There's something quite incredible about that when you think about it.

Francis has not turned faithful Catholics into 19th-century "there-is-no-hope-without-the-pope" ultramontanists.

Catholics know that not everything a pope says and does is infallible. And it is even legitimate to criticise the pope, as long it is done in a respectful way.

But he is the pope and should not be addressed, especially in public, as you might address a co-worker; even less as you might disparage a politician or celebrity you don't like.

During these years we have witnessed a negativity towards Francis that seems unparalleled in the contemporary papacy. And it's not just because of his destabilising style.

The radical opposition to him has come from "law and order" Catholics, the party of anti-Vatican II reactionaries.

But it is not just about religious ideology. It is the rise of a certain kind of disenchantment, a cynicism masquerading as "know it all" Catholicism.

Catholic cynics and cognitive superiority

An interesting article, forwarded to me by a colleague, sheds light on what has happened in the last decade.

It helps debunk the "myth of the cynical genius".

That myth is the belief that cynics and their negativity (and even nihilism) represent competence and cognitive superiority over those who are more trusting and less cynical.

The scholarly study was authored by Olga Stavrova and Daniel Ehlebracht of the Institute of Sociology and Social Psychology at the University of Cologne (Germany).

The study was published in 2018 under the title, "The Cynical Genius Illusion: Exploring and Debunking Lay Beliefs About Cynicism and Competence".

Stavrova and Ehlebracht start from the widely shared assumption that "cynicism might be seen as a sign of competence.

These arguments suggest that, in laypersons' beliefs, cynicism might be positively associated with competence".

Their article was published after other studies they authored on solidarity, anti-social and cynical vs pro-social behaviour).

It elaborates data from other studies, one of which is based on the data of about 200,000 individuals from 30 countries.

Stavrova and Ehlebracht challenge the idea, coming from an evolutionary perspective, that "suspiciousness, precautionary reasoning, and endorsement of the 'better safe than sorry' heuristic inherent to cynicism" are signs of a competent decision maker.

With abundance of data, they say that the opposite is true.

"The idea of cynical individuals being more competent, intelligent, and experienced than less cynical ones appears to be quite common and widespread.

"Yet, as demonstrated by our estimates of the true empirical associations between cynicism and competence, is largely illusory," they conclude.

"As Stephan Colbert, an American comedian, writer, and television host, phrased it, 'Cynicism masquerades as wisdom, but it is the furthest thing from it'," they say", paraphrasing one of the American celebrities most comfortable and credible in speaking publicly about his Catholic faith.

Anxiety about change in the Church

This scholarly study arguing in favour of anti-cynical behaviour and against the correlation between cynicism and competence applies to what has happened in the Catholic Church, especially in the last decade.

We have seen opponents of Pope Francis parade their negativity and contrarian "insider's view" as a badge of honour - but they are really hiding their anxiety about change in the Church.

We have not only seen ordinary lay Catholics gradually become cynical about the current pope and his pontificate.

We have actually seen this cynical attitude in some leading Catholic figure from the very beginning in 2013.

There are even bishops who refuse to give the benefit of the doubt to the Bishop of Rome, with whom they must be in communion to remain legitimate members of the episcopal college.

The growth of cynicism must be framed in our social and cultural context:

• more than two decades of the Catholic Church's global sex abuse crisis;
• the collapse of institutional narratives once controlled by ecclesiastical and mainstream media;
• the quasi-totalitarian expectation of total transparency;
• the rise of individual and group identity as a marker of authenticity and truth;
• the mania for desecration and entertainment;
• the thin line between suspicion and credulity.

Cynicism is a social and political problem.

It is a "neoliberal effect […] the feeling of living under structural conditions that curtail the kinds of self-determining subjectivities.

These have been taken for granted as a feature of Western, liberal democracies and remain foundational to imagined modes of dissent."

"It's important to know how to give the Church some love".

But cynicism is also a spiritual problem.

It is the consequence of the deep-seated assumption of already knowing, of having nothing to learn from the Church, that is, from brothers and sisters in the faith, and not even from the pope.

Or, even worse, it comes from the nihilistic assumption that it is impossible to know the truth or that it does not even matter.

