HMmmm...,P>Why so LATE??
Why at ALL, after all that time??
"...it was not formally defined until 1854.
HMmmm...,P>Why so LATE??
Why at ALL, after all that time??"
Probably because it was universally accepted by all Catholics with rare exceptions and there was no need to define it. Maybe because it needed to be defined at that time so that relativists and secularists within the Church during the 20th Century couldn't confuse the Faithful. Many good reasons, I'm not sure what the most important or relevant one is.