Therefore, faithfully adhering to the tradition received from the beginning of the christian faith, to the glory of God our saviour, for the exaltation of the catholic religion and for the salvation of the christian people, with the approval of the sacred council,
we teach and define as a divinely revealed dogma that when the Roman pontiff speaks EX CATHEDRA, 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 to enjoy in defining doctrine concerning faith or morals. Therefore, such definitions of the Roman pontiff are of themselves, and not by the consent of the church, irreformable.
So then, should anyone, which God forbid, have the temerity to reject this definition of ours: let him be anathema.
The Latin text.
The Catholic Thing: Infallibility: The Unopened Gift by Russell Shaw
Shaw summarizes one view:
Despite the hopes and fears at the moment, however, only rarely has papal infallibility been specifically invoked in modern times. In 1854 Pius IX made it clear he spoke infallibly in defining the dogma of Mary’s Immaculate Conception. Pius XII did the same in 1950 in defining the dogma of her bodily assumption. Otherwise, like an unopened gift, papal infallibility has remained on the shelf.
Shaw examines whether infallibility applies to the ordinary magisterium of a bishop, but what about the ordinary magisterium of the Roman pope? It's a bait-and-switch. (In his 1995 article for OSV, Shaw repeats much the same material, but does not talk about the papal ordinary magisterium there either.)
Lumen Gentium 25:
This religious submission of mind and will must be shown in a special way to the authentic magisterium of the Roman Pontiff, even when he is not speaking ex cathedra; that is, it must be shown in such a way that his supreme magisterium is acknowledged with reverence, the judgments made by him are sincerely adhered to, according to his manifest mind and will. His mind and will in the matter may be known either from the character of the documents, from his frequent repetition of the same doctrine, or from his manner of speaking.
Latin traditionalist takes on infallibility in relation to papal authority:
SSPX: Clear ideas on the pope's infallible magisterium
The Infallibility of the Ordinary and Extraordinary Magisterium by Robert J. Siscoe
My thoughts:
There is a sort of scholastic analysis present in the writings like this, with the claim there must be a certain form[ula] to make this intention manifest but is there any instance when the bishop of Rome doesn't think he is teaching the Church Universal? (Even when those outside his patriarchate are not paying attention?) Hence this formula is what makes something "ex cathedra" while any other pronouncement which is just an affirmation of what is Tradition is infallible, being an act of the infallible ordinary magisterium (of the pope, in this case). I don't think the Orthodox would disagree with some version of this infallibility of any bishop who affirms something that is of Tradition.
It does not seem to me that a certain formula is necessary to make it ex cathedra -- again, when does the bishop of Rome not intend for his teaching to be applicable to the Church Universal? What has the thought ever crossed his mind that what he says about faith and morals applies only to Roman Catholics of the patriarchate of Rome, and not to Catholics of other ecclesial jursidictions? Does this regular or ordinary intention alone not sufficient to make a teaching of the pope of Rome on faith or morals ex cathedra?
So if Pope Francis (or his representative) says something about capital punishment being "inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person" and changes the Catechism of the Catholic Church to reflect this, how is that not meant to be an ex cathedra pronouncement?
Latin apologists who disagree with this teaching of Pope Francis (or any other touching upon faith or morals that contradicts Tradition) have no choice to say that it is not "infallible" because it is lacking the proper form and is therefore not ex cathedra. But I don't see how this claim about form is warranted by the decree of Vatican I. Maybe the pope or one of his ecumenical councils can finesse the Roman teaching on papal infallibility in this way to save it, but would that sort of "development of doctrine" be regarded as anything than institution-saving by non-Latins?
Related: essay on infallibility at Russian Orthodox Cathedral of St. John the Baptist
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