Infallibility: The Unopened Gift, by Russell Shaw

By Russell Shaw, The Catholic Thing, August 13, 2020

Russell Shaw is former Secretary for Public Affairs of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops/United States Catholic Conference. He is the author of more than twenty books, including Eight Popes and the Crisis of Modernity (forthcoming from Ignatius Press).

Imagine an elegant gift sitting unopened in its box because nobody in the family is exactly sure what to do with it. A century and a half after the First Vatican Council declared papal infallibility to be a matter of faith for Catholics, this charism exists largely unpacked in a theological no man’s land. Still, the very absence of controversy makes this a good time to point to some of the questions about the doctrine that remain to be answered.

On July 18, 1870 – 150 years ago – Vatican I adopted the Dogmatic Constitution Pastor Aeternus declaring the pope to be preserved from error when teaching a doctrine of faith or morals in virtue of his apostolic authority as universal pastor and teacher. The constitution passed 533-2, but 56 bishops had left Rome before that, to avoid having to vote.  ….

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