Many people may believe that the pope is meant to be infallible all the time, or most of the time. This statement isn’t true. The pope is only infallible when talking about faith and morals. This is called an Ex Cathedra statement, which binds Catholics together through the teachings of the faith. Ex Cathedra is Latin for "on the chair". These statements do not occur very often. They mostly occur when there is heresy or division in belief. It is essential to note that Ex Cathedra statements do not make new dogmas, but restating the truths which already existed in the Church. Ex Cathedra is applied only to the office of the papacy. The responsibility of the role is to safeguard and proclaim the teachings of the Early Church.

 

The Catholic Church did not make up or invent new dogmas in the Middle Ages, as some may believe. Even if a doctrine or dogma became an official teaching of the Catholic Church later on in its history, it doesn’t mean that the early Christians rejected those ideas. 

Even though it is not mentioned as Ex Cathedra, we can assume that the councils that compiled the Scriptures into the Bible, were infallible, as they would have had to determine what was sacred and what was not. I mean it would be a slightly impossible job to read thousands of writings and to say which were infallible, and which weren’t.