Heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy. Heresy in Heresy in Christian ...

is defined by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

as "the obstinate denial or obstinate doubt after the reception of

baptism Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

of some truth which is to be believed by divine and Catholic faith". The term ''heresy'' connotes both the belief in itself, and the attitude towards said belief.

Definition and characteristics

Definition

has a specific meaning in the Catholic Church when it applies to someone's belief. There are four elements which constitute a person's formal heresy: # the person in question must have had a valid Christian

# the person claims to still be a Christian # the person publicly and obstinately denies or positively doubts a truth that the Catholic Church regards as revealed by God (through the

Scriptures Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They often feature a compilation or discussion of beliefs, ritual practices, moral commandments and ...

Sacred tradition Sacred tradition, also called holy tradition, Anno Domini tradition or apostolic tradition, is a theological term used in Christian theology. According to this theological position, sacred Tradition and Scripture form one ''deposit'', so sacred T ...

) # the disbelief must be morally culpable, that is, there must be a refusal to accept what is known to be a doctrinal imperative. Therefore, to become a heretic and thus lose communion with the Catholic Church and hence no longer be Catholic, one must deny or question a truth that is taught by the Catholic Church as revealed by God, and at the same time know that the Catholic Church teaches it. However, if the person denied or questioned such a doctrine, but in

good faith In human interactions, good faith () is a sincere intention to be fair, open, and honest, regardless of the outcome of the interaction. Some Latin phrases have lost their literal meaning over centuries, but that is not the case with , which i ...

, that person is not considered a formal heretic by the Catholic Church, though it is an expression of material heresy.

Canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

751 of the

Latin Church The Latin Church () is the largest autonomous () particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. The Latin Church is one of 24 Catholic particular churches and liturgical ...

's 1983 ''Code of Canon Law'',

promulgated Promulgation is the formal proclamation or the declaration that a new statutory or administrative law is enacted after its final approval. In some jurisdictions, this additional step is necessary before the law can take effect. After a new law i ...

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

in 1983, defines heresy as the following: "Heresy is the obstinate denial or doubt after the reception of

of some truth which is to be believed by divine and Catholic faith". Heresy is contrasted with

apostasy Apostasy (; ) is the formal religious disaffiliation, disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that is contrary to one's previous re ...

– "the total repudiation of the Christian faith" –, and with

schism A schism ( , , or, less commonly, ) is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization, movement, or religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a split in what had previously been a single religious body, suc ...

– " the refusal of submission to the

Supreme Pontiff The pope is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the pope was the sovereign or head of sta ...

or of communion with the members of the Church subject to him". This definition and contrast are reused in the ''

Catechism of the Catholic Church The ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' (; commonly called the ''Catechism'' or the ''CCC'') is a reference work that summarizes the Catholic Church's doctrine. It was Promulgation (Catholic canon law), promulgated by Pope John Paul II in 1992 ...

''. The ''Catechism'' also contrasts heresy with ''incredulity'', which is "the neglect of revealed truth or the willful refusal to assent to it".

Formal and material heresy

The Catholic Church distinguishes between ''formal'' and ''material'' heresy. The difference is the heretic's subjective disposition towards their opinion. The heretic who is aware that their belief is at odds with Catholic teaching and yet freely and willingly continues to cling to their belief pertinaciously, "who denies a necessary truth out of

vincible ignorance Vincible ignorance is, in Catholic moral theology, ignorance that a person could remove by applying reasonable diligence in the given set of circumstances. It contrasts with invincible ignorance, which a person is either entirely incapable of re ...

or from an error held out of

bad Bad or BAD may refer to: Common meanings *Evil, the opposite of moral good * Erroneous, inaccurate or incorrect * Unhealthy, or counter to well-being *Antagonist, the threat or obstacle of moral good Acronyms * BAD-2, a Soviet armored trolley ...

or doubtful faith", is a formal heretic. This sort of heresy is

sinful In religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law or a law of the deities. Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin. While sins are generally considered actions, any thought, word, or act considered ...

because in this case the heretic freely and knowingly holds an opinion that, in the words of the ''

Catholic Encyclopedia ''The'' ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'', also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedi ...

