The Oath Against Modernism was instituted by

Pope Pius X Pope Pius X (; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing Modernism in the Catholic Church, modern ...

in his ''

motu proprio In law, (Latin for 'on his own impulse') describes an official act taken without a formal request from another party. Some jurisdictions use the term for the same concept. In Catholic canon law, it refers to a document issued by the pope on h ...

'' ''Sacrorum antistitum'' on September 1, 1910. The oath was required of "all

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

pastors A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicis ...

, confessors, preachers, religious superiors, and professors in philosophical-theological

seminaries A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clerg ...

" of 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 ...

. It remained in force until the

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) is a department of the Roman Curia in charge of the religious discipline of the Catholic Church. The Dicastery is the oldest among the departments of the Roman Curia. Its seat is the Palace of t ...

, with the approval of Paul VI, replaced it with a revised Profession of Faith on July 17, 1967. The oath marked the culmination of Pius X's campaign against the theological movement of

Modernism Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

, which he extensively analyzed and denounced as heretical in his 1907 encyclicals '' Pascendi Dominici gregis'' and '' Lamentabili sane exitu''. The Oath Against Modernism is still pronounced by the Society of Saint Pius X, and sedeprivationist and sedevacantist groups such as the

Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen The Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen (; CMRI) is a sedevacantist Traditionalist Catholic religious congregation. The CMRI is dedicated to promoting the message of Our Lady of Fátima and the devotion of the practice of Total Consecrat ...

and the Istituto Mater Boni Consilii.

References

External links

The original Latin text of ''Sacrorum antistitum''
* Latin translation of ''Sacrorum antistitum'' in ''The American Catholic Quarterly Review'' (October 1910: vol. 35 (140), pp. 712–31)
The oath against modernism in English, excerpted from ''Sacrorum antistitum''
{{Authority control Religious oaths Modernism in the Catholic Church

See also

References

External links