The Role of Infallibility in the History of the Church

The pope's responsibility is to teach nothing discordant with church teaching, the dogmatic dogmatics and the history of the tradition of the church's teaching. Some people interpret that as a kind of blank check; others say it means you can take the church in any way you see fit. The current fans of Pope Francis have that kind of view: Well, he changed the teaching on the death penalty. You know, what else is he going to change?