INDEED.
RC DUPLICITIES
ABOUND
THROUGHOUT
UNRUBBERIZED HISTORY.
along with
those of most other
groups and mortals.
“That is absolutely untrue. The Popes, collectively, have only ever issued two ex cathedra statements. That is verifiable.”
The Code of Canon Law provides that "No doctrine is understood to be infallibly defined unless it is clearly established as such" (CIC 749 § 3), and i do not dispute that at least two (MUNIFICENTISSIMUS DEUS; Ineffabilis Deus) are accepted as being such, but as the disputes show, this is still a matter of some interpretation, as there is no infallible canon of all infallible decrees, and which would detail which certain sections of promulgations are.
Are you infallibly certain that only 2 exist, and that your understanding of them is infallible, including whether scriptures being invoked in support are infallible interpretations? In any case, you will then have to argue with your own apologists and other Roman sources over the number of infallible definitions.
In addition to statements in post 492 as regards this,
Cardinals Ratzinger (the later Pope Benedict XVI) and Bertone, the prefect and secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, listed a number of instances of infallible pronouncements by popes and by ecumenical councils, but explicitly stated (at no. 11) that this was not meant to be a complete list. - http://www.ewtn.com/library/CURIA/CDFADTU.HTM
Catholic theologian and church historian Klaus Schatz made a thorough study, published in 1985, that identified the following list of ex cathedra documents (Creative Fidelity: Weighing and Interpreting Documents of the Magisterium, by Francis A. Sullivan, chapter 6):
* "Tome to Flavian", Pope Leo I, 449, on the two natures in Christ, received by the Council of Chalcedon;
* Letter of Pope Agatho, 680, on the two wills of Christ, received by the Third Council of Constantinople;
* Benedictus Deus, Pope Benedict XII, 1336, on the beatific vision of the just prior to final judgment;
* C u m occasione, Pope Innocent X, 1653, condemning five propositions of Jansen as heretical;
* Auctorem fidei, Pope Pius VI, 1794, condemning seven Jansenist propositions of the Synod of Pistoia as heretical;
* Ineffabilis Deus, Pope Pius IX, 1854, defining the immaculate conception; and
* Munificentissimus Deus, Pope Pius XII, 1950, defining the assumption of Mary.
Roman Catholic apologist Jimmy Akin states that Papal infallibility has been exercised far more than two times, and that papal canonizations of saints are infallible, due to the pope stating: "we declare and define that Blessed N., is a saint" http://www.jimmyakin.org/2004/06/two_instances_o.html
RC apologist Phil Vaz holds that the Pope infallibly condemned abortion in the encyclical Evangelium Vitae
Also of some debate is Casti Connubii and Humanae Vitae are infallible, and Unam Sanctum.
"We have infallible statements from popes all the way back. Pope Boniface VIII made an infallible statement in the 13th century concerning papal authority or papal primacy. In the year 451 at the Council of Chalcedon, Pope Leo I made an infallible declaration that was recognized as such by council Fathers concerning the hypostatic union of Christ." — Staples, Tim, "All Generations Shall Call Me Blessed," tape 2 of 6, side 1, http://www.lazyboysreststop.com/apol75.htm
The allowance of interpretation is real and necessary in cases of problematic statements by certain popes.
There are also disputes about which ecumenical conciliar definitions are infallible, or about how binding papal encyclicals are.
The Catholic church may claim that it has spoken infallibly x number of times, but nobody knows for sure but God.
And even if they have spoken infallibly, the same problem arises in interpreting their *infallible* declarations as interpreting infallible Scripture. That is, that the person hearing or reading it isn’t interpreting it infallibly, so nothing is gained by adding another layer of infallibility.
At that point, you might as well stick to just Scripture and not any any other layers of claimed infallibility, which can’t be proved anyway. Their say so that it’s an infallible declaration is just their opinion.
One thing I am infallibly certain is that your knowledge of Catholic doctrine is incomplete and highly flawed.
Popes, as members of the Episcopacy of the Church, participate in the infallible declarations of the Magisterium, but there have only been two ex cathedra statements by Popes.
If you are serious about educating yourself on Catholic doctrines I would advise you to stay away from the internet and seek out a priest or enroll in theology classes at a Catholic college or university. I can't think of any priest who would reject a sincere inquiry or deny admittance into an educational program even on the conditions that the exercise is not for the purposes of conversion.