Why do Catholics believe the pope is infallible?

Answer 1

The pope is only infallible when speaking ex cathedra(from the chair) and only in matters of faith and morals and only after years of study and consultation with all the bishops. It has only been invoked twice in recent centuries - the doctrine of the Assumption of Mary and the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. However, when a pope declares a person to be a saint it is also considered infallible.


Catholics believe the pope to be infallible when speaking ex cathedra on matters of faith and morals. This is based on the decision of the First Vatican Council, in 1870, documented in Pastor Aeternalis, chapter 6:
9. Therefore, faithfully adhering to the tradition received from the beginning of the christian faith, to the glory of God our savior, for the exaltation of the Catholic religion and for the salvation of the christian people, with the approval of the Sacred Council, we teach and define as a divinely revealed dogma that when the Roman Pontiff speaks EX CATHEDRA, that is, when, in the exercise of his office as shepherd and teacher of all Christians, in virtue of his supreme apostolic authority, he defines a doctrine concerning faith or morals to be held by the whole Church, he possesses, by the divine assistance promised to him in blessed Peter, that infallibility which the divine Redeemer willed his Church to enjoy in defining doctrine concerning faith or morals. Therefore, such definitions of the Roman Pontiff are of themselves, and not by the consent of the Church, irreformable. [My emphasis in bold]

Bishop Geoffrey Robinson (Confronting Power and Sex in the Catholic Church) asks how a council can infallibly declare the infallibility of the pope unless we assume in advance that the council was itself infallible. In the absence of infallibility on the part of the First Vatican Council, the pronouncement inPastor Aeternalis is no more than an opinion.
In the same document, the council appears to have limited that infallibility, by limiting the pope to jealously guarding and explaining what was handed down through the apostles, and not the ability to disclose a new doctrine by revelation (chapter 4):
6. For the Holy Spirit was promised to the successors of Peter not so that they might, by his revelation, make known some new doctrine, but that, by his assistance, they might religiously guard and faithfully expound the revelation or deposit of faith transmitted by the apostles.

The council may not have intended to have one clause limit the other in this way. The pope's pronouncement on the Assumption of the virgin Mary was certainly not handed down through the apostles, so even if the pope is indeed infallible on certain matters Robinson believes this clause means that the pope was assuming an infallibility he did not have in this case.

The consequence is that (i) there is reasonable doubt whether Catholics ought to hold the pope to be infallible; and (ii) there is further doubt as to whether the pope ought to be regarded as infallible when making pronouncements such as on the Assumption of Mary.

Answer 2

Another answer from our community:

I'm not a Catholic myself, but I'm pretty sure they believe it is because he is 'protected by God', and that he is sort of God's extension on Earth. Also, the pope lets the people know how in debt they are to their God, and how they are constantly in danger for eternal damnation. People don't want to spend the rest of their life in heck, so they hang onto the Pope's every word, so that they don't have to.

Also it's just easier to follow somebody else's moral decisions than to make your own.

Added:

Well, according to Catholic teachings the Pope is infallible when it comes to tenets of faith. The Pope is still human and capable of making errors. The belief is that when a matter of central faith of the church is at issue, God communicates directly through the Pope. At these times the Pope acknowledges that the message or act is part of the dogma and directly from God himself. At these times and only these times do Catholics believe that the Pope is infallible.

Added:

The pope is only infallible when speaking ex cathedra(from the chair) and only in matters of faith and morals and only after years of study and consultation with all the bishops. It has only been invoked twice in recent centuries - the doctrine of the Assumption of Mary and the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. However, when a pope declares a person to be a saint it is also considered infallible.

Answer 3

Because The Bible says so... In the bible Jesus sets up Peter as the head of the followers of Christ. This becomes the Christian Church. The bible also tells how Jesus gives Peter the Authority to pick a successor. Jesus is also quoted as saying that Peter and his chosen successors will speak with the authority of Jesus himself. This is the biblical foundations that gives the Popes the leadership off all followers of Christ (Christians).

Some churches that have split off from the Catholic church have modified their bibles to exclude certain passages that have Jesus telling Peter to lead the church.

Lutherans, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, and the Assyrian Church follow the same teaching as the Roman Catholic Church does as to the succession of Peter, however; these churches believe that the Roman Pope is not of the correct lineage and that there spiritual leader is the true successor of Peter.

An answer by a Seventh-day Adventist:

because if you actually read the bible you can see that in Revelations 13:1-18 (the pope is the beast ) that the pope is a worker of the devil and in Ellen G White (an later year prophet of God) it says the throne of the pope is the throne of the devil . and doing bad is easier to do then good

Christian answer:

If you read the Bible you will see that Jesus does not say Peter is the head of the church or that he has the right to pick a successor. None of the letters in the New Testament including the letters by Peter himself make any reference to Peter as the head of the church. Also history does not say that Peter was the first Pope or that Peter was ever in Rome.

