In very special and limited circumstances, the Pope has the gift of
infallibility. It means that, when he is speaking as the supreme teacher of the
Church, he can be, provided that all the required conditions apply, the
official spokesman of the community of believers, whose common faith is the
basic carrier of infallibility. “The entire body of the faithful, anointed
as they are by the Holy One, cannot err in matters of belief.” (Lumen Gentium § 12 (a).
The gift of infallibility is, however, often misunderstood -- as if the
Popes, in matters of doctrine and morals, cannot make mistakes. History proves
the opposite, and in view of the overblown claims by the present teaching
authority in Rome - by the Pope himself and the Congregation for Doctrine, we
must, regretfully, remind people of the historical facts.
Here are some instructive examples of errors in doctrine taught
by a variety of Popes:
There are also terrible mistakes of judgment and crimes of
injustice perpetrated with the sanction of the Popes. Apart from the
injustices already contained in the previous list:
See also the list of 65 doctrines in which Church teaching has been
changed by Bishop Raymond A. Lucker.
For more information, I recommend: Rome has Spoken . . . A Guise
to Forgotten Papal Statements, and How They Have Changed Through the
Centuries, Maureen Fiedler and Linda Rabben (eds.), Crossroad, 370n
Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10017. Published in 1998. ISBN 0-8245-1774-1.
