MyCatholicSource.com - 'Quick Help' Page: Are Canonizations Infallible?

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Infallibly, as defined by the First Vatican Council, means...

"...We, adhering faithfully to the tradition received from the beginning of the Christian faith, to the glory of God, our Savior, the elevation of the Catholic religion and the salvation of Christian peoples, with the approbation of the sacred Council, teach and explain that the dogma has been divinely revealed: that the Roman Pontiff, when he speaks ex cathedra, that is, when carrying out the office of pastor and teacher 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, through the divine assistance promised him in blessed Peter, possesses that infallibility with which the divine Redeemer willed that His Church be endowed for defining doctrine regarding faith and morals; and so such definitions of the Roman Pontiff of themselves, and not from the consensus of the Church, are irreformable. But if anyone presumes to contradict this definition of Ours, which may God forbid: let him be anathema." (Vatican Council I, 1870 A.D., emphasis added)

According to the above, papal infallibility involves "doctrine regarding faith or morals", which would not seem to include investigations into people's lives.

As explained in the Baltimore Catechism...

Q. What do you mean by the infallibility of the Church?

A. By the infallibility of the Church I mean that the Church cannot err when it teaches a doctrine of faith or morals.

Q. What do we mean by a "doctrine of faith or morals"?

A. By a doctrine of faith or morals we mean the revealed teaching that refers to whatever we must believe and do in order to be saved.

How could it be argued that a canonization is a "doctrine of faith or morals" that is "taught"? How can a canonization be considered a "revealed teaching that refers to whatever we must believe and do in order to be saved"? Isn't canonization more of a 'judgment call' regarding someone's life/death confirmed by miracles (miracles that the Church cannot infallibly rule on) than a 'revealed teaching'?

Although canonizations may have long been thought to be infallible, this has never been a defined dogma of the faith. In fact, infallibility of canonizations has been questioned in recent times. For a guest article touching on this topic, try here [see (roughly) the second half of the article under "So, where does this leave us? Are canonizations infallible?..."]

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