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Letters concerning the Establishment of the Holy Synod (1723)

Eastern Patriarchs, tr. King, 1865

12. Article 12

We believe that the Catholic Church is taught of the Holy Ghost. For he is the true advocate whom Christ sends from the Father to teach the truth and dispel darkness from the mind of the faithful.

But the teaching of the Holy Ghost, by means of the Holy Fathers, and the rulers of the Catholic Church, greatly adorns the Church. For as all Scripture both is, and is called, the word of the Holy Ghost; not that it was spoken immediately by him; but that by him through the Apostles and Prophets, so also the Church is taught indeed by the Life-giving Spirit, but by means of the Holy Fathers and teachers of whom the Œcumenical Holy Synods are considered the rule; for we will not cease to say this ten thousand times, and therefore not only are we persuaded, but we also confess without doubt as true and certain, that it is impossible for the Catholic Church to err or wander at all, or ever to choose falsehood instead of truth. For the all-Holy Spirit ever operating through the Holy Fathers and rulers, faithfully ministering, frees the Church from errors of every kind whatsoever.