Off-the-cuff remarks by Pope Francis: Are they infallible?

The recent visit of Pope Francis to two Asian countries was a great success in every way. Sri Lanka, with a majority Buddhist population and until recently embroiled in a civil war, welcomed the Pope as a symbol of reconciliation and healing.

The visit also saw an addition to the list of Catholic saints: St Joseph Vaz, an Indian missionary to Sri Lanka in the 17th Century.

Philippines, the largest Catholic country in Asia, and the third in the world, with over 80 million followers, was enthused to the third papal visit since 1970.

The Pope visited Tacloban to share in the anguish of the people who were affected by Typhoon Haiyan a year ago.

At the largest celebration of the Catholic Mass ever, he attracted an estimated six million congregation at Manila.

Humanity, humility and humour were the three words that commentators often repeated as they described the personality of Pope Francis during his recent travels.

While the media was still zooming in on his symbolic actions and prophetic words, in the press conferences en route to and from Manila, the Pope made some off-the-cuff remarks that, in the ears of many, seemed violent and vulgar.

Controversial expressions

The customary press conferences on the plane during the papal visits are becoming notorious.

It was after his first visit to Brazil in July 2013 that he made his famous remarks about people with different sexual orientation, “If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge them?”

Though it did not change anything substantial in the official teaching of the Catholic Church regarding homosexuality, the statement was the first sympathetic remark from a Pope towards the gay community.

It also attracted some criticism among the most orthodox Catholics who perceived the Pope’s remarks as condoning homosexuality.

The first of the Pope’s controversial remarks two weeks ago on the plane to Manila came as a reaction to the imbroglio around the terrorist attacks and the subsequent Je Suis Charlie (I am Charlie) rallies in France.

Regarding the cartoon of Prophet Muhammad on Charlie Hebdo magazine, the Pope quipped, “If my good friend Dr (Alberto) Gasparri (a Vatican official who was standing next to him) says a curse word against my mother, he can expect a punch.”

While the intended meaning of this line was that the media has to be sensitive to people’s religious sentiments, its subtext seems to justify violence — even if that is just a punch on the nose of the speaker. 

Not surprisingly, some Kenyan analysts were heard repeating the Pope’s expressions in the context of the debate over the controversial Security Laws, which among other things intend to curb the freedom of the press in reporting details about terrorist attacks.

In the press conference during his return journey, reacting to a question on family planning, the Pope broke out, “Catholics don’t have to breed like rabbits.”

Again the Pope was reiterating the official Catholic teaching on responsible parenthood – a teaching that has been repeated by every pope since Pope Paul VI’s Humanae Vitae.

The church invites its adherents to determine the size of their families commensurate to their socio-economic means. The church advocates the use of natural family planning methods to achieve responsible parenthood.

However, what is controversial in the recent statement of the Pope is the possible branding of couples who have had many children as “rabbits”.

Such an expression seems crass

Such an expression seems crass, vulgar and unbecoming for the Vicar of Christ. Sure enough, he later apologised through his spokesperson.

The pity is often the media that is obsessed with sensationalism would report selectively, and not offer their audience the whole context of the remarks. It is not only the Pope but also politicians and celebrities who are victims of selective reporting.  

Previous popes have also had their share of controversy, even over formal remarks about minority groups.

Pope John Paul II had to apologise to the Buddhists prior to his own visit to Sri Lanka in 1995. The Pope had written in his book that the Buddhists do not believe in an outer independent reality, a position that is philosophically referred to as “nihilism”.  Similarly, Pope Benedict had to apologise to Muslims after his comments at the Regensburg University in 2006 about the historical association between the origins of Islam and violence.

Pope Benedict had actually cited a Byzantine emperor of the 14th Century on this, yet he was held responsible for the citation. The Pope had to apologise.

What can we make of the remarks of Pope Francis? The strong point of the current Pope is his humanity. He makes himself accessible not only in his ready exchange of gifts and availability for selfies with his fans, but also in his language.

For instance, he delivers a brief reflection at his daily celebration of the Eucharist at his residence, which is considered by many priests and faithful to be simple and down to earth.

Usually the Pope is spontaneous without hiding himself behind paraphernalia of pomp and formality. The down side to this is his remarks that do not seem well thought out for a formal occasion such as a press conference. 

It is important to note that unlike most other leaders who are born in a particular nation and often brought up in the same culture, and are elected to leadership in that context, Popes are products of a particular culture but elected to lead a universal following. Karol Wojtyla, as Pope John Paul II, despite his friendly populist mannerisms, according to critics, brought to his post certain Polish – then communist – style of conducting affairs at the Vatican. Similarly, Joseph Ratzinger, as Pope Benedict XVI, being a German, believed in order and clarity.

It is possible to interpret also the mannerisms and remarks of Pope Francis in the context of his own cultural upbringing.

He has an Italian parentage, but was born and brought up in Argentina. Hispanic people are well-known for their emotionalist expressions and embarrassing spontaneity – embarrassing, at least from the point of view of cultures that tend to be stiff and formal.

The present Pope is no exception to this. Just as he does not shy off from sipping mate —  a Latin American tea-like drink —  even in public, he does not hide his emotions in his words and deeds. Pope Francis speaks from his heart. We suppose this could be a virtue looked at from a Hispanic point of view. But when an Argentinian is now the Pope of the universal church, he has to be sensitive to the sensibilities of the global audience.

Infallibility of Papal pronouncements

But are these remarks infallible? Since the 19th Century there is a doctrine in the Catholic Church that the formal pronunciations of the Pope regarding faith and morals are infallible, that they are free from human error. Would this principle apply to the Pope’s remarks in the plane to and from Manila? 

The teaching of the Pope is considered infallible under two important conditions: firstly, that he makes the pronouncement ex cathedra, that literally means “out of the chair”, that he makes his statement formal, generally in writing. The second condition is that the Pope himself includes in the promulgation that the particular teaching is intended to be infallible. Under these counts, there is no fear that the Pope’s off-the-cuff remarks would be taken to be infallible.

However, as a religious and political leader, the Pope, much like any other leader of his calibre, has to be responsible in his remarks, particularly if they are made in public. 

While the Pope’s down-to-earth remarks attempt to invite the secular world into a dialogue with the Catholic teaching, it is also seen by some right-wing Catholics as weakening the official teaching.

The Pope has a tricky path to tread. He needs to maintain the confidence he has built among the secular media, in order to use it for his evangelisation agenda. At the same time, he needs to preserve the decorum of his age-old title to keep some of his sensitive faithful in good humour.

Rev Dr Selvam is a Catholic priest, and co-ordinates the Masters programme in Counselling Psychology at Tangaza University College, Nairobi.