The Church's polycrisis (abuse, racism, gender) represents a test, but it also offers a lesson on how fidelity and commitment can survive betrayal and disenchantment.

From March 2013 up to the present, we have witnessed an unprecedented public debate on Francis' pontificate.

It has been tailor-made for blogs and social media, for "my-own-Catholicism" militant media, where anyone feels authorised to accuse others of heresy as a matter of course.

There was once a style that protected a certain Catholic form, but it seem to have been lost in the last several years - even by some Church leaders, both clergy and lay.

This applies in a particular way to the radical opponents of Pope Francis, but not only to them.

It's important to work for Church reform, and to fight corruption and clericalism: this requires clear-eyedness, foresight, and the ability to distinguish the true prophets from those who are false.

But as Italian theologian and musicologist Pierangelo Sequeri has said, it's also important to know how to give the Church some love.

There is indeed at work the myth of the cynical Catholic.

But it is exactly the opposite of the wisdom that's required to love the Church as it is right now, not the one we hope will come one day or the one that never really existed.

• Massimo Faggioli is an Italian academic, Church historian, and professor of theology and religious studies at Villanova University.
• First published in La Croix. Republished with permission.

Over the weekend, a tweet sent from the Pontifical Academy for Life's official Twitter account suggested that St Pope Paul VI's 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae was not covered by the doctrine of papal infallibility.

This means it can be subject to change.

"History records by Archbishop Lambruschini confirmed that Paul VI said to him directly that Humanae Vitae was not under infallibility," the Pontifical Academy's official Twitter account said on 6 August.

The academy's now-deleted tweet generated considerable backlash and speculation online.

Many commentators interpreted the statement as suggesting that the landmark encyclical could become the subject of papal review or reform.

The debate began last month with the publication by the Pontifical Academy for Life of a new volume titled Theological Ethics of Life: Scripture, Tradition, Practical Challenges. It includes papers delivered during a conference sponsored by the academy last year.

In the book, some theologians appeared to suggest that in certain limited circumstances couples might be justified in choosing artificial contraception or methods of artificial reproduction.

The academy defended the volume, saying its role as a pontifical academy is to facilitate dialogue among the top theological thinkers of the day about contemporary issues of key interest.

However, critics argued that it was inappropriate for an official Vatican entity to include voices questioning some of the church's core moral teachings.

Ever since Humanae Vitae first appeared in 1968, there's been an active debate over exactly what level of authority it possesses and, by implication, whether one can dissent from it and still be a good Catholic.

The context of Humane Vitae is about using contraception inside marriage.

And, despite what some think, everything the pope says is not infallible.

For a statement to be infallible, the Pope needs to make it clear that he is speaking infallibly and so far no pope has spoken infallibly on moral matters.

Catholic theologians agree that both Pope Pius IX's 1854 definition of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary and Pope Pius XII's 1950 definition of the dogma of the Assumption of Mary are the only instances of papal infallibility.

Both followed wide consultation with the bishops as to whether these doctrines were already believed worldwide.

Sources

• CruxNow
• Gaudium Press
• The Pilar

The final vote was accompanied by a violent thunderstorm over St. Peter's Basilica, darkness lit up only by frequent flashes of lightning and by a flaming taper brought in to enable the voting roll-call to be readout.

Nobody doubted that the storm was providential. Those in favour interpreted it as a celestial fireworks display; those against, as a sign of divine disapproval of ambition influencing doctrine. Who was right is still open to debate.

The objective of the Council was to strengthen the papacy in its teaching and governing roles. This was not stated openly, but Pope Pius IX put it beyond doubt through his actions.

The pope changes the agenda, ends the Council

When time was running out and the approaching heat of a Roman summer signalled a recess, the pope abandoned his early stance of neutrality on the twin issues of papal infallibility and universal jurisdiction. He made it known that he wanted them passed.

He changed the agenda abruptly, interrupting the discussion on the early chapters of Pastor Aeternus to bring forward a new Chapter IV, which dealt with his own office and which proposed to turn the two disputed theories into beliefs that would be essential for salvation.

When it became obvious that no such teaching could command the virtual unanimity traditional for major decisions at Councils, he put aside tradition and ruled that a simple majority would do.

