Now that Pope Benedict has stepped down, does he remain
infallible? If so, how might that conflict with the infallibility of
the next incumbent?
The pope is infallible when,
as head of the bishops of the church, he requires the faithful to
believe a matter pertaining to faith or morals.
This is the standard definition of infallibility.
It goes no further.
Should the pope stick his head out of doors and
remark that it will be a nice day, he is just as liable to be snowed on
as the next man.
In practice, this means that the church debates a
subject at great length and when the bishops and laity are in
agreement, the pope makes an infallible pronouncement.
The bishops'
discussions before the announcement can take a long time; the doctrine
of the immaculate conception was in debate for at least 1,300 years
before being made official.
The pope, then, is analogous to the
head of any company; he will say what his board of directors tells him.
In the case of Emeritus Pope Benedict, the exercise of infallibility
will not be required, since he is no longer in charge.
Pope Francis
is unlikely to have to be called upon, because there is nothing
significant in the pipeline, as far as I know.
Any other pronouncements
the pope may make will be to do with organisational matters such as
married priests, contraception and the like, which are liable to change
because they are man-made rules promulgated in the best knowledge of
their time.
He will not be infallible when he makes such pronouncements,
so just think of the pope as Mr Chairman and relax.