papal infallibility
noun
: the Roman Catholic doctrine that the pope cannot err when speaking ex cathedra in defining a doctrine of Christian faith or morals
Examples of papal infallibility in a Sentence
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Leo was a staunch proponent of church orthodoxy, helping guide the early church on tenets including the dual nature of Christ and the idea of papal infallibility.
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Phaedra Trethan, USA Today, 9 May 2025
The doctrine of papal infallibility, declared at the First Vatican Council in 1870, held that the pope, under certain conditions, could express the faith of the church without error.
—Dennis Doyle, The Conversation, 8 May 2025
Most famously, Ratzinger helped censure his friend Hans Kung, a Swiss theologian skeptical of the concept of papal infallibility.
—Henry Chudeputy News Editor, Los Angeles Times, 31 Dec. 2022
Küng rejected the doctrine of papal infallibility and was banned in 1979 by Pope John Paul II from teaching Catholic theologians.
—al, 30 Apr. 2021
His rejection of the omnicompetent state seemed attended by a notion of an omnicompetent papacy, something perhaps encouraged by the First Vatican Council’s declaration of papal infallibility and supreme and universal Church jurisdiction.
—David P. Deavel, National Review, 24 Oct. 2019
The idea that the Vatican, with its doctrine of papal infallibility, would invite open debate about official religious doctrine shocked religious and irreligious people around the world.
—Andre Pagliarini, The New Republic, 25 June 2019
In recent years, papal infallibility, a concept officially codified by Pius IX nearly 150 years ago, seems to have been supplanted by papal apology.
—Ian Austen and Jason Horowitz, New York Times, 23 Apr. 2018
But when Pius IX secured the declaration of papal infallibility, Döllinger refused to concede and was excommunicated, remaining under church condemnation until his death in 1890.
—D.g. Hart, WSJ, 29 Aug. 2017
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Phaedra Trethan, USA Today, 9 May 2025
The doctrine of papal infallibility, declared at the First Vatican Council in 1870, held that the pope, under certain conditions, could express the faith of the church without error.
—Dennis Doyle, The Conversation, 8 May 2025
Most famously, Ratzinger helped censure his friend Hans Kung, a Swiss theologian skeptical of the concept of papal infallibility.
—Henry Chudeputy News Editor, Los Angeles Times, 31 Dec. 2022
Küng rejected the doctrine of papal infallibility and was banned in 1979 by Pope John Paul II from teaching Catholic theologians.
—al, 30 Apr. 2021
His rejection of the omnicompetent state seemed attended by a notion of an omnicompetent papacy, something perhaps encouraged by the First Vatican Council’s declaration of papal infallibility and supreme and universal Church jurisdiction.
—David P. Deavel, National Review, 24 Oct. 2019
The idea that the Vatican, with its doctrine of papal infallibility, would invite open debate about official religious doctrine shocked religious and irreligious people around the world.
—Andre Pagliarini, The New Republic, 25 June 2019
In recent years, papal infallibility, a concept officially codified by Pius IX nearly 150 years ago, seems to have been supplanted by papal apology.
—Ian Austen and Jason Horowitz, New York Times, 23 Apr. 2018
But when Pius IX secured the declaration of papal infallibility, Döllinger refused to concede and was excommunicated, remaining under church condemnation until his death in 1890.
—D.g. Hart, WSJ, 29 Aug. 2017
Cite this Entry
“Papal infallibility.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/papal%20infallibility. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
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