HERESY
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HERESY
son, but not the negative doubter, who simply abstains
from formulating a judgment. The believers (cre-
dentes) in heretics are they who, without examining
particular doctrines, give a general assent to the teach-
ings of the sect; the favourers {fautores) are they who
by commission or omission lend support to heresy and
thus help or allow it to s[)read; the receivers and de-
fenders are they who shelter heretics from the rigours
of the law. (2) " Excommunication specially reserved
to the Roman Pontiff incurred by each and all who
knowingly read, without authorization from the Apos-
tolic See, books of apostates and heretics in which
heresy is defended ; likewise readers of books of any
author prohiljited by name in letters Apostolic, and
all who retain possession of, or print, or in any way
defend such books" (.\post. Sedis, 1869). The book
here meant is a volume of a certain size and unity;
newspapers and manuscripts are not books, but serial
publications intended to form a book when completed
fall under this censure. To read knowingly {scienter)
implies on the reader's part the knowledge that the book
is the work of a heretic, that it defentls heresy, and
that it is forbidden. "Books . . . prohibited by name
in letters .\postolic " are books condemned by Bulls,
Briefs, or Encyclicals emanating directly from the
pope; books prohiljited by decrees of Roman Congre-
gations, although the prohiljition is approved by the
pope, are not included. The "printers" of heretical
books are the editor who gives the order and the pul>
lisher who executes it, and perhaps the proof-reader,
but not the workman who performs the mechanical
part of printing.
Additional penalties to be decreed by judicial sen- tences: Apostates and heretics are irregular, that is, debarred from receiving clerical orders or exercising lavrf ully the duties and rights annexed to them ; they are infamous, that is, publicly noted as guilty and dishonoured. This note of infamy clings to the chil- dren and grandchildren of unrepented heretics. Heret- ical clerics and all who receive, defentl, or favour them are ipso facto deprived of their benefices, offices, and ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Tlie pope himself, if noto- riously guilty of heresy, would cease to be pope l)e- cause he would cease to be a member of the Church. Baptism received without necessity by an adult at the hands of a declared heretic renders the recipient irreg- ular. Heresy constitutes an impedient impediment to marriage with a Catholic {mixta religio) from which the pope dispenses or gives the bishops power to dis- pense (see Impedi.ment.s). Communicalio in sacris, 1. e. active participation in non-Catholic religious functions, is on the whole unlawful, Init it is not so intrinsically evil that, under given circumstances, it may not be excused. Thus friends and relatives may for good reasons accompany a funeral, be present at a marriage or a baptism, without causing scandal or lending support to the non-Catholic rites, provided no active part be taken in them: their motive is friend- ship, or maybe courtesy, but it nowise implies approval of the rites. Non-Catholics are admitted to all Cath- olic services but not to the sacraments.
IX. Principles of Church Legislation. — The guiding princijjles in the Church's treatment of here- tics are the following: Distinguishing between for- mal and material heretics, she applies to the former the canon, " Most firmly hold and in no way doubt that every heretic or schismatic is to have part with the Devil and his angels in the flames of eternal fire, unless before the end of his life he be incorporated with, anfl restored to the Catholic Chvirch. " No one is forced to enter the Church, but having once entered it through liaptism, he is bound to keep the promises he freely made. To restrain and bring back her re- bellious sons the Church uses both her own spiritual power and the secular power at her command. Towards material heretics her conduct is ruled by the saying of St. Augustine: "Those are by no means to
be accounted heretics who do not defend their false and
perverse opinions with pertinacious zeal {animosilas) ,
especially when their error is not the fruit of audacious
presumption but has been communicated to them by
seduced and lapsed parents, and when they are seek-
ing the truth with cautious solicitude and ready to be
corrected " (P. L., XXXIII, ep. xliii, IGO). Pius IX,
in a letter to the bi.shops of Italy (10 Aug., 1S63),
restates this Catholic doctrine: "It is known to Us
and to You that they who are in invincible ignorance
concerning our religion but observe the natural law
. . . and are ready to obey Ciod and lead an honest
and righteous life, can, with the help of Divine light
and grace, attain to eternal life . . . for God . . .
will not allow any one to be eternally punished who is
not wilfully guilty" (Denzinger, "Encliir.", n. 1529).
X. Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction over Heretics. — The fact of having received valid baptism places material heretics under the jurisdiction of the Church, and if they are in good faith, they belong to the soul of the Church. Their material severance, however, pre- chules them from the use of ecclesiastical rights, except the right of being judged according to ecclesiastical law if, by any chance, they are brought before an ecclesiastical court. They are not bound by ecclesi- astical laws enacted for the spiritual well-being of its members, e. g. by the Six Commandments of the Church.
XL Reception of Converts. — Converts to the Faith, before being received, should be well instructed in Catholic doctrine. The right to reconcile heretics belongs to the bishops, but is usually delegated to all priests having charge of souls. In England a .special licence is required for each reconciliation, except in case of children under fourteen or of dying persons, and this licence is only granted when the priest can give a written a.ssurance that the candidate is sufficiently instructed and otherwise prepared, and that there is some reasonable guarantee of his perseverance. The order of proceeding in a reconciliation is: first, abjura- tion of heresy or profession of faith; second, condi- tional baptism (this is given only when the heretical baptism is doubtful); third, sacramental confession and conditional absolution.
XII. R6le of Heresy in History. — ^The role of heresy in history is that of evil generally. Its roots are in corrupted human nature. It has come over the Church as predicted by her Divine Founder; it has rent asunder the bonds of charity in families, prov- inces, states, and nations; the sword has been drawn and pyres erected both for its defence and its repres- sion ; misery and ruin have followed in its track. The prevalence of heresy, however, does not disprove the Divinity of the Church, any more than the existence of evil disproves the existence of an all-good God. Heresy, like other evils, is permitted as a test of faith and a trial of strength in the Church militant; prolia- bly also as a punishment for other sins. The disrup- tion and disintegration of heretical sects also furnishes a solid argument for the necessity of a strong teaching authority. The endless controversies with heretics have been indirectly the cause of mo.st important doctrinal developments and definitions formulated in councils to the edification of the body of Christ. Thus the spurious gospels of the Gnostics prepared the way for the canon of Scripture; Patripassian, Sabellian, Arian, and Macedonian heresies drew out a clearer concept of the Trinity; the Nestorian and Eutychian errors led to definite dogmas on the nature and Per- son of Christ. And so down to Modernism, which has called forth a solemn assertion of the claims of the supernatural in history.
XIII. Intolerance and Cruelty. — The Church's legislation on heresy and heretics is often reproached with cruelty and intolerance. Intolerant it is; in fact its raison d'etre is intolerance of doctrines subversive of the Faith. But such intolerance is essential to all that
