Quote:Dear brother,

Thank you very much for your [10 July] e-mail.

I am happy that Cardinal Gregory will preside over a Eucharist; I will be spiritually with him and with all of you, united in prayer.

Thank you for praying for me. I do the same for you. May Jesus bless you and the Blessed Virgin protect you.

Why was St Robert Bellarmine declared a Doctor of the Church?
Sometimes it can feel like Heaven uses dates in a providential way.



Image from Wiki Commons

Quote:Providentissimus Deus
Acts of Pius XI
AAS 23 (1931) 433-438

Translated by “a Catholic layman“, with paragraph breaks added. First published at The Bellarmine Forums, 2002.

Further edited by S.D. Wright, adding headings, some punctuation and more paragraph breaks.
Reprinted from The Bellarmine Forums with permission.

Saint Robert Bellarmine, Cardinal of the Roman Church, of the Society of Jesus, is Declared Doctor of the Universal Church.

For a perpetual remembrance of the matter.

God in his great providence has from the beginnings of Christ’s Church even up to more recent times continually raised up men distinguished by learning and holiness to defend and illuminate the truths of the Catholic faith and opportunely to repair the damage inflicted by heretics on those same Christian truths.

Among these men [i.e. distinguished by learning and holiness], Saint Robert Bellarmine, Cardinal of the Roman Church, of the Society of Jesus, is without the slightest doubt to be counted. Even from the days of his most holy death he was called “an outstanding man, a distinguished theologian, an ardent defender of the faith, the hammer of heretics” and he was also declared to be “as pious, prudent and humble, as he was generous to the poor”. No wonder then that, with all canonical processes having at last being fulfilled, in our own times and by a particular counsel of Divine Providence, the man himself was elevated to the honours of the altar.

For in an Apostolic letter published under the ring of the fisherman on the 13th of May 1923, we bestowed upon Robert Bellarmine the title of Blessed. Then, when we were celebrating the fortieth year of our priesthood, together with the Blessed martyrs of the Society of Jesus who were put to death for the faith in the regions of North America, and Blessed Theophilus of Corte, of the Order of [Friar] Minors, in the sacrosanct patriarchal Vatican basilica last year, on the sacred solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul the Apostles, we inscribed the same Blessed Robert into the catalogue of Saints.


St Robert’s Career

That was right and fitting, since the Saint himself was the most brilliant glory of the Catholic episcopate, of the College of Cardinals, of the famous Society of Jesus which produced for the Church so great a man and most diligently cultivated its student. For upon entering the same fertile Society, Saint Robert was so adorned with the peculiar virtues of a true comrade of Jesus, that he seemed altogether to be the ornament and glory of his companions, and the stimulus and model for them too.

In the same order he ascended and held nearly all the ranks; he was a student in the Politian College, then in the Society a novice, a scholasticus, religious, master, sacred preacher, professor, spiritual director, rector, provincial: in discharging all these duties he is perpetually to be cited as a model; in the same manner did he carry out the offices of the church entrusted to him, so much so that in all of them he proved himself to be outstanding: as a man devoted to studies, as a writer, as a theologian and consultant for the Roman Congregations, as one appointed to the pontifical legations, as a bishop, and finally as a Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, he showed himself to be endowed with integrity and force of heart and mind, with sanctity of morals, with the highest consciousness of his duty.

Our predecessor Clement VIII who desired to make him, though “unwilling and reluctant to no avail”, a Cardinal of the Roman Church, praised him greatly; since at that time “with respect to learning, the Church of God had no equal” [to St Robert]. But the rich fruits of this singular learning Saint Robert gave back throughout his life even unto old age. When he was still a youth he wrote The Elements of the Hebrew Language and he also composed in a very learned manner a book On Ecclesiastical Writers, although this was published somewhat later. Afterwards and throughout his whole life he worked painstakingly on the Sacred Scriptures so that, in preparing an edition of the Septuagint and an edition of the Vulgate, having been called upon by the popes for that purpose, he achieved a success [marked by] greater refinement and carefulness.

He pursued all the departments of sacred teaching with the utmost constancy even up to his death. Even in the exchange of letters with acquaintances – letters which were sent throughout almost the whole world and of which a great number are extant today – he exerted himself in these departments of teaching most fruitfully. And it was with great zeal that he lent his aid to the Apostolic Congregations, and in the handling of the gravest matters, even of the Eastern Church, he exhibited shining testimonies of his learning and prudence. That is also confirmed abundantly by the same documents most of which still lie hidden and unpublished in the archives of the Congregations. The same vota – as they are called – “pertain to questions of faith, of the sacred rites, of the understanding of the Scriptures and of other controversies of that kind”, in which Saint Robert was continually engaged.


The Controversies as his most noble work

His Disputations on Controversies of the Christian Faith against heretics constitute “clearly the most noble” and arduous work. Saint Robert, at the command of the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, first published them from 1586 to 1593, first in three, then in four, tomes. Indeed, after a long course of study and teaching, Saint Bellarmine had in a certain way already prepared them when earlier at Louvain in the College of the Society of Jesus he had delivered for six years from the year 1570 onward lectures on the Summa of St Thomas to a large audience of students of the university. After 1576 he had closely worked over them when after the establishment of a “Chair of Controversies”, he was entrusted by his superiors with the task of teaching theology and carried this out in this City in order to defend the Catholic dogmas against the errors which were then traversing over many nations in Europe.

