The next important step in an intelligent understanding of the doctrine of papal infallibility is to know precisely in what circumstances and within what limits God exercises His divine power to prevent error. The doctrine as officially taught by the Catholic Church is both brief and simple. It is stated in the following words: God sees to it that the Pope does not teach error when, acting as head of the Church, he teaches the whole Church on some point of faith or morals revealed by Christ. The scope and the limits of the infallible power are clearly defined. The Pope must be acting specifically in his official capacity as head of the Universal Church. In any other capacity,—as a private person, a teacher, preacher, theologian, counseller or advisor,—he is subject to the same limitations as are imposed upon human intelligence. He must be teaching the! whole Church. Therefore he cannot impose an infallible decree upon an individual, a group of individuals, a particular nation oF <a of=nations. An infallible decision is binding upon the whole Church. Infallibility extends only to matters of faith and morals as revealed by Christ. On all other subjects,—science, literature, art, economics—it is possible for him to err. He has no guarantee of divine assistance except in the field of faith and morals. And even there, only in so far as the subject matter is revealed by Christ. The Pope, therefore, cannot impose upon me a new doctrine. He cannot impose upon me anything I have not already accepted, either in fact or in principle, because I have already accepted the revelation of Christ, whole and entire. Infallibility is not revelation; it is not a means of revealing new truths, but it is a means which God uses fo make sure that there be not a mistake concerning the truths already revealed; it is a guarantee of truth.
God's Promise that doctrine it. without the slightest
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