Are Canonizations Infallible?: Revisiting a Disputed Question

For a long time now, the majority position of Catholic theologians has been that canonizations conducted by the pope are infallible and inerrant. A minority current has always existed that disputes this view. Perennial difficulties with the nature and extension of papal infallibility as well as problems peculiar to recent decades in the Church make it timely to reexamine a debate that has lain dormant for too long, and to give proponents of the minority view an opportunity to make their case. The twelve contributors, sharing a desire for a candid and searching inquiry, argue both sides of the question fairly and fully. Each author brings distinct facts, observations, and arguments to the conversation. The result is a panoramic review of the historical, doctrinal, liturgical, and moral aspects of canonization, which displays a greater complexity than summaries in encyclopedias and manuals would suggest. This book is published as a spur to intensive theological engagement with a quaestio disputata that should not be prematurely treated as definitively solved.

Essays by Phillip Campbell