THE INFALLIBILITY OF THE POPE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10423, 27 July 1895, Page 6

THE INFALLIBILITY OF THE POPE.

Our business is to consider whit the infallibility of the Pops really is. Infereritially w shall see what it is hot. This century is not^d' for' many thiogsj but it has, moreover,i; witnessed : the.'.: assembly of an 'Oecumenical .'Council., of: the Church. No generaV; council had .been held for. three cert-' ;turies. councils.have been held in the ChurchifromjtW.days. of the. Apostles. From/time to time "geaeral, assemblies of the, bhhops.of the world have been convened, at. ■whose .deliberations the Pope presides, either in person1 or by his legate. Nineteen of such -general Councils of the'ehurcb. have bseh held in different: places in the nineteen centuries pf her existence.'.-'. ■ '.. ' Infallibility meats immunity from error. God being the Supreme good, is essentially and neceEsarily infallible '—-that. is".to eaji He' cannot deceive or, lead, auyoheiito error, neither can He Himself ba ,tbe:objeot p£ deception; hence in onr Catecbism we say that God can neither deceive nor be deceivfld. We say the Church is infallible becauss God'communicated to har this gift. Whea Christ founded His Church He founded her as one body, haviog many members, but one Head—which; was Christ Himself. This body or Church He intended to be perpetual ■ arid to be visible! the light of the world, and to have that notable and absolutely essential mark of unity. , Ho therefore appointed one of His Apoatles'to beHis representative,, the visible, bead, ; of :that body—His Church on earth. > For this : purpose the Saviour specially singled out Peter to bs.the corner stone of the edifies of the Church—to be theioundation upon which the superstructure was to, be raised. . .' . What is the scopis of theinfallibility conferred upon Peter and bis sac-; cessors T Reverting ■to the' decree "of the Vaticasi Council, we find from its terms that (1) The Pops must be speaking ex cathedra —namely, from tfce chair and. seat ol.Sc/ Peter—in his official capacity as hisad of the universal Church; (2) he must be addressing, himself to the ; .si>ftoJe Church, not to a. particular, section ior nation; (3) the question : his is defining must . ra-, gard faith, or" morals—to ba hdd by the whole Church.- This, therefore, is the ;limit. v The" decree\of the Vaticaa Council does not concern the Pope as a private individual: as a theologian ha may write a work on theology, which may contain eirors; similarly in preaching'a ssrrnon; in . all such cases no .immunity from error is guaranteed him. It is: ocly when he is exercising the primacy, of the universal Church, and then on questions of ~faith and morals, that divine light and guidance is promised him, and then possesses "that infallibility with which our Saviour willed to endow His Church." Here it may be well to make one other observation : it is, that, while the Pops is thus divinely guaranteed immunity from error, of intellect to the extent already explained, his mittU perfectly 'free to incline to evil or to good. He must, like the very humblest members of the Church, observe the moral law and commandments, and use the ordinary means to maintain tha grace of God. There are two gifts or graces which theolcgiatis distinguish, namely: Gratia gratwn faoiens (personal.favours), the grace that makes one personally pleasing; to God; the other gift or grace is called gratia gratis data — i c , a favour or gift granted for the use of others ; and is inherent to offica or position, and not to the person. Such favours were conferred upon various persons mentioned in the Scripture. Balaam and Calaphas bad the gift of prophecy, Judas received tbe grace of ordination, and the Scripture mentions the sirs of these men for the warning of others; This, therefore, meets that extraordinary error acd misconception that if the Pops be infallible in pronouncing as haad of the Churah on matters of faith and morals, he must therefore be imj/ecctrbleorincapable of committing sin. This fallacy ia too transparent to merit serious consideration • the assertion cau oaly be amis by the hopelessly ignorant, or the wilful slanderer andjjerverter of truth.—Bishop Doyle.