Can bishops act and teach against the Pope, or the Pope against the bishops? Bishops cannot act and teach against the Pope, but only with him. In contrast, the Pope can make decisions in clearly defined cases even without the approval of the bishops. Of course the Pope in all his decisions is bound by the Churchs faith. There is something like a general sense of the faith in the Church, a fundamental conviction in matters of faith that is brought about by the Holy Spirit and present throughout the Church, the Churchs common sense, so to speak, which recognizes what has always and everywhere been believed by all (Vincent of Lerins). Is the Pope really infallible? Yes. But the Pope speaks infallibly only when he defines a dogma in a solemn ecclesiastical act (ex cathedra), in other words, makes an authoritative decision in doctrinal questions of faith and morals. Magisterial decisions of the college of bishops in communion with the Pope also possess an infallible character, for example, decisions of an ecumenical council. The infallibility of the Pope has nothing to do with his moral integrity or his intelligence. What is infallible is actually the Church, for Jesus promised her the Holy Spirit, who keeps her in the truth and leads her ever deeper into it. When a truth of the faith that has been taken for granted is suddenly denied or misinterpreted, the Church must have one final voice that authoritatively says what is true and what is false. This is the voice of the Pope. As the successor of Peter and the first among the bishops, he has the authority to formulate the disputed truth according to the Churchs Tradition of faith in such a way that it is presented to the faithful for all times as something to be believed with certainty. We say then that the Pope defines a dogma. Therefore such a dogma can never contain something substantially new. Very rarely is a dogma defined. The last time was in 1950.
Posted on: Wed, 26 Mar 2014 13:05:16 +0000
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