his office as Head of the Church, and Chief Pastor and Teacher of all the faithful, he declares what is to be held by the Universal Church as the true doctrine on any matter of faith or morals.
59. Why cannot the Pope teach error when he speaks 'ex cathedrâ'?
Because God will not allow him to do so. Infallibility does not depend on the virtue or on the learning of the Pope, but on the special assistance of the Holy Ghost, given him according to the promise of Christ, who said to St. Peter: 'I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not. And thou, being once converted, confirm thy brethren' (Luke xxii. 32).
60. Is the Infallibility of the Pope the same as the Infallibility of the Church?
Yes, precisely. The Pope is the Supreme Pastor and Teacher, whose voice all the faithful, clergy and laity, 'lambs and sheep,' are commanded by Christ to hear and to follow. If he could teach error ex cathedrâ, the Church would then follow him into error, and would thereby fail; and so the promises of Christ would be falsified, which is impossible.
61. How do we know that this doctrine was always held and acted on in the Catholic Church?
Because from the beginning whoever obstinately refused to accept and believe a doctrine of Catholic Faith, when so declared ex cathedrâ by the Pope, was always cut off from the communion of the Church, and condemned as a heretic.
' I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in Heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in Heaven' (Matt. xvi. 19). 'I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not, and thou, being once converted, confirm thy brethren' (Luke xxii. 32). 'Feed my lambs, feed my sheep' (John xxi. 15-17). The authority of the Pope to decide doctrinal controversies conclusively, and to define the true faith, for the whole Church, was ever acknowledged and
