Paul VI Did Not Use Infallibility
During the Council neither After
Table of Contents
Introduction
- The Declarations Relating to the Second Vatican Council
1.1 The Official Notification of November 16, 1964
1.2 The General Audience of January 12, 1966
1.3 The General Audience of September 21, 1966
- The Declarations Relating to the Encyclical Humanae Vitae
Conclusion
List of Sources
Introduction
The question of the doctrinal authority of the acts of Paul VI remains a crucial subject of study for historical theology. The official documents and public declarations of this pontificate show a constant will to avoid the use of solemn pontifical infallibility ex cathedra, both in the acts of the Second Vatican Council and in the major encyclicals, notably Humanae Vitae. This study gathers and analyzes the documentary evidence establishing this magisterial position. Paul VI did not employ infallibility in these contexts, according to the official sources cited below.
- The Declarations Relating to the Second Vatican Council
1.1. The Official Notification of November 16, 1964
The Nota Explicativa Praevia, read by the Secretary General of the Council Monsignor Pericle Felici on November 16, 1964 and attached to the Constitution Lumen Gentium promulgated by Paul VI on November 21, 1964, states in Latin:
“Ratione habita mos conciliaris ac praesentis Concilii pastoralis scopi, haec Sacra Synodus solummodo ea de rebus fidei vel morum ab Ecclesia tenenda decernit, quae ut talia aperte ipse declaraverit.”
The translation reads:
“Taking into account the conciliar custom and the pastoral purpose of the present Council, this Holy Synod defines as to be held by the Church only those points concerning faith and morals which it has openly declared as such.”
Source: Acta Apostolicae Sedis, Volume LVII, Typographie Polyglotte Vaticane, Vatican City, 1965, pages 72 to 75, Latin language.
Paul VI, by promulgating the Constitution Lumen Gentium together with this note from the Theological Commission, officially established that no proposition of the Council was to be considered an infallible definition without an explicit declaration to that effect, a declaration which was never formulated.
1.2 The General Audience of January 12, 1966
During the general audience of January 12, 1966, Paul VI expressed himself in Italian on the theological qualification of the Council:
“Vi è chi si domanda quale sia l’autorità, la qualifica teologica, che il Concilio ha voluto attribuire ai suoi insegnamenti, sapendo che esso ha evitato di dare definizioni dogmatiche solenni, impegnanti l’infaibilità del magistero ecclesiastico. La risposta è nota a chi ricorda la dichiarazione conciliare del 6 marzo 1964, ripetuta il 16 novembre 1964: dato il carattere pastorale del Concile, esso ha evitato di pronunciare in modo straordinario dogmi dotati della nota di infaibilità.”
The translation reads:
“Some wonder what authority, what theological qualification the Council intended to give to its teachings, knowing that it avoided promulgating solemn dogmatic definitions engaging the infallibility of the ecclesiastical Magisterium. The answer is known to whoever remembers the conciliar declaration of March 6, 1964, repeated on November 16, 1964: given the pastoral character of the Council, it avoided pronouncing, in an extraordinary manner, dogmas endowed with the note of infallibility.”
Source: Insegnamenti di Paolo VI, Volume IV, Typographie Polyglotte Vaticane, Vatican City, 1966, page 699, Italian language.
This address confirms directly and authentically, from the mouth of the pontiff himself, the absence of infallible definitions in all the texts of Vatican II.
1.3. The General Audience of September 21, 1966
Paul VI reiterated this precision during his public audience of September 21, 1966 in these terms in Italian:
“essendo che il Concilio ha evitato di dare solenni definizioni dogmatiche.”
The translation reads:
“given that the Council avoided giving solemn dogmatic definitions.”
Source: Insegnamenti di Paolo VI, Volume IV, Typographie Polyglotte Vaticane, Vatican City, 1966, page 699, Italian language.
The repetition of this assertion shows a constant will to rule out any interpretation of the conciliar decrees from the angle of the extraordinary infallible magisterium.
- The Declarations Relating to the Encyclical Humanae Vitae
On July 29, 1968, during the official presentation of the encyclical Humanae Vitae, Monsignor Ferdinando Lambruschini, professor of moral theology at the Pontifical Lateran University and accredited spokesman for the Pope, publicly declared in Italian:
“Non si tratta di una definizione infallibile, e non è una dichiarazione irreformabile. Non è un pronunciamento ex cathedra. È una dichiarazione autentica, ma non infallibile, che si inserisce nella continuità del magistero ordinario.”
The translation reads:
“The encyclical does not present an infallible definition and is not irreformable. It is not an ex cathedra pronouncement. It is an authentic declaration, but not infallible, which fits into the continuity of the ordinary magisterium.”
Source: Official press reports of the Holy See Press Office, July 29, 1968, also analyzed in Gilfredo Marengo, La nascita di un’enciclica, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Vatican City, 2018, Italian language.
The official presentation of Humanae Vitae, validated by the authority of Paul VI, explicitly established that the text did not bear the characteristics of an ex cathedra definition and kept it strictly within the framework of the non-infallible ordinary magisterium.
Conclusion
Paul VI did not use solemn pontifical infallibility during the Second Vatican Council nor in the encyclical Humanae Vitae. This fits into the context of the crisis that led to the vacancy of the Apostolic See starting from the first public heresy with Lumen Gentium, according to traditional Catholic doctrine prior to 1964. The documented facts confirm this absence of the use of infallibility in the cases examined.
List of Sources
Acta Apostolicae Sedis, Volume LVII, Typographie Polyglotte Vaticane, Vatican City, 1965, Latin language.
Insegnamenti di Paolo VI, Volume IV, Typographie Polyglotte Vaticane, Vatican City, 1966, Italian language.
Gilfredo Marengo, La nascita di un’enciclica, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Vatican City, 2018, Italian language.
Official press reports of the Holy See Press Office, July 29, 1968.
These sources come directly from the official publications of the Vatican from that period.