Matthew 16:18 and Papal Infallibility

Since we recently celebrated the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter, I would like to expand upon my last article a bit and talk about the Church's teaching on Matthew 16:18 and papal infallibility, hopefully giving Catholics who may not have the proper knowledge the tools they need to educate others. These two subjects are often a sticking point for Protestants and as Catholics, we need to know how to explain them. Once we are able to do this, we will be well on our way to bringing those who have strayed back to the fold of the Church.

In the Gospel of Matthew, Christ establishes the Church with the words “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against It” (16:18). By “rock,” Christ was referring to Peter’s profession of faith in the previous verse, a revelation given to him by God the Father. To make this distinction, He used the feminine form of the Greek word “petra,” not the masculine “petros,” which is where the name of Peter comes from (www.bible.org). Thus, Christ was using a play on words and was not saying that Peter himself would be the rock, nor any of his predecessors. Christ Himself and the divine revelation given to the Church’s leaders would be the rock. The Church is built upon the teachings of Jesus and the revelation given to Her leaders by Him, not their own ideas, whims, and teachings.

What does this all mean? It means that we defend the Church not merely as an institution but as the Bride of Christ and as the Church founded by Jesus Christ that is the road to salvation for all men. We do not defend the Church, or choose not to defend Her, because of the actions of human beings within the Church. It is clear from the explanation above that Christ did not make Peter, his predecessors, or any bishops and members of the clergy anything above human beings, which means that they are still susceptible to error and sin if they do not have the help of God’s grace and His revelation. This is also the reason we see for the action of Jesus in the verses following His giving Peter the keys to the Kingdom. Peter does not believe Jesus's prediction of His Passion and Jesus responds "Get behind me, Satan! You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do" (Matthew 16:23). Jesus is not calling Peter Satan or renouncing His decision to put Peter in charge of His Church. He is merely pointing out how quickly one can fall into evil thoughts or deeds without the grace of God and reliance on Him.

Papal infallibility is something that flows from the pope's responsibility given by Christ and it is one of the most commonly misunderstood parts of Catholic teaching. Protestants often think that we are holding that the pope is sinless and is always right, when in fact this is not the case at all. Papal infallibility is only put into effect when the pope states directly in an announcement (“ex cathedra”) that he is speaking infallibly, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and it is very rare. In fact, it has only happened twice and the last time was in 1950. It is also restricted solely to matters of faith and morals. The pope is still human and a sinner just like the rest of us, but in certain cases he is assisted by the power of the Holy Spirit to spread important truths to his flock, which is a great grace given to him in order that he might better fulfill the obligations of his office.

Objections arise about papal infallibility very frequently, and yet it seems that these same people expect others within the Church to be infallible in other aspects. But this isn’t the way it works. Human beings can still be fallible while the Church Herself is planted firmly on the teachings of Christ and therefore cannot be fallible. Christ uses the imperfections of human beings to strengthen, purify, and teach His Church to rely on Him and His graces. She may have to suffer for a while because of persons within Her, but this will allow Her to come out stronger and show the world that She really is what Christ says She is.

Looking at the situation that the Catholic Church is currently in, defending Her may not always be easy but we must if we want to be faithful to Our Lord, since He and His Church are inseparable.