This series of posts is on the topic of my book: The Twelve Papal Charisms. This post covers the second set of four papal charisms, which are all on the topic of papal indefectibility.

Second Set of Charisms: Indefectibility

5. The Pope is the indefectible Rock on which the indefectible Church is founded.
6. The Pope has the charism of truth and never-failing faith, making him indefectible.
7. The Apostolic See is unblemished by any grave error, making his See indefectible.
8. The Pope is the head of the body of Bishops, which is indefectible due to this union.

The next four papal charisms explain why the supreme authority of the Roman Pontiff over the Church cannot cause grave harm to the Church, nor lead the Church or the faithful astray: because the indefectibility of the Church inherently includes the indefectibility of the Roman Pontiff. The Pope as both the Head of the Church and Her foundational Rock must be indefectible in order to secure the indefectibility of the Church, as the sole Ark of Salvation. This papal indefectibility is taught by the Church in the form of the charism of truth and never-failing faith, and also in the indefectibility of the Papal See, as well as in the explicit teaching of Pope Leo XIII, quoting Origen, that the gates of Hell can never prevail over the Church, nor over the Rock on which the Church is founded, meaning Peter and his successors.

Indefectibility differs from infallibility. When the Pope or the body of Bishops with the Pope teach infallibly, their teaching is necessarily free from all error; infallibility is a divine guarantee that a teaching is divine truth. Indefectibility applies more broadly. Whether the Church is teaching or ruling, whether infallibly or non-infallibly, indefectibility is a divine guarantee that the Church, the Pope, and the body of Bishops led by the Pope can never go astray, nor lead the faithful astray, from the true path of salvation taught by Jesus Christ our Lord. So while infallibility applies only to certain teachings, indefectibility applies to those who teach and rule (the Pope; the body of Bishops led by the Pope) as well as to their teachings and rulings. The Pope as a person has a never-failing faith, and so he cannot go astray from the true Faith into apostasy, heresy, schism, or idolatry. Then the teachings and rulings of the Pope can never err gravely, nor lead the faithful astray. So indefectibility applies to the person and to his exercise of the Keys of Saint Peter. The body of Bishops has the same indefectibility, but only as a body. They cannot fail gravely in faith as a body, and their teachings, with the Roman Pontiff as the head of the body of Bishops, also cannot err gravely or lead the faithful astray. Then the Church as a whole also cannot err gravely or lead astray, even though individual Bishops, and groups of Bishops (short of the body of Bishops), and individual members of the faithful, and groups of the faithful (short of the body of the faithful) can go astray.

Does the body of the faithful, led by the Pope and Bishops, also participate in the indefectibility of the Church? Yes. The Church can never lose Her essential nature: Her Sacraments; the Pope and the body of Bishops as faithful successors of the Apostles; and Her character as one holy catholic and apostolic Church. Also, the Church can never be the faithful without any Shepherds, nor the Shepherds without any faithful to teach and lead. A Shepherd without sheep is not a Shepherd; and if the sheep reject their Shepherds, they wander into danger in the wilderness, losing the safety and surety of the sheepfold.

So the body of the faithful, led by the Apostolic College, can never go astray as a body. Those small or relatively large groups of the faithful who choose to depart from the Catholic Christian faith have broken away from the larger body of the faithful, which retains its indefectibility. But this does not mean that the body of the faithful can usurp a role as if they were Shepherds or Rulers over the Church, who would take such roles in place of, or as equals to, the Pope and the body of Bishops. They remain in their God-given role as followers of the Shepherds of the Church.

Now certainly the Apostolic See cannot err gravely in doctrine or discipline, that is, when the Roman Pontiff exercises the Keys of Saint Peter. And this doctrine has been taught in two ways: teachings stating the freedom of the Papal See from blemish, stain, contagion, heresy, etc.; and teachings stating the continual presence of Peter himself in the judgments of the Papal See. And this point about the Apostolic See is in addition to the teaching on the charism of truth and never-failing faith of the Roman Pontiff himself, in his office (charism of truth) and in his person (charism of never-failing faith).

The body of Bishops participates in this charism of truth and never-failing faith, which is a type of indefectibility, but only as a body, not as individuals, and only when united to, and led by, the Roman Pontiff. A Bishop who rejects the authority of the Roman Pontiff falls away from that union, and loses all jurisdiction. For if the Roman Pontiff by himself, or the Bishops as a body, (or even the rest of the faithful as a body) were to defect from the true Faith, then the Church could not be said to have remained indefectible. The Church must retain Her fundamental structure as founded by Christ on Peter, with the other Apostles, leading His flock. Therefore, the indefectibility of the Church implies the indefectibility of each of Her fundamental and indispensable components: the successor of Peter; the successors of the other Apostles, the body of Bishops; and the flock they teach and guide, the rest of the faithful (priests, deacons, religious, laity); as well as Her Sacraments; Her teachings; and Her discipline generally (though discipline is changeable).

The indefectible Church also can never lose her fundamental characters: one, holy, catholic, and apostolic. So, to remain indefectible, the Church must remain apostolic, referring not only to the Apostle Peter and the other Apostles, but to their successors, the Pope and the Bishops. For the Church to be indefectible, so that the gates of Hell never prevail over Her at any time, this indefectibility must apply to Peter and each of his valid successors, and to the Bishops as a body, as well as to the flock which they tend. The Church cannot be shepherds without a flock, nor a flock without shepherds. Neither can the Church be a set of shepherds and their respective flocks without a unifying Supreme Shepherd, who is one Shepherd and one Head of the one Church with Christ. If the Pope were to defect, the Church would not be indefectible. If the Bishops as a body were to defect, the Church would not be indefectible. If the body of the faithful were to defect — even if the Pope and the Bishops remained faithful — the Church would not be indefectible. Then the loss of any of the chief characteristics of the Church — one holy catholic and apostolic — would also mean the Church had lost Her indefectibility. Note well that each of the Sacraments and the holy Mass also have this participation in the indefectibility of the Church. There is ONE indefectibility of the Church, which includes many aspects of Her essential nature. But if anyone claims that a Sacrament has become invalid due to the decision of the Pope and the body of Bishops, or that the Mass, in any form approved by the Pope and the body of Bishops, has become invalid — or that a form of the Mass leads the faithful astray or fails to attain its essential nature and purpose — such a claim is contrary to the dogma of the indefectibility of the Church and is therefore heresy.

Thus, all these things are always retained by the Church, due to the power of God, by grace, and providence, and even miracles. Never can the promise of Christ fail that the Church will never fail. Never can the Church cease to be what Christ has made Her to be, for She is the true Body of Christ, with Christ as Her Head and with the Holy Spirit as Her soul, for the glory of God the Father, forever and ever. They accuse Christ of lying who say otherwise.

Ronald L Conte Jr