On that basis the dogmas were adopted on July 18, 1870, and the Council broke up for the summer intending to meet again on November 11.

On October 20, however, Pius IX adjourned the council indefinitely because of the Franco-Prussian War and the loss of Rome to the forces unifying Italy. The suggestion that the Council should be reconvened at another venue was ignored.

Although the Council had completed only a small fraction of its original agenda, Pius never reconvened it. Nor did his successors.

Judged by its fruits, Vatican I was a disaster. It gave legal and moral endorsement to the administrative and doctrinal ambitions that had played such a crucial role in the East-West Schism and the Reformation.

Instead of resolving these divisions, as many of the attending bishops had hoped, the Council created greater obstacles to Christian unity. It broke with the very first Council of the Church at Jerusalem, which had adopted the principle of not burdening people's consciences unnecessarily.

This occasioned another schism, that of the Old Catholics of Utrecht who could not honestly profess the new dogma of papal infallibility.

The damage is done

Externally, at a social and political level, infallibility did permanent damage.

It provoked the Kulturkampf in Germany, a bitter 15-year struggle between the government of Chancellor Bismarck and the Church for control of institutions and of the appointment of clergy.

Anti-Church laws were enacted, schools and hospitals appropriated, and impossible conditions imposed on priests. Many went to jail or were deported. Jesuits, Redemptorists and Holy Ghost congregations were dissolved and expelled.

In the end, Bismarck had to back down but the pervasive Catholic influence in German culture has never fully recovered.

Similar reactions to the definition of infallibility, with less extreme effects, were encountered in Italy, Switzerland, Russia, Austria, and the United States. Venezuela confiscated Church property. Colombia did the same.

The reaction should have been foreseen. If the papal diplomats had issued any warnings, however, Pio Nono was not listening.

The Ultramontanists had been campaigning to give the pope an absolute infallibility.

This had created genuine apprehension among governments, pitting them strongly against the Church in advance of the Council. Those with significant Catholic populations were alarmed by the possible effect of an infallible edict on public order or national stability.

Prince Clodwig zu Hohenlohe had expressed the view that papal infallibility would elevate the power of the pope above that of princes and people, "to the detriment of both".

In the dogmatic definitions, the Ultramontanists did not get everything they were looking for. The wording of the dogma limited papal infallibility to issues of faith and morals. It also set some conditions.

At that stage, however, telling nervous politicians about the conditions was little use.

They knew better than most how easily authority could ignore or circumvent conditions, particularly when there is no avenue of appeal. No pope has incited citizens to rebellion since then, although some single-issue bishops have tried to tell Catholics how they ought to vote.

On religious issues, infallibility has been invoked officially on only one occasion - when Pope Pius XII defined the Assumption of Our Lady.

The papacy, however, has not been above circumventing the conditions. The title alone produces a general aura of infallibility because nobody bothers with the small print. And the twin dogma of universal jurisdiction makes it impossible to challenge abuse.

Over the years more and more things have been presented as infallible, irreformable or irrevocable.

Pious churchmen use the term creeping infallibility, but that seems to credit it with some validity.

Teaching that does not meet the conditions are not infallible and should be more accurately termed pseudo-infallible. Continue reading

• The analysis or comments in this article do not necessarily reflect the view of CathNews.

One example is the idea of papal infallibility. Many assume the doctrine requires Catholics to hold that the Pope makes no mistakes.

But the actual terms of papal infallibility is narrowly defined. So much so that it hardly ever applies. In fact, there are only two papal statements that all theologians agree meet the criteria.

One is the Immaculate Conception of Mary. The other concerns her assumption into Heaven.

Without getting into a theological debate, there are other statements that might qualify. But these are subject to debate. And, despite the papacy being 2000 years old, there are precious few of them.

So if the Pope predicts good weather for the weekend, it's no sin to pack an umbrella just in case.

Nor are Catholics obliged to go along with the Pope's musings on economics or science. In such matters, he works from imperfect knowledge (as do we all).

The socialist playwright George Bernard Shaw seems to have understood this. Though no fan of the Catholic Church, he characterised the doctrine as relating only to "certain historical matters on which he has clearly more sources of information open to him than anyone else".

