In Jn 14:16- 17

"And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, which the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows it. But you know it, because it remains with you, and will be in you,"

Jesus declares that God the Holy Spirit protects His Church and its head from error.

Infallibility means that the pope can make infallible, binding pronouncements under certain conditions. However this does not mean that absolutely everything a pope says is free from error. All Christians believe that God protected the inspired Words in Holy Scripture from error, by means of inspiration, even though sinful, fallible men wrote it and are involved in it.

Vatican I (1869-1870) and reaffirmed in Vatican II (1962-1965) taught the infallibility of the pope, when "he proclaims by a definitive act some doctrine of faith and morals," not Church customs or things of everyday life. And even in those matters, infallibility comes into play only when the pope "proclaims by definitive act," or issues a formal, public statement. An offhand comment over lunch does not count.

There are other modes of Papal In fallibility, on matters of faith and morals already declared without error:

• When the bishops are united with the pope in an ecumenical council, to teach infallibly on matters of faith and morals.
• The pope and the bishops do not have to meet in a council to teach without error. The Holy Spirit guarantees they will teach truly whenever they re-iterate what the Church always has taught

• ¹What Catholics Really Believe-Setting the Record Straight: 52 Answers to Common Misconceptions About the Catholic Faith, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, 1992, by Karl Keating, director Catholic Answers, a lay-run apologetics and evangelization organization, and editor of the magazine, This Rock. He is also the author of the best-seller, Catholicism and Fundamentalism.

• 2Nuts & Bolts: A Practical Guide for Explaining and Defending the Catholic Faith, Basilica Press, San Diego, 1999, by Tim Staples, a former Assemblies of God youth pastor who converted to the Catholic Church.

• ³Catholic Source Book, Harcourt Religion Publishers, 2000, by Rev. Peter Klein. Rev Peter Klein is a priest of the Diocese of Winona in Minnesota.
• ⁴Our Sunday Visitor's Catholic Encyclopedia, Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division, Huntington, Indiana, 1998, by Rev. Peter M.J. Stravinskas, editor. Rev. Peter M.J. Stravinskas is the author of eleven books and more than 500 articles. He is the founding editor of Catholic Answer and the administrator of St. John the Baptist Church of Bayonne, New Jersey. He likewise serves as adjunct professor of education at Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey.

To read the rest of the series on Catholic Apologetics, please select one of the links below.

Apologetics Part 1: Catholic Practices and Traditions - Be Proud of Them

Apologetics Part 2: Catholic Devotion To the Virgin Mary

Apologetics Part 3: Bible Catholics?

Apologetics Part 4: The Catholic Beliefs Are Not Found in the Bible

Apologetics Part 5: Everything the Pope Says is Infallible

Apologetics Part 6: Catholics Are Not Born-Again - So They Are Not Saved

Apologetics Part 7: Catholics Worship Saints, Icons and Statues

Apologetics Part 8: Anointing the Sick with Holy Oil

Did You Know? Priestly Celibacy Is A Disciplinary Rule and not a Doctrine

Did You Know? That criticism of the Catholic Church comes from both the right and the left

Non-Catholic Criticism: Indulgences: A Catholic Can Buy Salvation

Non-Catholic Criticism: Communion of Saints - Why Catholics believe in Saints

Non-Catholic Criticism: Call No One on Earth Your Father

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