" That general councils are infallible is generally be- lieved I ly Romanists. Some, however, maintain that the coiilirniation of the pope is necessary to constitute in- fallibility; and others, that the decisions of councils are infallible, whether confirmed by the pojie or not. We quote the sentiments of some who contend that the de- crees of a general council, with the confirmation of the pope, are infallible. Ferraris says, '"The definitions of a general council legitimately assembled, issued in the ab- sence of the pope, are not infallible without his confirma- tion" (Ferraris, Biblioth. Prompt, in Concilium, art. i, sect.
66). Cardinal Cusanus, as quoted by the former writer, declares that " the pope gives authority to the council" (Cusanus, lib. iii, cap. xv, De Concord CathoL). Dens teaches that " general councils, without the approbation of the pope, are fallible, and often err ; that the confirma- tion of the pope to any particular decrees of a council impart to these decrees plenary authority ; it is an article of faith that general councils approved by the pope can- not err in defining matters of faith and morals : hence they are to be considered as manifest heretics who pre- sume to call in question what is decreed by such coun- cils." He also believes that the decisions of particular councils, confirmed by the pope, are likewise infallible, and that this is founded on the infallibility of the pope. But Benedict XIV., to whom Dens refers, thinks that the decisions of such councils are binding only in their own provmces or dioceses. Many Romanist writers, however, maintain strongly that the decisions of gener- al councils are infallible without the pope's confirmation. It would be an endless task to quote the authorities on both sides. They are, for the most part, however, agreed that what they call general councils are infallible : some believe them infallible because they are general coun- cils, while others, believing the same, consider the con- firmation of the pope as necessary to the authoritative character of the assembly.
'• The discordant sentiments of Romanists respecting those characteristics which are necessarj' to constitute infalUbility, form a strong argument against the iner- rancy of councils. The four following opinions have been strongly held by the Church of Rome: (1.) Some have asserted that the diffusive, and not the representa- tive body of the Church possessed infallibility. Occam, Petrus de Aliaco, Cusanus, Antoninus of Florence, Pa- normitan, Nicholas de Clemangis, Franciscus iSIirandula, and others, were of this opinion. (2.) Some saj' that councils are no farther infallible than as they adhere to Scripture and universal tradition. (3.) Others, that coun- cils are of themselves infallible, whether the pope confirm them or not. This was the common opinion before the Council of Lateran, imder Leo X, as appears from the Councils of Basil and Constance. (4.) Many make the confirmation of the pope necessary to the infallibility of a general council. There is an irreconcilable difference between the last two opinions; for those who suppose councils to be infallible without the confirmation of the pope believe them to be above him, and that he is falli- ble; while those who are of opinion that the confirma- tion of his holiness is absolutelj' necessary to the infalli- bility of the council believe him to be infallible, and su- perior to a council."
See EUiott, On Romanism, book iii, chap, iii ; and book i, chap, iv; BuW, Repli/ to the Bishop ofMeaux (Works, vol. ii ; Faber, Difficulties of Romanism ; Ouseley, On Papal Novelties ; Hook, Eccles. Diet. s. v. ; Cramp, Text- book of Popery, p. 66; Hare, Contest uith Rome, p. 16, 210, 223; YiitXo, Journal of Sacred Literature, Oct. 1854. II. Infallibility of the Pope. — For many centu- ries the popes have demanded, and, so far as lay in them, enforced an absolute submission to all their doc- trinal decisions. They forbade appeal from their tribu- nal to the General Council, and even disallowed the plea of the Jansenists, Hermesians, and other schools whose views were censured, that the popes censurijig them had erred, not in what they stated to be the Cath- olic doctrine, but in luidcrstanding the right sense of the censured books. Thus the popes for many centu- ries have acted as though they were infallible ; and yet it was distinctly taught within the Church that the in- fallibility of the pope was not a recognised doctrine, and even many catechisms and manuals of doctrine ex- plicitly stated, with the consent of many bishops, that the infallibility of the pope was not a doctrine of the Church. One of the chief objects for which the Vati- can Council was called in 1869 was to make an end of this uncertainty and enrol the doctrine of papal infalli- bility among the formal Church doctrines. As soon as
INFALLIBILITY
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INFALLIBILITY