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Infallibilty means that God will not permit the Pope to define Ex Cathedra, or officially, a Doctrine not in accordance with the genuine teaching of Christ. Therefore, if the Pope does define a Doctrine, that doctrine cannot be against the true intention of Holy Scripture.
The Pope in his capacity as Head of the Church is infallible. No Pontiff has ever made a wrong infallible decision. This would be absolutely impossible for one Pope to define a given doctrine and for a subsequent Pope to define a contradictory doctrine.
The Pope has the Faith enough to know that the Holy Spirit, the infallible Spirit of Truth, will preserve him from error when defining truths of Faith or morals for the guidance of the whole Church.
No Pope has ever challenged the Holy Spirit. The Pope has the humility enough to admit his infallibility when he does exercise his supreme office as teacher of all the faithful is due, not to himself, but to that very Holy Spirit. You yourself are sure of your own judgment as if you were infallible.
Do you claim that the Holy Spirit is surely guiding you to the truth? If so, you are claiming just what the Pope claims, though the Pope claims it under much more limited conditions, and with much greater interests at stake.
The Pope is the lawful successor of St. Peter, and therefore, inherits that privilege of St. Peter according to the will of Christ who declared that the Church would last till the end of the world with the constitutional powers He gave it.
Tertullian, also in his The Demurrer, wrote this concerning the Pope enjoying infallibility when he teaches Ex-Cathedra:
“Moreover, if Peter was reproached by Paul because, after having lived with the Gentiles, he latter separated himself from their company out of respect for persons. the fault certainly was one of Procedure and not of doctrine."
More Proof the Church is infalible is the writings of Tertullian, in his The Demurrer Against the Heretics, written in the year 200.
“Grant, then, that all have erred; that the Apostle was mistaken in bearing witness; that the Holy Spirit had no such consideration for any one Church as to lead it into truth, although He was sent for that purpose by Christ, who has asked the Father to make Him the Teacher of the Truth; the Steward of God and Vicar of Christ neglected His office, and permitted the Churches for a time to understand otherwise and to believe otherwise than He Himslef had preached through the Apostles: now, is it likely that so many and such great Churches should have gone astray into a unity of Faith?
Proving the Church to be infallible in transmitting the teachings of Christ can be proven by the writings of St. Irenaeus. For unless this is so, it makes Christ a liar. Once again Matthew 16:18-20. The Pope as the Vicar of Christ and head of the Church here on earth, once he binds or loosens anything, it has already taken place in Heaven. Here is what St. Irenaeus said in his Against Heresies”
“When therefore, we have such proofs, it is not necessary to seek among others the truth which is easily obtained from the Church. (Only the Catholic Church existed at this time). For the Apostles, like a rich man in a bank, deposited with her copiously everything which pertains to the truth; and everyone whosoever wishes draws from her the drink of life. For she is the entrance to life, while all he rest are thieves and robbers. That is why it is surely necessary to avoid them, while cherishing with the utmost diligence the pertaining to the Church, and to lay hold of tradition of truth. What then? If there should be a dispute over some kind of question, ought we not have recourse to the most ancient Churches in which the Apostles were familiar, and draw from them what is clear and certain in regard to that question? What if the Apostles had NOT in fact left writings to us? Would it not be necessary to follow the order of tradition, which was handed down to those whom they entrusted the Church."
St. Athanasius, said this in a letter Concerning the Councils of Rimini and Seleucia in 361-362 AD. It is clear he believed that the Bishops gathered together in an Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church have always been acknowledged as Infallible judges for the Faith founded by Jesus Christ.
“The Fathers of the Ecumenical Council of Nicea, without prefixing consulate, month, and day, wrote concerning Easter: ‘The following has been decided.’ And it was at that time decided that all should comply. But concerning matters of Faith, they did not write, ‘It has been decided,’ but ‘Thus the Catholic Church believes.’ And thereupon the confessed how they believed. This they did in order to show that their judgment was not of more recent origen, but was in fact of Apostolic times; and that what they wrote was no discovery of their own, but is simply that which was taught by the Apostles.”
St Cyprian of Carthage, in the year 252 wrote the following in a letter to Pope Cornelius, proving once again the Bishop of Rome, the Pope, has the right of speaking EX-CATHEDRA, and is infaliblie.
“With a false Bishop apponinted for themselves by heretics, they dare even to set sail and carry letters from schismatics and blasphemers to the Chair of Peter and to the Principal Church, in which Sacerdotal unity has its source; not did they take thought that these are Romans, whose faith was praised by the preaching Apostle, and among whom it is not possible for perfidy to have entrance.”
EX CATHEDRA means the Pope must speak, where it is a question of excreting his infallibility, not as a private theologian, but is virtue of his office as supreme Head of the whole Church on earth giving a decision for all the members of the Church on a matter of Faith and Morals.
In the year 272, Roman Emperor Aurelian gained Possession of Antioch. The Christians of Antioch appealed to Aurelian to decide whether the “Church Building” in the city belonged to the orthodox Bishop Dommnus, or to the party represented by the favorite of Zenobia, Paul of Samosata, who had been deposed for heresy by a Synod held earlier. His decision was probably based on the Edict of Galliennus, was that the property belonged to those who were in union with the Bishop of Italy and the City of Rome. This act was a political move, it was not done for the friendliness of the Christians.
This statement proves beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the Bishop of Rome, the Pope, is and always has been the Head of the Church.