'', "is destructive of the virtue of Christian faith ..disturbs the unity, and challenges the Divine authority, of the Church" and "strikes at the very source of faith". Material heresy refers to an opinion objectively contradictory to the teachings of the

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

, which as such is heretical, but which is uttered by a person who does not know the belief is heretical. A person who holds a material heresy may therefore not be a heretic in the strict sense. Material heresy is an opinion that is such that by holding it someone "denies a truth that must be held by divine and Catholic faith, but he is such because of invincible ignorance or because of an error held in

. ''Good faith'' in an erring man is a prudent judgment whereby the one in error thinks that he does not err, but on the contrary, that he is in possession of the truth". The opinion of a material heretic may produce the same objective results as formal heresy, but the heretic commits no sin by holding it.

Manifest, occult, public, and private heresy

The Catholic Church distinguishes between ''manifest'', ''

occult The occult () is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mysti ...

'', ''public'', and ''private'' heretics:

Church membership

Robert Bellarmine Robert Bellarmine (; ; 4 October 1542 – 17 September 1621) was an Italian Jesuit and a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was canonized a saint in 1930 and named Doctor of the Church, one of only 37. He was one of the most important figure ...

and most modern

Catholic theologian Catholic theology is the understanding of Catholic doctrine or teachings, and results from the studies of theologians. It is based on canonical scripture, and sacred tradition, as interpreted authoritatively by the magisterium of the Catholi ...

s (such as Palmieri, Billot, , and ) consider that occult heretics "remain members of the Church, because the loss of membership of the Church, just as much as its acquisition, on account of the visibility of the Church, can only result from external legally ascertainable facts";

Ludwig Ott Ludwig Ott (24 October 1906 – 25 October 1985) was a Roman Catholic theologian and medievalist from Bavaria, Germany. Biography After training at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, Ott was ordained a Catholic priest The ...

deems this opinion as "more probable". According to Ott, manifest heretics, even when they are only heretic materially, are not part of the Catholic Church. He adds that manifest material heretics "do not belong to the body of the Church, that is to the legal

commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

of the Church. However, this does not prevent them from belonging spiritually to the Church by their desire to belong to the Church (votum Ecclesiae) and through this, achieving justification and

salvation Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...

". Salaverri and Nicolau give the following summary of theological opinions: Salaverri and Nicolau, for their part, consider that material (even if manifest) heretics along with occult heretics are part of the Catholic Church.

Degrees

There are four degrees of heresy in the Catholic Church according to the ''

'': # Pertinacious adhesion to a doctrine contradictory to a point of faith clearly defined by the Catholic Church is heresy pure and simple, heresy in the first degree # If the doctrine in question has not been expressly defined or is not clearly proposed as an article of faith in the ordinary, authorized teaching of the Catholic Church, an opinion opposed to it is styled ''sententia haeresi proxima'', that is, an opinion approaching heresy # Next, a doctrinal proposition, without directly contradicting a received

dogma Dogma, in its broadest sense, is any belief held definitively and without the possibility of reform. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Judaism, Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, or Islam ...

, may yet involve logical consequences at variance with revealed truth. Such a proposition is not heretical, it is a ''propositio theologice erronea'', that is, erroneous in

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

# Lastly, the opposition to an article of faith may not be strictly demonstrable, but only reach a certain degree of probability. In that case the doctrine is termed ''sententia de haeresi suspecta, haeresim sapiens'' (scholarly heretic); that is, an opinion suspected, or savouring, of heresy Other classifications of theological censures exist.

History

In the thirteenth century heresy was defined by

Robert Grosseteste Robert Grosseteste ( ; ; 8 or 9 October 1253), also known as Robert Greathead or Robert of Lincoln, was an Kingdom of England, English statesman, scholasticism, scholastic philosopher, theologian, scientist and Bishop of Lincoln. He was born of ...

as "an opinion chosen by human preference contrary to holy scripture, publicly avowed and obstinately held", a conscious intellectual choice not a private doubt. It was further elaborated by

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas ( ; ; – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican Order, Dominican friar and Catholic priest, priest, the foremost Scholasticism, Scholastic thinker, as well as one of the most influential philosophers and theologians in the W ...

as "a species of

infidel An infidel (literally "unfaithful") is a person who is accused of disbelief in the central tenets of one's own religion, such as members of another religion, or irreligious people. Infidel is an ecclesiastical term in Christianity around which th ...

ity in men who, having professed the

faith Faith is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or concept. In the context of religion, faith is " belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". According to the Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, faith has multiple definitions, inc ...

Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...

, corrupt its

dogmas Dogma, in its broadest sense, is any belief held definitively and without the possibility of reform. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Judaism, Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, or Islam ...

