By Steve Ray, Crisis Magazine - The conditions for infallibility are that 1) he acts freely as supreme pastor, speaking “ex cathedra,” or “from the chair”—not expressing his own personal opinion, 2) when he intends to specifically define a doctrine binding on the Universal Church and pertaining to the Church’s deposit of faith, and 3) when the definition pertains to and is in harmony with the Church’s constant tradition regarding faith and morals. This is a very high bar that has been invoked only rarely in Church history.