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The Pope is considered infallible only when speaking 'ex-cathedra'. This is not one of those occasions. However, the bishops speaking in concert at a Council are also considered infallible in their pronouncements. What I continually see posted at this site is a lack of belief that Vatican II was infallible in it's pronouncements. So I am confused because it seems that many of the old Traditionalists believe in the doctrine of infallibility only if it fits their beliefs and concepts of the Catholic Church. If the doctrine of infallibility fails in Vatican II, then it fails with the Papacy as well, and all non-Biblical precepts of the faith fade away with the doctrine.

Councils are not always infallible. Infallibility means a pope or council is assured divine protection under certain conditions. A council is only infallible when it officially declares dogma in a definitive way. Vatican II did not do this. It was a pastoral, not a dogmatic, council, and therefore its declarations were not binding on the faithful.

This is why its statements on the Mass were so quickly ignored after it closed. It had stated that Latin and Gregorian chant should be given primacy of place in any reformation of the Mass. This advice was summarily brushed aside by the Vatican with the introduction of the Novus Ordo in the vernacular several years later.