". Aquinas notes: According to Jesuit historian David Collins, in the roughly 700 years following the demise of the Roman Empire, there was only a single known execution of a heretic. However, in 1160s, Western European states adopted more extreme policies. Then-Catholic priest

Martin Luther Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...

made comments that were later summarized in the 1520

bull A bull is an intact (i.e., not Castration, castrated) adult male of the species ''Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e. cows proper), bulls have long been an important symbol cattle in r ...

Exsurge Domine is a papal bull promulgated on 15 June 1520 by Pope Leo X written in response to Martin Luther's '' Ninety-five Theses'', which opposed the views of the Catholic Church. The bull censured forty-one of the ''Ninety-five Theses'', and threaten ...

'' as: "Haereticos comburi est contra voluntatem Spiritus" ("It is contrary to the Spirit to burn heretics"). This summary was one of the statements specifically censured in this papal bull. When Luther did not accept the bull nor to give a broad recantation of his writings, he was

excommunicated Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to deprive, suspend, or limit membership in a religious community or to restrict certain rights within it, in particular those of being in communion with other members of the con ...

in the subsequent 1521 papal bull ''

Decet Romanum Pontificem __NOTOC__ (from Latin: "It Pleases the Roman Pontiff") is a papal bull issued on 3 January 1521 by Pope Leo X to effect the excommunication of German theologian Martin Luther and some of his colleagues—notably Andreas Karlstadt—for r ...

''.

Jansenism Jansenism was a 17th- and 18th-century Christian theology, theological movement within Roman Catholicism, primarily active in Kingdom of France, France, which arose as an attempt to reconcile the theological concepts of Free will in theology, f ...

was an early modern theological movement popular in France in the mid-seventeenth century, that held that only a certain portion of humanity was predestined to be saved. The heresy according to Roman Catholic doctrine, lay in denying the role of

free will Free will is generally understood as the capacity or ability of people to (a) choice, choose between different possible courses of Action (philosophy), action, (b) exercise control over their actions in a way that is necessary for moral respon ...

in the acceptance and use of

grace Grace may refer to: Places United States * Grace, Idaho, a city * Grace (CTA station), Chicago Transit Authority's Howard Line, Illinois * Little Goose Creek (Kentucky), location of Grace post office * Grace, Carroll County, Missouri, an uni ...

. The last case of a heretic being executed was that of the schoolmaster

Cayetano Ripoll Gaietà Ripoll I Pla () (born 1778, thought to be in Solsona – 26 July 1826 in Valencia) was a Catalan schoolmaster who was the last person executed in Spain for heresy, specifically for teaching deism to his students. English translation o ...

, denounced for teaching

deism Deism ( or ; derived from the Latin term '' deus'', meaning "god") is the philosophical position and rationalistic theology that generally rejects revelation as a source of divine knowledge and asserts that empirical reason and observation ...

by the local Board of Faith ''Junta de Fe'', then tried by the state and hanged to death 26 July 1826 in

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

after a two-year trial.

Modern Roman Catholic response to Protestantism

Some of the doctrines of

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

that the Catholic Church considers heretical are: ''

sola scriptura (Latin for 'by scripture alone') is a Christian theological doctrine held by most Protestant Christian denominations, in particular the Lutheran and Reformed traditions, that posits the Bible as the sole infallible source of authority for ...

'', ''

sola fide (or simply ), meaning justification by faith alone, is a soteriological doctrine in Christian theology commonly held to distinguish the Lutheranism, Lutheran and Reformed tradition, Reformed traditions of Protestantism, among others, from th ...

'', the universal

priesthood of all believers The priesthood of all believers is the common Priest, priesthood of all Christians (a concept broadly accepted by all churches), while the term can also refer to a specific Protestantism, Protestant understanding that this universal priesthood pre ...

, and the denial of

transubstantiation Transubstantiation (; Greek language, Greek: μετουσίωσις ''metousiosis'') is, according to the teaching of the Catholic Church, "the change of the whole substance of sacramental bread, bread into the substance of the Body of Christ and ...

. In his book ''The Meaning of Christian Brotherhood'',

Cardinal Ratzinger Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as po ...

wrote:

Definition and characteristics

Definition

Formal and material heresy

Manifest, occult, public, and private heresy

Church membership

Degrees

History

Modern Roman Catholic response to Protestantism

See also

Notes

References

Further reading