- Infallibility, Assent, and Heresy
The term heresy is defined in Canon 751:
Canon 751: “Heresy is the obstinate denial or obstinate doubt after the reception of baptism of some truth which is to be believed by divine and Catholic faith; apostasy is the total repudiation of the Christian faith; schism is the refusal of submission to the Supreme Pontiff or of communion with the members of the Church subject to him.”
The Catechism echoes Canon 751:
“Heresy is the obstinate post-baptismal denial of some truth which must be believed with divine and catholic faith, or it is likewise an obstinate doubt concerning the same….” (CCC, 2089)
Now there are two types of teachings of the Magisterium: infallible teachings of the Sacred Magisterium, and non-infallible teachings of the Ordinary Magisterium. And consequently there are two types of assent to those teachings: the assent of faith (sacred assent), and the religious submission of will and intellect (ordinary assent). Heresy involves the obstinate denial or obstinate doubt of infallible teachings, which require the assent of divine and catholic faith (sacred assent). This includes all truths taught by the Magisterium under any of the three ways that the Magisterium teaches infallibly.
However, one can also be a heretic by obstinately denying or doubting certain teachings of the Ordinary Magisterium, namely, those necessary and essential to salvation. For even though the Ordinary Magisterium is non-infallible, it cannot err in such a way as to lead the faithful away from the path to salvation. Most of the heresies in the early Church were of this type, since there were not many magisterial pronouncements at that time.
Canon 1364 §1: “an apostate from the faith, a heretic, or a schismatic incurs a latae sententiae excommunication.”
Everyone guilty of formal heresy, that is of knowingly choosing the sin of heresy, is automatically excommunicated under Canon 1364. Material heresy is when a member of the faithful believes an idea which is heretical, but without realizing that it is contrary to a truth of the Faith requiring the assent. Those guilty of material heresy are not subject to automatic excommunication.
Now the Church teaches infallibly in any of three ways:
1) solemn definitions of the Roman Pontiff, meeting all of the conditions defined by the First Vatican Council,
2) solemn definitions of Ecumenical Councils, meeting a similar set of conditions but from the body of bishops led by the Pope, not the Pope alone,
3) the teachings of the Universal Magisterium, meeting the conditions taught by the Second Vatican Council.
Pope John Paul II, in his Address to the Bishops from the United States of America on their 'Ad Limina' Visit (Thursday, 15 October 1988), gave a concise summary of these three ways that the Magisterium teaches infallibly:
“This magisterium is not above the divine word but serves it with a specific 'charisma veritatis certum,' [Latin for: the charism of certain truth] which includes the charism of infallibility, present not only in the solemn definitions of the Roman Pontiff and of Ecumenical Councils, but also in the universal ordinary magisterium, which can truly be considered as the usual expression of the Church's infallibility.”
A teaching falls under the Universal Magisterium (i.e. the ordinary universal Magisterium) when the Bishops of the Church “…even though dispersed through the world, but still maintaining the bond of communion among themselves and with the successor of Peter, and authentically teaching matters of faith and morals, they are in agreement on one position as definitively to be held.” (Lumen Gentium, n. 25)
All other teachings of the Magisterium, other than those that fall under one of the three modes of infallibility, are, without exception, ordinary and non-infallible, and are subject to the possibility of error, even on matters of faith and morals, but never to such an extent that any error, or set of errors, could lead the faithful away from the path of salvation.
These teachings of the Ordinary Magisterium are referred to by then Cardinal Ratzinger, with particular wording, as “the non-infallible teaching of the Magisterium” and “non-irreformable magisterial teaching,” in the document issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith called 'The Ecclesial Vocation of the Theologian,' n. 28 and 33. This wording demonstrates Cardinal Ratzinger's understanding that not all Magisterial teachings are infallible or irreformable.
In the same Address to the U.S. Bishops cited above, Pope John Paul II said: “With respect to the non-infallible expressions of the authentic magisterium of the Church, these should be received with religious submission of mind and will.” Clearly, the term religious submission of will and intellect refers to the ordinary non-infallible teachings of the Magisterium and is a different degree and type of assent than the divine and Catholic faith due to infallible teachings.
