Papal Infallibility, What Is It?

Q

Is a pope infallible from birth or does he acquire infallibility when he ascends to Papacy? If a Pope resigns, does he still remain infallible or does he lose his infallibility?
https://www.quora.com/Is-a-pope-infallible-from-birth-or-does-he-acquire-infallibility-when-he-ascends-to-Papacy-If-a-Pope-resigns-does-he-still-remain-infallible-or-does-he-lose-his-infallibility/answer/Hans-Georg-Lundahl-1

Hans-Georg Lundahl

Catholic convert, reading many Catechisms

Answered just now

Neither from birth nor from ascension, but from using his office in a certain way, from after ascending papacy.

Precisely as St. Luke was not inerrant from birth, nor from becoming a disciple, but only when writing Gospel and Acts.

Inerrant is more than infallible, an infallible authority can be wrong on details, but gets the teaching through, an inerrant authority - that of hagiographers and of prophets - gets no detail wrong.

Comment

under other question, to someone who stated only Christ is without sin:

Hans-Georg Lundahl

7m ago

We don’t believe Popes are impeccable, like Christ, like Mary, like all those already in Heaven.

Infallible means something else, a bit like the writers of Bible books were inerrant - when they wrote them.

If God can make St. Luke inerrant while he writes Gospel and Acts, He can make the magisterium collectively and its highest representative infallible (which is less than inerrant) when making the most important statements that are marked out as that most important level.