This is the belief that the Pope, when defining a teaching on faith or morals that is to be held by the whole church is able to make such pronouncements without error.

First defined as a Dogma, or required belief by the First Vatican council in 1870, Papal Infallibility was used in 1950 to dogmatically define the Assumption of the Virgin Mary i.e. the view that she was taken directly into heaven at the end of her life.

Teachings made by the Pope in this manner are known as ex cathedra (Latin: 'from the chair'). There is no definite list of infallible teachings, but apart from the 1950 defintion, the 1854 dogma of the Immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary is also considered infallible.

The teaching does not imply that the Pope is without sin (known as impeccability as opposed to infallibility) or unable to make errors of judgment, but acting with the authority as successor to Peter (Matthew 16:18), he is able, through the aid of the Holy Spirit, to pronounce infallibly. In addition, ex cathedra teachings are irrevocable and not subject to the consent of any other authority within the church.

The definition given at Vatican I is as follows:

...."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."

Finally, it should be noted that infallible teachings can also be made by ecumenical church councils (such as Vatican I) and not just directly by the Pope himself.

These are as follows:

• The Bishop of Rome.
  
  
• Vicar of Christ - This title emphasises the fact that the Pope is seen as the visible and supreme head of the church on earth and Vicar ('Substitute') of Christ.
  
  
• Successor of the Prince of the Apostles - That is, the successor to Peter, who was the leader of the Apostles and is also considered the first Pope.
  
  
• Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church - The original term used was Pontifex Maximus or High Priest.
  
  
• Primate (Archbishop) of Italy.
  
  
• Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Province.
  
  
• Sovereign of the State of the Vatican City
  
  
• Servant of the Servants of God - A title first used by Pope Gregory the Great.

The title 'Patriarch of the West' is no longer used.

Source: EWTN

The election of the Pope is carried out by a group of Cardinals (special ranking Bishops) who meet together in what is known as a Conclave. A maximum of 120 Cardinals are allowed in the Conclave and all must be aged under 80.

Election is by secret ballot and normally a two thirds majority is required. However, if several ballots have taken place and no clear winner is found, the conclave may agree to elect by simple majority.

Source: Catholic-Pages

The Pope, as head of the Roman Catholic church is assisted by a group of Cardinals. The two together constitute the effective government or Curia of the church. The Curia or 'Court' carries out administrative functions such as overseeing catholic doctrine, investigating and promoting individuals to sainthood and encouraging missionary work.

Cardinals are usually drawn from the ranks of bishops, who are responsible for overseeing the individual churches in their diocese. Some Dioceses are of such size and importance that they are known as Archdioceses and their head is called the Archbishop. Examples includes the Archdiocese of Westminster in the U.K. and New York in the U.S.A

Below the Bishops are the parish priests who are assisted in their work by Deacons. There are also roles performed by the laity such as Eucharistic ministers, who are allowed to administer Holy Communion after consecration by a priest or bishop.

Source: RE-XS

According to the Vatican II council, all Christians who have been validly baptised are placed into communion with the Catholic church. Vatican II also referred to non-Catholic Christians as "Separated Brethren" and acknowledged other churches as valid "ecclesial communities" and also as a "means of salvation", while at the same repeating the traditional view that "... only through Christ's Catholic Church, which is the all-embracing means of salvation that they can benefit fully from the means of salvation..."

"The brethren divided from us also use many liturgical actions of the Christian religion. These most certainly can truly engender a life of grace in ways that vary according to the condition of each Church or Community. These liturgical actions must be regarded as capable of giving access to the community of salvation."
Vatican II, Decree on Ecumenism (Unitatis Redintegratio).

Clerical celibacy is based on the idea that the state of being unmarried enables a person to more fully devote themselves to Christian service. A biblical argument for this view is given in 1 Corinthians 7:32-34:

"But I would have you to be without solicitude. He that is without a wife is solicitous for the things that belong to the Lord: how he may please God. But he that is with a wife is solicitous for the things of the world: how he may please his wife. And he is divided. And the unmarried woman and the virgin thinketh on the things of the Lord: that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But she that is married thinketh on the things of the world: how she may please her husband."

