To: OLD REGGIE
"...we are speaking of the impossibility of a Pope teaching heresy." There is a misconception amongst many anti-Catholics that Papal infallibility is unlimited and unconstrained. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The infallible teachings of the Pope must be based on, or at least not contradict, Sacred Tradition or Sacred Scripture. Papal infallibility does not imply that the Pope is impeccable, or that he is exempt from liability to sin or that he is never personally wrong about dogma. It is possible that a Pope may have advocated for or taught a heretical position.
Papal Infallibility was defined dogmatically in the First Vatican Council of 1870 and has only been invoked once.
5,259 posted on
09/15/2010 4:05:01 PM PDT by
Natural Law
(Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus)
To: Natural Law
There is a misconception amongst many anti-Catholics that Papal infallibility is unlimited and unconstrained. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The infallible teachings of the Pope must be based on, or at least not contradict, Sacred Tradition or Sacred Scripture. Papal infallibility does not imply that the Pope is impeccable, or that he is exempt from liability to sin or that he is never personally wrong about dogma. It is possible that a Pope may have advocated for or taught a heretical position.
Papal Infallibility was defined dogmatically in the First Vatican Council of 1870 and has only been invoked once.
Trash! There is no such thing as a list of "Infallible" Papal Declarations.
5,261 posted on
09/15/2010 4:13:40 PM PDT by
OLD REGGIE
(I am a Biblical Unitarian?)
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