ex cathedra
Ex cathedra
eks KAH-teh-drah
“From the chair” of Peter — the phrase for a pope's solemn, infallible definition of a doctrine binding on the whole Church; used only rarely — the Immaculate Conception (1854) and the Assumption (1950) are the two universally acknowledged modern examples.
from the chair
A bishop's chair, his cathedra, is the ancient symbol of his teaching office, and a cathedral is the church that holds it. When the pope speaks ex cathedra, he speaks as supreme pastor and teacher of all Christians, defining a doctrine of faith or morals to be held by the universal Church, and the First Vatican Council (1870) taught that such definitions are infallible of themselves. They are rare and explicit: the two universally acknowledged examples are the Immaculate Conception (1854, before the council formalised the doctrine) and the Assumption (1950). Most papal teaching — encyclicals, homilies, interviews — is not ex cathedra, though it still calls for religious assent.
Councils
Where the Church settled or debated this. Follow a council to read our article on it, or the decrees themselves.
- 1869–1870First Vatican Councilthe decrees
Sources
Primary sources
- Pastor AeternusFirst Vatican Council, dogmatic constitution Pastor Aeternus (18 July 1870), ch. 4, the definition of papal infallibility, in Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, vol. 2, ed. Norman P. Tanner (1990), pp. 815–816.
Sources checked 29 September 2026