A further argument derives from the Catholic view of the priesthood as a ministry being aligned to that of Christ himself. Thus at each Mass, the priest stands "in the person of Christ" i.e. represents Christ to the people. In Luke 18:28-30, mention is made of those who give up all to follow Christ and in Matthew 19:12 we read of those who have "renounced marriage for the kingdom".

Although celibacy is mandatory for all Catholic priests, there are two main exceptions:

1. Priests who are married in another denomination such as Anglicanism or Eastern Orthodoxy and who subsequently convert to the Catholic faith are permitted to retain their married status.
2. Eastern rite Catholic churches, who follow the Eastern liturgy, but are in full communion with the Catholic church in the West, are also allowed to ordain married priests, in keeping with their traditional practice. Marriage must take place before ordination.

For Bishops, both East and West require celibacy and this is also the practice of the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Please view the article under Mary and the Saints.

Baptism is regarded as a Sacrament, and in common with all other Sacraments, it conveys grace to those who receive it worthily. This Sacrament is necessary for salvation and has the following effects:

1. It joins the recipient to the Church and is one of the Sacraments of initiation (the others are Confirmation and the Eucharist).
2. It takes away all sin and thus confers sanctifying grace.
3. It imparts an indelible mark upon the soul (known as a Sacramental Character) and cannot be repeated.

The Church requires all who are able to do so, to go to confession at least once a year. Confession is also mandatory for all mortal sins, as these sins are the most serious and can result in loss of salvation.

Although the church does not deny forgiveness of sins can be obtained outside the confessional (for example by direct prayer), it encourages confession for the following reasons:

• Penance (now more commonly known as 'Reconciliation') is a Sacrament, and like all Sacraments, it is considered to be a channel of God's grace. The Priest does not himself forgive sins, rather he is said to act in the person of Christ and with his authority provides absolution.
• Confession before a Priest enables the penitent to receive guidance and advice.
• A Penitent who make a good confession through an 'Act of Contrition' can receive assurance of forgiveness of sin.

The Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew, with some portions in Aramaic (a dialect which Jesus himself would have spoken). Around the 3rd century BC, work began on translating the text into Greek, which was a major language at the time and indeed the language used for the original New Testament text. The translation was known as the Septuagint or LXX ('seventy'), from the tradition that around seventy scholars worked on the translation. The Septuagint included a number of books not in the original Hebrew text and these books gained some measure of acceptance in the early church. They were confirmed as being part of the list of authorised books, or canon of scripture, at the Council of Trent in 1546. For this reason, they are called deuterocanonical (literally: 'second-canon'). At the Protestant reformation, the additional books were rejected as being non-inspired and termed Apocrypha or 'hidden'.

The disputed books are the following:

1. Tobit
2. Judith
3. Additions to Esther
4. Wisdom of Solomon
5. Ben Sira, also called Sirach or Ecclesiasticus
6. Baruch, including the Letter of Jeremiah (Additions to Jeremiah in the Septuagint)
7. Additions to Daniel: Song of the Three Children, Story of Susanna, Bel and the Dragon
8. 1 and 2 Maccabees

Note: The term 'Apocrypha' is also used by the Catholic church, but in a different manner to denote writings whose claimed authorship is unfounded. Examples include the Gospel of Judas and the Acts of Thomas. For that reason they are also sometimes called pseudepigrapha or 'false writings'.

Prayer to the saints (including Mary) is based on the idea that just as people intercede on earth by offering prayers for each other, so it is appropriate to ask those who are in the presence of God to intercede on our behalf. In that sense, it is argued that it is more correct to talk of praying WITH the saints, rather than TO them.

The church does not ordain women for the following reasons:

1. As Christ homself only ordained men as his apostles, so the church, which believes in the practice of apostolic succession, does likewise.
2. When administering a sacrament, the priest is said to be acting in persona christi, i.e. in the person of Christ.

Pope Paul VI, quoted by Pope John Paul II in Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, wrote, "[The Church] holds that it is not admissible to ordain women to the priesthood, for very fundamental reasons. These reasons include: the example recorded in the Sacred Scriptures of Christ choosing his Apostles only from among men; the constant practice of the Church, which has imitated Christ in choosing only men; and her living teaching authority which has consistently held that the exclusion of women from the priesthood is in accordance with God's plan for his Church."

Source: Wikipedia