Ask a Catholic

[Randy Carson]

Sorry if I was unclear. Popes are not infallible in everything they say. So, they can disagree with each other about things that are not declared infallibly.

So how do we know when they are declaring infallibly? That they're not contradicting each other?

There is a special formulation in the language they use. Here is the paragraph from Munificentissimus Deus:

44. For which reason, after we have poured forth prayers of supplication again and again to God, and have invoked the light of the Spirit of Truth, for the glory of Almighty God who has lavished his special affection upon the Virgin Mary, for the honor of her Son, the immortal King of the Ages and the Victor over sin and death, for the increase of the glory of that same august Mother, and for the joy and exultation of the entire Church; by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own authority, we pronounce, declare, and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma: that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.

HOWEVER - this is where it gets a little bit tricky: the popes in more ancient times used different wording, so there is some disagreement over exactly which dogmas were declared infallibly. As I said before, the list ranges from about 6-10 generally recognized examples.

No problem. This is going well so far. I hope you agree.

Yep. Better than I expected.

Excellent.

Cool. Let me know if you are satisfied with this topic. If so, we'll move on.

Just tell how do I tell when the pope is declaring infallibly and we can leave the guy alone.

See above. And remember that the last two times were in 1854 and 1950. This doesn't happen very often!