Is the Pope Emeritus infallible?
score:7
No, a retired pope is not infallible because that guarantee is not a personal quality; it is attached to the office that he no longer holds. This is true in terms of the pope’s extraordinary teaching authority, which Pope Pius XII used in his 1950 definition of Mary’s assumption into heaven. He acknowledged consulting the world’s bishops prior to that decision.
Benedict XVI remains a member of the college of bishops—though obviously a unique member. When that group collectively teaches something as essential to the Catholic faith (for example, the Nicene Creed, the Trinity, or the Incarnation), it teaches infallibly. The college of bishops has “supreme and full authority over the universal Church; but this power cannot be exercised without the agreement of the Roman Pontiff” (Vatican II’s Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, 22).
Infallibility is a guarantee that the Church cannot lead Catholics into definitive error on a matter essential for their salvation.
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has chosen a hidden life of prayer as his new ministry within the Church. Less than 12 hours before he resigned on February 28, he publicly pledged to the College of Cardinals that he would accept and obey whomever they elect as his successor.
Theoretically, a retired pope could become a point of division within the Catholic Church; Benedict XVI has promised not to cooperate with any such attempt.
Upvote:1
I also think that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has lost supernatural assistance and related "infallibility" about his possible formal declarations concerning faith and moral as Pope when he abdicated this role.
This is on the basis that the infallibility has given by Holy Spirit to the Pope (other than to the apostolic collegium) when he officially speaks as Supreme Pastor of the Catholic Church about faith and moral themes in a formal declaration.
Since "Supreme Pastor", by the same definition of the word supreme, can be only one man at time, I think that Pope Emeritus has lost this role and consequently has lost its related particular assistance given by Holy Spirit.
But surely he has a lot of other particular assistance by Holy Spirit. :)
More post
- 📝 When and how did the names Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John get attached to the gospels?
- 📝 What happens to the Vicar of Christ when Christ returns?
- 📝 How do Mormon missionaries learn foreign languages so quickly?
- 📝 Who did Abraham worship?
- 📝 Why did the Romans put Jesus' clothes on him again, just to take it off later? (Matt.27:31; Jn. 19:23) Was nakedness not allowed on temple ground?
- 📝 What is the earliest record of using icons to worship God in the Catholic or Orthodox traditions?
- 📝 Is there a name for a stronger version of Pascal's Wager in which one wagers that continuationism is true?
- 📝 Why would Sapphira have had a say in disposition of property?
- 📝 Which Christians refuse vaccinations on religious grounds?
- 📝 What is the biblical justification for a monarchy?
- 📝 Are there any Christian denominations that deny the existence of an afterlife?
- 📝 Should the Catholic rosary be recited in Latin or the vernacular language?
- 📝 What does the LDS Church teach about the pre-existence of each person prior to conception?
- 📝 How is Matthew 18: 8-9 explained in the context of non works-based salvation?
- 📝 What is the distinction between ordinance types in the LDS church?
- 📝 How did Moses speak to the children of Israel & write the Torah if he was learned in all the ways of the Egyptians?
- 📝 Why are days like "Sunday" or "Monday" not mentioned in the Bible?
- 📝 What are other explanations for Malachi 4:5-6?
- 📝 Why do God and Jesus seem so different?
- 📝 How do you reconcile materialism with the Christian perspective of the soul?
- 📝 Was incest allowed by God before?
- 📝 Which Christian churches have an entirely unpaid/lay clergy?
- 📝 Is choosing to commit sin a possibility in Heaven?
- 📝 Is Obeying a Stay at Home Order Biblical or Not Biblical
- 📝 Are the Orthodox who are in schism with Rome able to celebrate the sacrament of Reconciliation validly?
- 📝 According to Emanuel Swedenborg, do infants go to heaven?
- 📝 In heaven will we love God more than everyone else, or will we love everyone as much as we love God? (Catholic)
- 📝 Is 1 Corinthians 7:26–40 not the 'Word of God'?
- 📝 According to Catholicism, how was Mary born without original sin?
- 📝 Does the Bible say anything about what demons *are*?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Is the Pope Emeritus infallible?
- 📝 When does the Pope speak ex cathedra?
- 📝 Does the pope get paid for being the pope?
- 📝 Has a pope ever been corrected publicly by a non-cleric in the presence of cardinals because of the unclear wording of a papal document?
- 📝 What is a brief history on the idea that the Pope is the Antichrist?
- 📝 Is the Pope allowed to publish books after resignation?
- 📝 How can a Pope be chosen from outside the conclave?
- 📝 What is the nature of the theory for Pope Joan and the evidence that substantiates it?
- 📝 What is the difference between a dogma, a doctrine, an infallible statement, an ex cathedra statement, etc.?
- 📝 The meaning of "The Other" in the writings by pope John Paul II
- 📝 Why did the pope say gender is a property of essence?
- 📝 The Pope is resigning. How does a living pope confer his authority?
- 📝 Why did the conclave elect Pope Stephen I, when he died prior to taking office?
- 📝 Why did Pope Francis say, "When we encounter the Cross, do we turn to Mary," rather than to Christ?
- 📝 Under Catholic dogma can someone publicly rebuke the Pope like Paul rebuked Peter?
- 📝 What happens if the Pope is automatically excommunicated?
- 📝 Does the Lutheran view of pope as AntiChrist stem from doctrine of justification?
- 📝 What exactly did Pope Gregory the Great mean by "Universal Bishop?"
- 📝 Why did the authors of the London Baptist Confession of 1689 callout the pope as being the antichrist?
- 📝 For Catholics who have expressed concern about Pope Francis and are wary of his pontificate, what are the key issues?
- 📝 What is consumerism and what does the Pope see wrong with it?
- 📝 How did the doctrine of the pope having "supreme, full, immediate, and universal power in the care of souls" originate?
- 📝 When Pope Francis dies, is Pope Benedict automatically the 'new' leader for a short period?
- 📝 Did Pope Francis declare that according to the teaching of the Catholic Church capital punishment is intrinsically evil?
- 📝 Does Pope Francis' rewording on the subject of capital punishment in the Catechism trump those of Pope John Paul II's encyclical Evangelium vitae?
- 📝 When was the formal title of Pope first officially bestowed on the Bishops of Rome?
- 📝 Does the Catholic Church have a contingency plan for the case that the pope and all cardinals are dead?
- 📝 Is the choice of a new Pope inspired by the Holy Spirit?
- 📝 How do the vestments of the pontiff emeritus compare to those of a bishop emeritus?
- 📝 Where did the hierarchical designations of priest, cardinal, bishop, and pope come from in the Catholic church?