He observed that, compared to "our infallible democracies, our infallible medical councils, or infallible astronomers, our infallible judges, our infallible parliaments the Pope is on his knees in the dust confessing his ignorance before the throne of God…"

If he was writing that today, Shaw would have added "fact check" websites to his list of modern infallibles. The events of last week show why.

As we know, the United States fired around 60 missiles into Syria as retaliation for the Assad regime's bombing of Khan Shaykhun.

The World Health Organisation and others say the regime used sarin gas in the assault on the town. The US government says the use of chemical weapons called for a military response.

But how can this be? After all, Syria agreed to surrender its entire stockpile of chemical weapons in 2013.

A year later John Kerry, then Secretary of State, claimed that "we struck a deal where we got 100 percent of the chemical weapons out". Continue reading

• Liam Hehir is a Senior Associate practising law, and writes opinion pieces for Fairfax Media.

One of the most widely known memes of the last one-hundred-and-fifty years, it is also one of the most utterly misunderstood.

The media's reporting of two recent events illustrates the issue.

First, consider the retirement of Pope Benedict XVI. After Benedict's dramatic announcement, serious and respected commentators raised such questions as "Will a resigned pope continue to be infallible?" and "What will happen if an infallible Benedict is contradicted by an infallible successor?"

Questions like that may sell papers, but they show no evidence that the writers made the effort even to Google the term, "papal infallibility."

More recently, take the commentary on Pope Francis's Synod on the Family.

At the close of the synod's initial sessions, a columnist for the New York Times—an educated Catholic—blankly depicted the policy of denying Communion to civilly divorced-and-remarried Catholics as an unavoidable implication of infallible papal teaching on the indissolubility of marriage.

The bishops who promulgated the doctrine of papal infallibility at the First Vatican Council in 1869 would have shuddered at such cartoonish misrepresentations of their highly nuanced creation.

How egregious are those misrepresentation? Here is the original text of their decree:

We teach and define that it is a dogma Divinely revealed that the Roman pontiff when he speaks ex cathedra, that is when in discharge of the office of pastor and doctor of all Christians, by virtue of his supreme Apostolic authority, he defines a doctrine regarding faith or morals to be held by the universal Church, by the Divine assistance promised to him in Blessed Peter, is possessed of that infallibility with which the Divine Redeemer willed that his Church should be endowed in defining doctrine regarding faith or morals, and that therefore such definitions of the Roman pontiff are of themselves and not from the consent of the Church irreformable. Continue reading

Sources

• Commonweal, from an article by George Wilson, SJ, a retired ecclesiologist living in Cincinnati.
• Image: pHimages

Many theologians - most in fact - believe he is and it is a commonly held and taught belief.

Vatican Insider discusses this with Bishop Giuseppe Sciacca, a distinguished canonist and Adjunct Secretary of the Apostolic Signatura.

Is the Pope infallible when he proclaims a new saint?

"According to the prevailing doctrine of the Church, when the Pope canonizes a saint his judgment is infallible.

"As is known, canonization is the decree with which the Pope solemnly proclaims that the heavenly glory shines upon the Blessed and extends the cult of the new saint to the universal Church in a binding and definitive manner.

"There is no question then that canonization is an act carried out by the Petrine primate. At the same time, however, it should not be considered infallible according to the infallibility criteria set out in the First Vatican Council's dogmatic constitution "Pastor aeternus"."

So, according to you, this means the Pope can make a mistake when he proclaims someone a saint?
"That's not what I said. I am not denying that the decree issued for a canonization cause is definitive, so it would be rash and indeed unholy to state that the Pope can make a mistake.

"What I am saying, is that the proclamation of a person's sainthood is not a truth of faith because it is not a dogmatic definition and is not directly or explicitly linked to a truth of faith or a moral truth contained in the revelation, but is only indirectly linked to this.

"It is no coincidence that neither the Code of Canon Law of 1917 nor the one currently in force, nor the Catechism of the Catholic Church present the Church's doctrine regarding canonizations." Continue reading

Sources

• Vatican Insider
• Image: RTE News