[dangus]

Your confusion is based on a wrong definition of "infallible." You are thinking of "inerrant," "impeccable," or "omniscient."

The Pope is not omniscient. He has no magic crystal ball, or oracle to give him any knowledge. He has no knowledge other than public revelation (i.e., scripture), and the discerning powers of the magisterium to correctly interpret that revelation.

The Pope is not inerrant. In other words, even when he does believe he knows something, he may be wrong. If the Pope states that the Marlins would win the NLCS, I wouldn't buy game tickets in Florida. We can know he is correct only when he speaks with the authority of the entire Catholic Church from the throne of St Peter for the purpose of teaching doctrine and morality.

The Pope is not impeccable. Although many accusations against Popes are gross distortions and inventions, the plain and obvious truth is that there have been many Popes who were sinners.

Be confused, instead, as to why people who claim to be men of God will falsely assert that the Pope has claimed impeccability, inerrancy and omniscience, when it plain he has not.

[FactQuest]

Thanks for the thoughtful reply.

Be confused, instead, as to why people who claim to be men of God will falsely assert that the Pope has claimed impeccability, inerrancy and omniscience, when it plain he has not.

Even this limited claim to inerrancy, that he is inerrant when speaking ex-cathedra, is plenty enought to get worked up about. There are many who hold the written word of God, the Holy Scriptures, as a higher authority. If the Pope, speaking ex-cathedra, says something that contradicts the Bible, then what are we left with? We are left with one of only two options: A: the Pope is not infallible speaking ex-cathedra, or B: the Bible is not inerrant in its original manuscripts. But, if B: is the case, and the Bible does contain errors, then the question becomes what parts are errors and what parts are not, and there is no rational way to achieve a firm answer, so the whole foundation crumbles.

So, then, the only thing that remains is to determine if the Pope, when speaking ex-Cathedra, has ever contradicted scripture.