Church History 102_Demo

1870 First Vatican Council
Objectives
Discover how this council changed the fabric of the catholic church.
Examine the areas of the council stayed away from the word of God.
The Purpose of the Council
The First Vatican Council was convened in 1869 by Pope Pius IX and ended in 1870. It was
planned in utmost secrecy for about four years. Pius IX had commissioned the cardinals
resident in Rome to give him their opinions as to the effectiveness of a council, the majority
was in favor of it.
The purpose of this Council was to deal with the contemporary problems of the rising
influence of liberalism, materialism and inspiration of Scripture. In addition to these
purposes the council was also convened to define the Catholic doctrine, and explore the
dogma of papal infallibility.
Even though in 1854 this doctrine of papal infallibility had been used to define the
Immaculate Conception of Mary as doctrine. In 1951, they declared that she had ascended
unto heaven, where she was crowned as the "Queen of heaven." This was called the
Assumption of Mary. The proposal to define papal infallibility was met with resistance. The
reason for this was not because of a lack of belief in this idea, but because some considered
it inconvenient to take that step at that time.
For all practical purposes, the working sessions of the Council ended on July 18, 1870, the
day on which Pope Pius IX solemnly proclaimed the doctrine of papal infallibility. In the seven
months between December and July, some 700 Catholic priests met in 86 general
congregations and four public sessions to discuss the topic.
The Super Pope
The doctrinal constitution states that the Pope has “full and supreme power of jurisdiction
over the whole Church,” and that when he “speaks ex cathedra. Ex cathedra is a Latin
phrase which means "from the chair" that is, when, in the exercise of his office as shepherd
and teacher of all Christians, in virtue of his supreme apostolic authority, he defines a
doctrine concerning faith or morals to be held by the whole Church, he possesses, by the
divine assistance promised to him in blessed Peter, that infallibility which the divine
Redeemer willed his Church enjoy in defining doctrine concerning faith or morals” (Chapters
3:9 and 4:9).
According to the Roman Catholic Church, this infallibility of the pope, only when speaking ex
cathedra, is part of the Roman Catholic Church’s Magisterium, or the “teaching authority of
the Church” which God gave to the “mother Church” to guide her infallibly. This “teaching
authority of the Church” is made up of the pope’s infallible teaching ability, the infallible
teaching ability of church councils assembled under the authority of the pope, and the
“ordinary” Magisterium of the bishops.