Catholics believe this because it is their tradition.

Answer 4

The pope is only infallible when speaking ex cathedra(from the chair) and only in matters of faith and morals and only after years of study and consultation with all the bishops. It has only been invoked twice in recent centuries - the doctrine of the Assumption of Mary and the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. However, when a pope declares a person to be a saint it is also considered infallible.

Answer 5

Catholics believe the pope to be infallible when speaking ex cathedra on matters of faith and morals. This is based on the decision of the First Vatican Council, in 1870, documented in Pastor Aeternalis, chapter 6:
9. Therefore, faithfully adhering to the tradition received from the beginning of the christian faith, to the glory of God our savior, for the exaltation of the Catholic religion and for the salvation of the christian people, with the approval of the Sacred Council, we teach and define as a divinely revealed dogma that when the Roman Pontiff speaks EX CATHEDRA, that is, when, in the exercise of his office as shepherd and teacher of all Christians, in virtue of his supreme apostolic authority, he defines a doctrine concerning faith or morals to be held by the whole Church, he possesses, by the divine assistance promised to him in blessed Peter, that infallibility which the divine Redeemer willed his Church to enjoy in defining doctrine concerning faith or morals. Therefore, such definitions of the Roman Pontiff are of themselves, and not by the consent of the Church, irreformable. [My emphasis in bold]

Bishop Geoffrey Robinson (Confronting Power and Sex in the Catholic Church) asks how a council can infallibly declare the infallibility of the pope unless we assume in advance that the council was itself infallible. In the absence of infallibility on the part of the First Vatican Council, the pronouncement inPastor Aeternalis is no more than an opinion.
In the same document, the council appears to have limited that infallibility, by limiting the pope to jealously guarding and explaining what was handed down through the apostles, and not the ability to disclose a new doctrine by revelation (chapter 4):
6. For the Holy Spirit was promised to the successors of Peter not so that they might, by his revelation, make known some new doctrine, but that, by his assistance, they might religiously guard and faithfully expound the revelation or deposit of faith transmitted by the apostles.

The council may not have intended to have one clause limit the other in this way. The pope's pronouncement on the Assumption of the virgin Mary was certainly not handed down through the apostles, so even if the pope is indeed infallible on certain matters Robinson believes this clause means that the pope was assuming an infallibility he did not have in this case.

The consequence is that (i) there is reasonable doubt whether Catholics ought to hold the pope to be infallible; and (ii) there is further doubt as to whether the pope ought to be regarded as infallible when making pronouncements such as on the Assumption of Mary.

Answer 6

Catholics believe the pope to be infallible because the First Vatican so decided in 1870, at the request of Pope Pius IX. This is documented in Pastor Aeternalis, chapter 6: 9. Therefore, faithfully adhering to the tradition received from the beginning of the christian faith, to the glory of God our savior, for the exaltation of the Catholic religion and for the salvation of the christian people, with the approval of the Sacred Council, we teach and define as a divinely revealed dogma that when the Roman Pontiff speaks EX CATHEDRA, that is, when, in the exercise of his office as shepherd and teacher of all Christians, in virtue of his supreme apostolic authority, he defines a doctrine concerning faith or morals to be held by the whole Church, he possesses, by the divine assistance promised to him in blessed Peter, that infallibilitywhich the divine Redeemer willed his Church to enjoy in defining doctrine concerning faith or morals. Therefore, such definitions of the Roman Pontiff are of themselves, and not by the consent of the Church, irreformable. [My emphasis in bold]

Bishop Geoffrey Robinson (Confronting Power and Sex in the Catholic Church) asks how a council can infallibly declare the infallibility of the pope unless we assume in advance that the council was itself infallible. In the absence of infallibility on the part of the First Vatican Council, the pronouncement inPastor Aeternalis is no more than an opinion.
.
In the same document, the council appears to have limited that infallibility, by limiting the pope to jealously guarding and explaining what was handed down through the apostles, and not the ability to disclose a new doctrine by revelation (chapter 4):
6. For the Holy Spirit was promised to the successors of Peter not so that they might, by his revelation, make known some new doctrine, but that, by his assistance, they might religiously guard and faithfully expound the revelation or deposit of faith transmitted by the apostles.

The council may not have intended to have one clause limit the other in this way. The pope's pronouncement on the Assumption of the virgin Mary was certainly not handed down through the apostles, so even if the pope is indeed infallible on certain matters Robinson believes this clause means that the pope was assuming an infallibility he did not have in this case.

In summary: (i) the notion of infallibility is based on the First Vatican Council, which taught and defined it to be a divinely revealed dogma; (ii) there is reasonable doubt whether Catholics really ought to hold the pope to be infallible; and (iii) there is further doubt as to whether the pope ought to be regarded as infallible when making pronouncements such as on the Assumption of Mary.