Therefore, the Magisterium can teach both infallibly and non-infallibly. Heresy is the denial or obstinate doubt of the infallible teachings and also of those ordinary teachings which are essential to salvation; heresy is a refusal to give the full assent of faith due to those teachings. The denial or doubt of non-infallible teachings in general might also be sinful and culpable, but the sin is not generally the sin of heresy and is a lesser matter, because the assent required is a lesser degree of assent.
- Three Types of Heresy
There are three types of heresy, corresponding to the three ways that a teaching can be subverted: by the addition of falsehood, by the subtraction of truth, or by the distortion of a truth.
1. Heresy by addition occurs when a person or group adds a truth to the Faith, not as a proposal of speculative theology submitted for the judgment of the Magisterium, but as a claimed infallible teaching which is to be believed with the full assent of faith, or which is said to be required for salvation. For example, there was a heresy in the early Church by which some claimed that circumcision and the keeping of the external precepts of Mosaic Law were required for salvation (Acts 15:1ff).
2. Heresy by subtraction occurs when a person or group subtracts an infallible truth from the Faith which must be believed with the full assent of faith or a truth which is essential to salvation. For example, there are some today who refuse to believe the infallible teaching of Evangelium Vitae, n. 62: “direct abortion, that is, abortion willed as an end or as a means, always constitutes a grave moral disorder, since it is the deliberate killing of an innocent human being.” Those Catholics who reject the infallible teaching of the Church against abortion are committing the sin of heresy. Those Catholics who reject the perhaps only ordinary teaching of the Church against contraception are also heretics, even if this teaching falls only under the Ordinary Magisterium, because rejecting it would put most persons (except those who are entirely chaste) in the position of committing an objective mortal sin (by using contraception). The Ordinary Magisterium cannot err in such a way as to lead the faithful away from salvation.
3. Heresy by distortion occurs when a person or group distorts a truth of the Faith which must be believed with the full assent of faith or which is essential to salvation. For example, the Pelagian heresy distorted a number of truths of the faith, including those pertaining to grace and free will; this heresy did not deny that grace and free will exist, but distorted correct doctrine about these things. The Magisterium infallibly ruled on these matters at the Council of Orange, but only generations after Pelagius began this heresy.
- Description of This Heresy
As is usually the case with heresy, the heresy in question takes a number of different forms, with different persons, holding the same basic view, giving different explanations, each of which results in what is essentially the same claim: that the Ordinary Magisterium is infallible. All such claims present the Ordinary Magisterium as if it were without the possibility of error.
A. Some say that the Magisterium teaches infallibly and non-infallibly, but that its non-infallible teaching is also certainly true and is merely the truth expressed in a different manner.
The problem here is that non-infallible teachings are being described as if they had the same essential characteristics as infallible teachings, especially the charism of certain truth. The terminology seems to say that teachings of the Ordinary Magisterium are non-infallible, but then a definition of the term non-infallible is given which essentially is the same as the definition for the term infallible.
B. Others expand the extent of the ordinary universal Magisterium, so that nearly all teachings of the Magisterium fall under its infallibility.
The teachings of the Ordinary Universal Magisterium (i.e. the Universal Magisterium) are certainly infallible, but these are distinguished from the non-infallible, non-irreformable teachings of the Ordinary Magisterium themselves, whose number and extent cannot be trivial. Those who claim that nearly every teaching of the Ordinary Magisterium actually falls under the Universal Magisterium are in effect extending infallibility to the Ordinary Magisterium itself, because the teachings they claim to be infallible under the Universal Magisterium have not in fact been taught universally by the Church. Such persons also err grievously by reducing the kind and number of the teachings of the Ordinary Magisterium, so that no ordinary teachings are left of any significance.
C. Still others hold that the Ordinary Magisterium is infallible only when exercised by the Pope or by an Ecumenical Council.
In this view, the Pope always teaches infallibly whenever he teaches on faith and morals. The non-infallible Ordinary Magisterium would then be exercised only by individual Bishops, or by groups of Bishops apart from the Pope. The problem here is that the Magisterium itself has never made such a claim and that the definition of Papal Infallibility is specifically contradicted by this view.
D. Some claim that any teaching of the Ordinary Magisterium, when it is expressed definitively, even merely by being repeated, is infallible.
