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• papal infallibility
  papal infallibility

  noun

  the dogma that the pope cannot err in a solemn teaching addressed to the whole church on a matter of faith or morals.
• infallibility, papal
  infallibility, papal

  The belief of the Roman Catholic Church that the pope is kept by God from making a mistake when he speaks on a question of faith or morals.

papal infallibility

American  

noun

Roman Catholic Church.

1. the dogma that the pope cannot err in a solemn teaching addressed to the whole church on a matter of faith or morals.

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infallibility, papal Cultural  

1. The belief of the Roman Catholic Church that the pope is kept by God from making a mistake when he speaks on a question of faith or morals.

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Etymology

Origin of papal infallibility

First recorded in 1865–70

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

papal infallibility

Later, recounting his fruitless sessions with his hopeless catechumen, Father Mowbray tells the matriarch how he tried to explain to Mottram the concept of papal infallibility:

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026

Küng, who brought Ratzinger to Tübingen, would later be barred from teaching by his former colleague, after he rejected papal infallibility.

From BBC ● Dec. 31, 2022

Most famously, Ratzinger helped censure his friend Hans Kung, a Swiss theologian skeptical of the concept of papal infallibility.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 31, 2022

Evangelicals and Catholics have been historically divided on several theological issues, such as papal infallibility, the veneration of the Virgin Mary, the nature of the sacraments, the doctrine of the church and views of salvation.

From Washington Post ● May 14, 2015

Pius IX. constantly asserted that the desire of obtaining the recognition of papal infallibility was not originally his motive in convoking the Council.

From The History of Freedom by Acton, John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton, Baron