Papal infallibility
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Papal infallibility is a dogma of the Catholic Church which states that, in virtue of the promise of Jesus to Peter, the pope when he speaks ex cathedra is preserved from the possibility of error on d
Pope Pius IX (1846–1878), during whose papacy the doctrine of papal infallibility was dogmatically defined by the First Vatican Council
1881 illustration depicting papal infallibility
The only ex cathedra application of papal infallibility since its solemn declaration has been for the Marian Dogma of Assumption in 1950. Painting of the Assumption, Rubens, 1626
Supporters of the pope outside the United Nations in 2008 with a banner quoting Matthew 16
First Vatican Council
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The First Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the First Vatican Council or Vatican I, was the 20th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church, held three centuries after the preceding
Papal infallibility
…and handed down in Scripture and tradition". It does not mean that the pope cannot sin or otherwise err. This doctrine, defined dogmatically at the First Vatican Council of 1869–1870 in the document Pastor aeternus, is claimed to have existed in medieval theology and to have been the majority opinion at the time of the…
Window in Domalain, Brittany, showing the Proclamation of Papal Infallibility
Catholic ecclesiastics from various countries gathered in Rome for the council
Drawing showing the First Vatican Council
Medal marking Vatican I