This point of view sometimes claims that such definitiveness or repetition is the only criteria needed for a teaching to fall under the Ordinary Universal Magisterium. At other times, the view is presented apart from the teaching that the Universal Magisterium is infallible. The problem here is that the criteria for an infallible teaching have been distorted so that nearly all teachings are infallible.
E. Others say that there is a theoretical possibility of error in the Ordinary Magisterium, but that it never happens to any significant extent.
In this view, there never have been any errors in the teachings of the Ordinary Magisterium, even though such errors theoretically could occur. Often this view narrows the teachings of the Magisterium to the teachings of the Pope, so that nothing can be taught under the authentic Magisterium, except in agreement with the Pope.
F. Finally, there are those who believe that the Ordinary Magisterium is always infallible, without any conditions, because Christ said, “He who hears you, hears me.”
In this view, the entire body of teachings of the Magisterium is said to be infallible; however, this view typically also narrows the teachings of the Magisterium to only those teachings affirmed or taught by the Pope. Thus, the individual Bishops, in this view, are entirely unable to exercise the Magisterium, unless they are merely repeating what the Pope himself has taught.
All the above described forms of this idea are heretical, because they conclude that the Ordinary Magisterium itself (not the Universal Magisterium properly understood), is infallible. The end result of all these different approaches is that the gift of infallibility, given as a gift to the whole Church by God, but exercised only by the Pope and the Bishops, is extended beyond the limits established by God.
- Why this belief is a Heresy
The First Vatican Council infallibly taught that a teaching of the Pope himself is only infallible when certain conditions are met. The Second Vatican Council reaffirmed and clarified this infallible doctrine. These criteria or conditions required for a Papal teaching to be infallible can be enumerated as five (some enumerate these same conditions as four, combining the first two, but the doctrine is the same). The First Vatican Council (in Pastor Aeternus, chap. 4) infallibly defined the criteria needed for the Pope himself to teach infallibly:
1. “the Roman Pontiff”
2. “speaks ex cathedra” (“that is, when in the discharge of his office as shepherd and teacher of all Christians, and by virtue of his supreme apostolic authority….”)
3. “he defines”
4. “that a doctrine concerning faith or morals”
5. “must be held by the whole Church”
The Second Vatican Council (Lumen Gentium, n. 25) reaffirmed this teaching with a difference in wording, but not in doctrine:
1. “the Roman Pontiff”
2. “in virtue of his office, when as the supreme shepherd and teacher of all the faithful, who confirms his brethren in their faith (cf. Lk 22:32),”
3. “by a definitive act, he proclaims”
4. “a doctrine of faith or morals” (“And this infallibility…in defining doctrine of faith and morals, extends as far as the deposit of revelation extends”)
5. “in accordance with revelation itself, which all are obliged to abide by and be in conformity with”
Recall that heresy is the denial or obstinate doubt of any truth which must be believed with divine and Catholic faith. Now this requirement to believe certainly includes the infallible definition of the First Vatican Council on when the Pope teaches infallibly. For that Council also added this anathema: “So then, should anyone, which God forbid, have the temerity to reject this definition of ours: let him be anathema.” Therefore, anyone who contradicts this infallible definition concerning the conditions or criteria under which the Pope teaches infallibly has fallen into heresy.
Now anyone who claims that the Pope always teaches infallibly or that the criteria needed for an infallible Papal teaching are less than these same criteria required by the First Vatican Council, thereby contradicts or nullifies the teaching of both Vatican Councils and also commits the sin of heresy. They nullify this dogma by wiping away some or all of the criteria for Papal Infallibility, even though these criteria were so carefully and clearly taught by two consecutive Councils.
A. Some say that the Magisterium teaches infallibly and non-infallibly, but that its non-infallible teaching is also certainly true and is merely the truth expressed in a different manner.
This view, on the surface, would seem to be in accord with the First Vatican Council, since a Papal teaching could be infallible or non-infallible. But the claim that even the non-infallible teachings are also certainly true has the effect of erasing any real distinction between what is infallible and what is non-infallible. This view makes all teachings of the Pope inerrant and irreformable, regardless of which teachings meet the criteria taught by the First Vatican Council under the dogma of Papal Infallibility.
