
**
Since 1870, some people have argued that canonizing a saint is an infallible act, but that assertion is a debatable point at this time.**

americancatholic.org/Messenger/Aug2004/Wiseman.asp

 

[Abu]

Alwayswill #39
The pope’s infallibility in his extraordinary magisterium (teaching role) has been used only once since 1870—when Pope Pius XII solemnly defined in 1950 that belief in Mary’s Assumption is part of Catholic faith. Belief in that teaching had long been reflected in the Church’s liturgy.

As the pope teaches infallibly in his Ordinary Magisterium, choosing the Extraordinary Magisterium as a generalization here is unrealistic and therefore deceptive.

May I point out that while a “dogma” (as in The Assumption) is the highest form of teaching, it is not the only form of infallible teaching, which I think you have not realised.

So, the three levels are:
**1) Dogma – infallible (Canon #750.1) **to be believed with the assent of divine and Catholic faith.
2) Doctrine – infallible (Canon #750.2) requires the assent of ecclesial faith, to be “firmly embraced and held”.
3) Doctrine – non-definitive (non-infallible) and requires intellectual assent (“loyal submission of the will and intellect”, Vatican II, Lumen Gentium 25), not an assent of faith. [See the Explanatory Note on Ad Tuendam Fidem by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith]
ewtn.com/library/CURIA/CDFADTU.HTM

Thus there is even non-infallible doctrinal teaching to which loyal submission of the intellect and will must be given if one is to be a faithful Catholic.

 

[Don_Ruggero]

EWTN disagrees:

Q: When the Pope presides over an ordinary public consistory regarding the cause of canonization of three blesseds, as Benedict XVI did last February in the Vatican Apostolic Palace for Guido Maria Conforti, Luigi Guanella and Bonifacia Rodríguez de Castro,** is the proclamation made at the consistory — that the blesseds are saints — an infallible proclamation? **— R.J., Villanova, Pennsylvania
**
A: The short answer is no, or at least not yet. **

No, because you are confusing the public consistory with the actual canonisation, which does not occur at the consistory. The consistory is the ceremonial consent of the Cardinals present in Rome to the question posed to them about canonising the proposed Blesseds. Presiding at the consistory can be delegated to a Cardinal, as occurred in the last consistory of Pope John Paul II. For that matter, beatifications, before and after John Paul II, were also delegated to Cardinals.