I suppose I am not making myself clear enough; I am speaking of just those statements by which the Pope was speaking Ex Cathedra. From what I have gathered in my reading though, is that there seems to be some debate over what these statements are exactly.
Read this article below; this is what we should be able to answer...
An Elusive Canon
Different Roman Catholic apologists have asserted very divergent numbers of infallible papal statements. The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception and the doctrine of the Bodily Assumption of Mary were taught infallibly by Popes Pius IX and Pius XII in 1854 and 1950, respectively. Both popes taught that these doctrines were divinely revealed and were therefore part of Christian revelation and to be believed. But are these two the only infallible ex cathedra papal statements ever made? Perhaps they are. It depends on which apologist you ask. Roman apologist Scott Hahn says yes. In his talk on Pope Pius IX's proclamation in 1854, Hahn stated that 1950 was the only other time an
ex cathedra statement had ever been made by a pope:
"Now, we have to realize that the Holy Father has only stated dogmatically and infallibly a definition of a doctrine one other time: in 1950, with the dogma of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, both her body and soul."[1]
Hahn has proposed a two-statement canon of
ex cathedra papal statements. But apologist Tim Staples says there are at least four, and likely very many more. In his audio tape series, "All Generations Shall Call Me Blessed," he berates those who state that popes have only spoken infallibly on two occasions. Staples mentions the two
ex cathedra statements to which Hahn refers, and then adds at least two more, referring first to pope Boniface VIII's statement
Unam Sanctam (1302), and second, to St. Leo's letter to Flavian[2] which was examined and approved by the Council of Chalcedon in 451:
"We have infallible statements from popes all the way back. Pope Boniface VIII made an infallible statement in the 13th century concerning papal authority or papal primacy. In the year 451 at the Council of Chalcedon, Pope Leo I made an infallible declaration that was recognized as such by council Fathers concerning the hypostatic union of Christ."[3]
The Roman Catholic may not initially be concerned over the inability of his apologists or his religion to define an infallible list of
ex cathedra statements, as long as there exists the fallible certainty that it may be limited to these four, or three, or two. But that fleeting disinterest spells disaster for the concept of a unified Roman Catholic religion with a defined canon of revelation.
The Roman Catholic cannot simultaneously insist that the Protestant produce an infallible listing of the canon of God's Word and ignore the fact that his own Church is unable to do the same with something as simple as a list of ex cathedra statements.
