Can a Catholic Deny Just One Dogma and Remain a Catholic?
In the past we considered that dogmas do not evolve, as well as the truth that Catholics must believe more than only infallible dogmatic proclamations.
A similar question arises when someone asks what the consequence is for denying just one of the Church’s dogmas. What would happen to someone who absolutely refuses to believe that God created the world out of nothing; that the souls of the blessed in Heaven possess the Beatific Vision; that the Holy Eucharist is the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ; or any other single dogma?
In answer to this question, the Church is clear that to deny even one truth of the Faith separates a soul from Christ and His Church and makes the person a heretic. Heresy is not reserved for only Protestant sects or errors from centuries ago like Pneumatomachianism or Nestorianism, Arianism, and Sabellianism. It exists today in the soul of anyone in the pews who pertinaciously[1] refuses to believe any of the Church’s dogmas. While such a person may appear to be a Catholic, they have lost the Faith and are separated from salvation unless and until they submit to the Church in all defined matters of doctrine.
What Is a Heretic? Is a Heretic a Catholic?
The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property summarizes who is a heretic:
“According to Canon 1325 of the 1917 Code of Canon Law, a heretic is one who, after having been baptized, and still claiming to be a Christian [Catholic], denies or doubts pertinaciously a truth that must be believed by Divine and Catholic Faith.
“According to Canon 751 of the 1983 Code, ‘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.’”
The Dictionary of Fr. John Hardon precisely defines heresy, showing how it differs from apostasy:
“In the Roman Catholic Church, heresy has a very specific meaning. Anyone who, after receiving baptism, while remaining nominally a Christian, pertinaciously denies or doubts any of the truths that must be believed with divine and Catholic faith is considered a heretic. Accordingly four elements must be verified to constitute formal heresy: previous valid baptism, which need not have been in the Catholic Church; external profession of still being a Christian, otherwise a person becomes an apostate; outright denial or positive doubt regarding a truth that the Catholic Church has actually proposed as revealed by God; and the disbelief must be morally culpable, where a nominal Christian refuses to accept what he knows is a doctrinal imperative. Objectively, therefore, to become a heretic in the strict canonical sense and be excommunicated from the faithful, one must deny or question a truth that is taught not merely on the authority of the Church but on the word of God revealed in the Scriptures or sacred tradition.”
It falls upon the proper Church authority to judge if and when those four elements are present. It would likewise be the responsibility of the Church authority to inform the soul of this danger to their soul, encouraging them to renounce the error and return to the bosom of Holy Mother Church. If the person refuses, as the arch-heretic Martin Luther did in the 16th century, then the Church authority is obligated, in charity, to issue the formal punishment of excommunication on account of heresy. The Church always issues such judgments in the hope, and for the purpose, that the prodigal soul will return to the Father’s house and be reunited to the Mystical Body of Christ.
The Baltimore Catechism accordingly states:
“The denial of only one article of faith will make a person a heretic and guilty of mortal sin, because the Holy Scripture says: ‘Whosoever shall keep the whole law but offend in one point is become guilty of all.’ An article of faith is a revealed truth so important and so certain that no one can deny or doubt it without rejecting the testimony of God. The Church very clearly points out what truths are articles of faith that we may distinguish them from pious beliefs and traditions, so that no one can be guilty of the sin of heresy without knowing it.” (Baltimore Catechism #3, QQ. 1171-1172).
What Are the Consequences of Heresy?
A heretic who persists in obstinate heresy expels himself as a member of the Catholic Church. To fall into the sin of heresy is a mortal sin and, like any mortal sin, must be confessed and repented of before death. If this does not happen, the soul will be damned. The heretic – like the schismatic, apostate, and pagan – is not a part of the Catholic Church. St. Peter Canisius, who was instrumental in fighting Protestantism in Germany, wrote the first catechism in 1555, known as the “Catechism of St. Peter Canisius.” When asked who may be called a Christian, he answered as follows: “Whoever has been initiated by the Sacrament of Baptism of Jesus Christ, true God and man, and confesses the salutary doctrine in His Church, and not those who adhere to any sects or beliefs foreign to the Catholic Church.” The adherence to other “sects or beliefs” includes heretical ones.
The implication is that one who is united in the Catholic Faith to Our Lord must reject all that is opposed to the doctrine of Christ. For example, true disciples refuse to worship with other religions for any reason. As the Council of Carthage taught: “One must neither pray nor sing psalms with heretics, and whoever shall communicate with those who are cut off from the communion of the Church, whether clergy or layman: let him be excommunicated.”
The Abjuration of Heresy
Thankfully, it is possible for someone to repudiate heresy and return to Catholic unity before death. Such a soul would only need to seek out Christ in the confessional in order to receive absolution and remove any punishments incurred by virtue of the heresy.
Traditionally, when someone was converting to the Catholic Faith from a different religion, an abjuration of heresy and Profession of Faith would be read. The Profession of Faith of the Council of Trent from the Bull of Pope Pius IV was read, and it is something which we can still pray to assert our own fidelity to all that the Church teaches. Let us pray at all times for the conversion of all heretics to Catholic unity, but especially during the Octave of Christian Unity in January
ENDNOTES:
[1] The word ‘pertinacious’ is used to indicate that the person knowingly and willfully denies or doubts a dogma of the Faith. In such a case, the person is morally culpable. In all cases it is God Who judges this, for it is always an internal matter of one’s soul. However, in some cases the Church herself passes judgment. The proper authority (e.g., the Pope or a bishop in his diocese) would inform a person that he is holding a heresy and must renounce it, otherwise the public judgment of formal heresy would fall upon him. Note: It is not within the competent authority of priests and laity to judge this or that person to be a formal heretic.