Can a priest or a pope have invincible ignorance?
Robert Sungenis answers that while invincible ignorance may be theoretically possible, it is practically impossible for a priest or a pope. He explains that it applies only where ignorance truly cannot be remedied, which he holds is very rare today given how widely the Church and the Gospel are known.
A viewer asks whether invincible ignorance, which can excuse a sin, could ever apply to a priest or a pope.
Answer
Invincible ignorance means that if you do not know something is a sin, you may not be guilty of that sin, because your ignorance cannot be remedied: you are not near anyone who knows the truth, you have not heard it from any teacher, you are not in a country that has knowledge of that subject. That is a rare situation. In our day it is very rare to find someone whose ignorance genuinely cannot be remedied; even in African countries, few are without knowledge of the Church and the Gospel, so the phrase loses its impact the further we go into modernity. In my opinion, although it may be theoretically possible in the extreme, it is practically impossible for a priest or a pope to have invincible ignorance. That would be my best answer: practically impossible.