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Handout #230 |
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Papal primacy and infallibility |
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Some extracts from the constitution Pastor Aeternus of
18 July 1870 A.D.:
We, adhering faithfully to the tradition received from the beginning of the Christian faith - with a view to the glory of our Divine Savior, the exaltation of the Catholic religion, and the safety of Christian people (the sacred Council approving), teach and define as a dogma divinely revealed: That the Roman Pontiff, when he speaks ex-cathedra (that is, when -fulfilling the office of Pastor and Teacher of all Christians - on his supreme Apostolical authority, he defines a doctrine concerning faith or morals to be held by the Universal Church), through the divine assistance promised him in blessed Peter, is endowed with that infallibility, with which the Divine Redeemer has willed that His Church - in defining doctrine concerning faith or morals should be equipped: and therefore, that such definitions of the Roman Pontiff of themselves and not by virtue of the consent of the Church - are irreformable. If anyone shall presume (which God forbid!) to contradict this our definition: let him be anathema. Bettenson, Documents of the Christian Church, 273f. |
