When did pope last use infallibility?

Answer 1

To the best of my knowledge the last time the pope spoke infallibly was on October 17, 2010, when he canonized 6 new saints.

Answer:

The most recent use (as of June 2, 2013) of infallibility occurred on May 12, 2013, when Pope Francis declared 800 martyrs of Otranto, Italy, who were killed by Islamic invaders on August 14, 1480, to be saints along with two other individuals.

Since the canonization process was instituted in the 12th century, the official proclamation of the pope declaring a person a saint has been considered as infallible.

Here is the English translation of the Latin proclamation made by the Pope at a recent canonization:

"For the honor of the Blessed Trinity, the exaltation of the Catholic

faith and the fostering of the Christian life, by the authority of our

Lord Jesus Christ, of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and our own,

after due deliberation and frequent prayers for the divine assistance,

and having sought the counsel of our Brother Bishops, we declare and

define that Bl. (name of proposed saint) is a saint and we enroll

her/him among the saints, decreeing that he/she is to be venerated in

the whole Church as one of the saints. In the name of the Father, and

of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."

The formula is very similar to that used for the definition of the

doctrine of the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption.

The 1967 New Catholic Encyclopedia discusses the theological foundation for the infallibility of canonization: "The dogma that saints are to be venerated and invoked as set forth in the profession of faith of Trent has as its correlative the power to canonize. ... St. Thomas Aquinas says, 'Honor we show the saints is a certain profession of faith by which we believe in their glory, and it is to be piously believed that even in this the judgment of the Church is not able to err'

"The pope cannot by solemn definition induce errors concerning faith and morals into the teaching of the universal Church. Should the Church hold up for universal veneration a man's life and habits that in reality led to [his] damnation, it would lead the faithful into error. It is now theologically certain that the solemn canonization of a saint is an infallible and irrevocable decision of the supreme pontiff. God speaks infallibly through his Church as it demonstrates and exemplifies its universal teaching in a particular person or judges that person's acts to be in accord with its teaching."

At the same time, it is important to note that while the decree of heroic virtues and the miracle form a necessary part of the process of canonization, they are not the specific object of the declaration of infallibility.

This is the reason that the canonization process is such a lengthy procedure that may take years or even centuries to complete. Once the statement of canonization has been proclaimed by the Holy Father it can not be undone. The Church must be assured beyond a shadow of a doubt that the person is, indeed, in Heaven.

Answer 2

In 1954 Pope Pius XII defined the Assumption of Mary as being an article of faith for Roman Catholics. However, each time a pope canonizes a new saint, he uses infallibility. The Pope last canonized several saints on November 23, 2014.

Answer 3

If papal infallibility is invoked in the canonisation of new saints, then papal infallibility was invoked in 2012, with the canonisation of seven new saints; if the canonisation of saints does not invoke papal infallibility, but the pope is infallible when speaking ex cathedra and defining a new doctrine by revelation, then this was last invoked in 1950 when Pope Pius XII defined "as a divinely revealed dogma" the Assumption of Mary; however if papal infallibility can not be invoked even when a pope is speaking ex cathedra but defining a new doctrine by revelation, then it may be that papal infallibility has never been validly invoked up to the present time.

It is therefore important to look at the issues as to when the pope can validly invoke infallibility.

The First Vatican Council defined when the pope is and is not infallible, in Pastor Aeternalis (1870). Chapter 6 says:
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 chapter 4 of 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:
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. [my emphasis]

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 Bishop Geoffrey Robinson (Confronting Power and Sex in the Catholic Church) believes this clause means that the pope was assuming an infallibility he did not have in this case.

It is the opinion of a majority of Catholic theologians that the canonisation of saints by the pope is an exercise of papal infallibility. The Congregation for the Causes of the Saints (CCS) supports this opinion and some Bishops also believe and teach this idea. An alternative view is that the decision of the Church on the canonisation of a saint is necessarily and almost entirely dependent on the claims of fallible human persons and on a subjective evaluation of evidence that is not certain. Therefore none of this evidence is infallible, nor is it found in the Sacred Deposit of Faith (Tradition and Scripture), as required by chapter 4 of Pastor Aeternalis.

Canonisation of saints comes under the Temporal Authority of the Church, which is never infallible and it does not teach, but it can make practical rules and judgements. It may judge that a person lived a holy life, most probably died in a state of grace, and therefore most probably dwells in Heaven. No Catholic is obligated to believe, as an article of faith, that a particular person (other than someone referred to in Tradition or Scripture) is a Saint.

In summary:

• It is the view of some within the Church that papal infallibility was last invoked when the most recent saint was canonised, at the time of writing in 2012;
• Another view is that the last time papal infallibility was invoked was in 1950, when Pope Pius XII defined the Assumption of Mary;
• The view of some, such as Bishop Robinson, is that papal infallibility can not be invoked when defining new doctrine by revelation, in which case papal infallibility may never have been formally invoked.