The distinction that is made here is that the infallible teachings are definitions and are certainly true, whereas the non-infallible Papal teachings are said to be also certainly true, but not definitions. This useless distinction has the effect of nullifying the infallible teaching of the First Vatican Council, because that Council was not defining the conditions under which the infallible teachings of the Pope are or are not classified as a definition, but instead was defining the very conditions under which the Pope teaches infallibly by his own authority (apart from an Ecumenical Council or the Universal Magisterium).
B. Others expand the extent of the ordinary universal Magisterium, so that nearly all teachings of the Magisterium fall under its infallibility.
At issue here is the extent to which the ordinary teachings of the Pope are claimed to fall under the Universal Magisterium, when in fact they do not. Those who hold to this view usually reduce the criteria for a teaching t fall under the Universal Magisterium. The result is that many ordinary teachings of the Pope are said to be infallible because some other Bishops have taught the same, but mainly because the Pope himself has taught it. Again, this contradicts the infallible definition of Papal Infallibility, because ordinary teachings of the Pope are claimed to be infallible even though they meet the criteria neither for Papal Infallibility, nor for the Universal Magisterium.
C. Still others hold that the Ordinary Magisterium is infallible when exercised by the Pope or by an Ecumenical Council.
In this view, the Ordinary Magisterium is not always infallible, but the Ordinary Papal Magisterium is always infallible. Sometimes a few of the criteria for Papal Infallibility are cited, such as that the Pope must be teaching on faith and morals, or that he must be teaching definitively, or both. But this still falls significantly short of the five criteria required by the First Vatican Council. Reducing the criteria for Papal Infallibility is the same as contradicting the infallible definition of the Council. Such a contradiction brings to bear the penalty of the anathema issued by that Council.
D. Some claim that any teaching of the Ordinary Magisterium that is expressed definitively, even merely by being repeated, is infallible.
Those who make this claim generally do not allow that individual Bishops can teach under the Ordinary Magisterium at all, unless they are merely repeating the same doctrine already taught by the Pope. Thus, this claim concerns mainly the Ordinary Papal Magisterium. The view is that a repetition of a teaching makes it definitive, and all that is required for a Pope to teach infallibly is that he teach definitively, or that he teach on faith and morals definitively.
This claim contradicts the definition of the First Vatican Council, which required five criteria, not two or three. Thus it is heretical by subtraction, since it subtracts the other criteria required by the Council. This claim is also heretical by distortion, since it takes the criterium that the Pope must be teaching definitively and reduces the meaning of the term definitive so severely that it almost anything qualifies as definitiveness. The slightest repetition is claimed as meeting the criterium for a definitive teaching.
E. Others say that there is a theoretical possibility of error in the Ordinary Magisterium, but that it never happens to any significant extent.
This is a heresy by distortion. It distorts the meaning of non-infallible so that there is no significant difference between infallible teachings which are certainly always true, and non-infallible teachings. The latter are claimed to be so reliable that they are almost certainly and almost always completely true. No errors of any significance are admitted. This is especially applied to the Ordinary Papal Magisterium. Thus, the conditions required by the First Vatican Council for an infallible Papal teaching are nullified because every teaching of the Pope is said to be certainly true or almost entirely inerrant. The possibility of error is wiped away, even apart from those conditions required by the Council, by considering error as only a theoretical, but never an actual possibility.
F. Finally, there are those who believe that the Ordinary Magisterium is always infallible without any conditions, because Christ said, “He who hears you, hears me.”
This interpretation of the Scriptures contradicts the infallible dogmatic definition of the First Vatican Council as to when the Pope teaches infallibly. It is not the Scripture which is false, but an overly simplistic interpretation which would impune infallibility to every teaching of Popes, Councils, and the Magisterium in general, in contradiction to an infallible Conciliar definition.
Conclusion
This distortion or denial of the First Vatican Council's definition on Papal Infallibility is a heresy against the true Catholic Faith. This heresy is spreading among conservative Catholics today, many of whom now think that the Ordinary Magisterium, or the Ordinary Papal Magisterium, is always infallible or always inerrant, even when the conditions required by the First Vatican Council have not been fully met. A number of prominent priests, theologians, and lay leaders hold to this heretical view and have been teaching it to the faithful as if it were a doctrine of the Church.
by Ronald L. Conte Jr.
October 29, 2006
