In addition to the typical teaching of the faithful, administering rituals and creating spaces for dialogue among Christians (and non-Christians), Church The Catholic Church upholds many of the laws of faith. Theological issues related to science itself have been an integral part of the Vatican's activities for years. The infallibility of the pope appeared here as a result of what has resulted from practical achievements over the years, and it continues to this day.

The infallible pope

This dogma was introduced at the first Vatican Council in 1870, but was not finally accepted until 1881. Why the eleven-year gap? As you might guess, not all clergy in the highest positions in the Church wanted to immediately come to terms with such an unambiguous document as the dogma of papal infallibility.

The first results of disputes on this issue became evident in 1871, when Johann Döllinger, a theologian from Munich, who promoted episcopal-synodal ideas in opposition to the ultramontane ideas of the Church at that time, was excommunicated. He rejected not only papal infallibility, but also the then established immaculateness of Mary. The result was the establishment of a new doctrine, Old Catholicism.

Echoes of the problems surrounding the title dogma can still be heard today, and the last of the high-profile cases involving it had location in the form of the clergyman Hans Küng, who worked to open the discussion on infallibility. Thus Pope John Paul II himself removed him from the chair of theology.

When the teaching of the Pope is infallible?

It is worth specifying that the dogma of papal infallibility does not apply to all of the pope's actions and views, but is geared only to a rather narrow range of issues related to the Church itself. Specifying yet more, the matter concerns faith and morals, while it is no longer related to everyday matters.

Although this dogma remains constant, it does not very often take a living form. Interestingly, it is very difficult to find concrete studies on the subject among theological inventories and documentation. What then is the last of the most important and very significant papal statements bearing the mark of infallibility? These are the words contained in one of the encyclicals, where the Polish Pope condemned abortion and all steps connected with it in a severe and unequivocal way. The ecclesiastical circles still reach for these words from 1995, referring to the Pope's infallibility. It is also impossible to omit the political background, especially within the papal actions of that time (19th century). The authorities of the Second Reich were afraid e.g. of the influence of the absolute power on the part of the Vatican that could come to Germany through numerous church structures. As time has shown, the dogma of papal infallibility did not have such far-reaching consequences and to this day does not have such extensive connections with politics as some clergy and people in power feared.

Marketing for religious content and more
Artificial Intelligence