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September 26, 2006
Catholic Doctrine Says The Pope Is Not Always Infallible
Over at the Ten O'Clock Scholar, RDS has a very informative post about the Pope and the doctrine of his infallibility. For someone like me who was raised as a Catholic, it comes as a surprise to discover that the Church does not claim the Pope to be always infallible. It is only the Pope's ex cathedra pronouncements that are considered infallible, and ex cathedra edicts must meet some stringent criteria and are thus quite rare--as RDS notes, this has only happened a handful of times in 2000 years. Very interesting stuff.
Precise definition of terms can make a difference, can't it? RDS uses his accurate knowledge of Catholic doctrine to demolish a British story that tries to denigrate the Pope's comments about the violence historically associated with Islam.
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