Bulletins

July 23, 2017

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Catholic theology and Church law make a very important distinction between material heresy and formal heresy. The 1983 Code of Canon Law offers the following description of formal heresy:

Can. 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 consequences for these sins against the unity of the Church are detailed elsewhere in the Code. Material heresy is not penalized in the same way. The Catholic Encyclopedia helps us understand:

Towards material heretics [the Church’s] 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 (animositas), 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 seeking the truth with cautious solicitude and ready to be corrected" (P.L., XXXIII, ep. xliii, 160). Pius IX, in a letter to the bishops of Italy (10 Aug., 1863), 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 God 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, "Enchir.", n. 1529). X.

A great many Catholics hold heretical opinions about marriage and the sixth commandment. With the anniversary of Humanae Vitae falling on July 25, the Feasts of St. James the Greater and St. Christopher, we would do well to reread the document and reappropriate the wisdom of the Church.

The topic of contraception never came up in my life in high school religion class. As a young Catholic having graduated from a secular college, I was willing to accept all the teachings of the Church, even the ones that I did not understand. It was not until listening to Janet Smith (www.janetesmith.org) that I came to understand and rejoice in the teaching of the Church on this. You can read her talk “Contraception: Why Not?” online for free. FORMED.org also has some good resources, especially one by Jason Evert. Even if you accept the teachings of the Church, please spend some time reacquainting yourself with the topic so you can better explain it to others.

God bless you.

Fr. Christopher J. Pollard