will give warning to the party concerned to judge. The suspicion has no canonical effect until the warning has been given.
205. 2°. If a person who is suspected of heresy does not, after being duly warned, remove the cause of the suspicion, supposing that it is morally possible to do so, he should be debarred from the legitimate acts. A cleric should receive a second warning, and if this too remained fruitless he should be suspended a divinis. After inflicting these punishments, six months more may be allowed, and if at the end of this time the party suspected of heresy has shown no signs of amendment, he is to be considered as a heretic and punished accordingly.
III. COOPERATION IN HERESY
Can. 2316. Qui quoquo modo haeresis propagationem sponte et scienter iuvat, aut qui communicat in divinis cum haereticis contra praescriptum can. 1258, suspectus de haeresi est.
Two main forms of cooperation with heretics are specified in this canon as creating ipso facto the suspicion of heresy: assisting in the propagation of heresy and communicating in divinis with heretics under certain conditions.
206. 1°. Under the former legislation, those who helped the spread of heresy were among the fautores haereticorum, who incurred the same excommunication as the heretics themselves. The penalty now is suspicion of heresy and the law more explicitly defines the circumstances under which it is incurred.
(a) The assistance must be given, not simply to heretics personally, but to the heresy so as to contribute to its propagation.
(b) It must be given knowingly and spontaneously; ignorance would excuse from any fault, and fear or any want of complete freedom, although not necessarily taking away all responsibility, would excuse from the punishment.
(c) The assistance may take any form: it may be negative or positive, consists in neglecting to prevent the progress of heresy when one is bound by his office to do so; or in positive help, moral or physical, praising and commending heretics and their work, orally or in writing; becoming even merely a nominal member of their societies, etc.
207. 2°. The communication in divinis with heretics dealt with here is the one explicitly condemned in canon 1258. (a) The faithful are forbidden to take any active part in non-Catholic rites, for example to act as godfather at a baptism administered by a non-Catholic minister, to join in the singing or the prayers at a Protestant service. (Lehmkuhl, i, n. 050, (358.)
(6) A merely passive or material presence at the marriages of non-Catholics, at their funerals and other similar solemnities, may be tolerated when it is nothing more than an act of courtesy, a mark of civil respect, the fulfilling of a social duty, and a grave reason justifies it. In case of doubt the Bishop should be consulted.
IV. TEACHING CONDEMNED DOCTRINES
Can. 2317. Pertinaci- C. A. S.— Excommuni
ter docentes vel defen- cationem latae sententiae
dentes sive publice sive S. Pontifici simpliciter
privatim doctrinam, quae reservatam incurrunt:
ab Apostolica Sede vel a Docentes vel defen
Concilio Generali dam- dentes sive publice, sive
Data quidem fuit, sed non privatim, propositiones uti formaliter haeretica, arceantur a ministerio praedicandi verbum Dei audiendive sacramentales confessiones et a a quolibet docendi munere, salvis aliis poenis quas sententia damnationis forte statuerit, vel quas Ordinarius, post monitionem, necessarias ad reparandum scandalum duxerit.
ab Apostolica Sede damnatas sub excommunicatioms poena latae sententiae: item docentes vel defendentes tanquam licitam praxim inquirendi a poenitente nomen complicis, prouti damnata est a Benedicto XIV. in Const. Suprema, 7 Julii, 1745, Ubi primum, 2 Junii, 1746, Ad eradicandum, 28 Septembris, 1746.
208. 1°. By the Constitution Apostolicae Sedis the teaching or defending of condemned doctrines was punished with excommunication latae sententiaereserved to the Holy See; at present the punishment is ferendae sententiae. It will consist in excluding the offender from the ministry of preaching the word of God, hearing confessions, and teaching in any capacity. Other penalties may be added in the sentence of condemnation, and the Ordinary may, after giving due warning, demand whatever he deems necessary to repair the scandal.
2°. The excommunication was incurred by teaching or defending propositions which the Apostolic See had condemned under pain of excommunication latae sententiae or by maintaining the theory, proscribed by Benedict XIV, that it is lawful in confession to ask for the name of the accomplice.
The present canon (a) does not mention this last point.
(b) It supposes obstinacy in the teacher or defender of false doctrines, which implies disregard of warnings received.
I
(c) The false doctrine must, as formerly, be taught or defended. It is not necessary that it be held; the Church condemns the external act, whatever be the intimate convictions of the party. Nor is it sufficient that it be held or simply discussed or stated.
(d) It does not need being formulated into concise and scientific propositions as long as it has been condemned by the Holy See or a General Council; Holy See includes the Roman Congregations. (Can. 7.)
(e) It may have been condemned as false, dangerous, or rash, or without any qualification and sanction. If it had been condemned as formally heretical, teaching or defending it would imply heresy and be punished as such.
No comments:
Post a Comment