This, the greatest of Bellarmine’s works deftly refuted the new attacks which the Magdeburgians had but recently carried out with their “Centuries” as they say, by means of which, especially by employing speciously historical arguments and the testimonies of the Fathers and the ancients, they had attempted to destroy the Roman Church.

Thus Saint Robert, being conscious of the needs of his times, resolved to keep wholeheartedly the Ignatian rule “of holding in the highest esteem sacred doctrine, both that which is commonly called ‘positive’, and that which is called ‘scholastic’”. This norm laid down by his father Ignatius, Bellarmine in fact persistently pursued, especially in disputations of controversies of the faith against all heretics: so much so that , especially in this matter of controversies, not unjustly is he to be regarded as the foremost model and to be cited as the most illustrious example of wedding together in a happy marriage, positive theology (as they call it) and scholastic [theology].

But in attaining the end that he proposed to himself, he was not lacking in suitable gifts of intelligence and genius. Already from his youth he appeared to be endowed with the keenest intellect, to be adorned with a unique intellectual liveliness toward his studies and with so great swiftness of mind and prodigious force of memory that whatever he read or heard once, all of it he both immediately apprehended and powerfully remembered. Furthermore the Saint naturally spoke and wrote his books with a ready and brilliant eloquence, eschewing the useless inclusion of subject-matter and literary embellishments fashionable in his age – and yet his refinements included familiarity with the more polished literature, and in his youth he was steeped in music, poetry and all the liberal arts [omnique humanitate] – the style he employed was lucid and plain;

“being of versatile genius, he was equally adept at the sublime scholastic speculation and at historical and philosophical inquiry which was so necessary in that age when the reformers boldly claimed that they took their chief arguments from the dominion of positive theology”.

No wonder therefore that as soon as Bellarmine’s Disputations on Controversies of the Christian Faith were read in the City [i.e. Rome], in the Gregorian University, they abundantly surpassed all expectations of them that they had aroused: that they were printed and published again and again, being desired and sought after continually by everyone; that their author was regarded by very many Catholic theologians not only in his own times, but even in our own, as the Master of Controversies.


Ecclesiology and the Papacy

But in addition to the same, very famous Disputations which cover in their massiveness nearly the whole of theology, they excellently recall [us] to the same defence and demonstration of the ninth and tenth article of the Creed, “one holy Church, the communion of Saints, the remission of sins”; many other works, of differing length according as the subject matter demanded, he wrote, and many labours he took upon himself for the promotion of the faith and for the guarding of the rights of the Church.

But it is an outstanding achievement of St Robert, that the rights and privileges divinely bestowed upon the Supreme Pontiff, and those also which were not yet recognised by all the children of the Church at that time, such as the infallible magisterium of the Pontiff speaking ex cathedra, he both invincibly proved and most learnedly defended against his adversaries. Moreover he appeared even up to our times as a defender of the Roman Pontiff of such authority that the Fathers of the [1870] Vatican Council employed his writings and opinions to the greatest possible extent.


Catechetical Works

Nor to be passed over in silence are his sacred sermons and catechetical works, especially the famous Catechism, “which has been approved by its use throughout the ages and by the judgement of very many of the Church’s bishops and doctors”. Indeed, in this Catechism, composed at the command of Clement VIII, the illustrious holy theologian expounded for the use of the Christian people and especially of children, the Catholic truth in a plain style, so brilliantly, exactly and orderly that for nearly three centuries in many regions of Europe and the world, it most fruitfully provided the fodder of Christian doctrine to the faithful. In his book expounding the Psalms he conjoined knowledge with piety.


Ascetical Writings

Lastly, by his ascetical writings famous everywhere, it is agreed that St Robert became the safest guide for very many people to the peak of Christian perfection. For whether it be in his Admonition to Bishop Theanensis, his nephew where he taught what pertains to the apostolic and ecclesiastical life, or his Domestic Exhortations where he inflamed his companions to all virtues, or his Good Government where he conveyed precepts to Christian princes and explained what are their duties, or whether it be in his exciting of the piety and devotion of the Christian faithful by those short but rich works based on the Sacred Scriptures, the teachings of the holy theologian Fathers and on the annals of the Church and the acts of the Saints, we see that St Robert carried out his ascetical teaching efficaciously and with expert zeal.

The illustrious monuments, therefore, that he left of his genius, readily show that there was almost no branch of the ecclesiastical disciplines in which the Saint did not fruitfully engage.


A Guiding Light

As a lamp placed on a candlestick to give light to all that are in the house, he illuminated by word and deed Catholics and those straying from the unity of the Church; as a star in the firmament of the sky he laid bare the truth which he promoted above all else to all men of good will “by the magnificent rays of his knowledge, rays as wide as they were high, by the splendour of his outstanding and brilliant genius”; the first apologist not only of his own age but of subsequent ages as well, by the strenuous defence of the Catholic dogmas that he took upon himself he commended himself to the memory and admiration of all those who follow the Church of Christ with genuine love.

Accordingly Bellarmine even up to this age has enjoyed with the most famous men of the Church, and especially writers, as many as have flourished, so great authority that already he has been regarded and reverently invoked by them as a doctor of the Church. On this matter let it here suffice for Us to mention the saints who on account of their eminent learning conjoined with heroic sanctity have already been declared doctors of the Universal Church; we speak especially of Saint Peter Canisius, of Saint Francis de Sales, of Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori. But there have been other saints, blesseds, venerables, Servants of God as well, whose high opinion of Bellarmine’s learning and knowledge is attested by unambiguous evidence.

No wonder then that many ardently desire truly to hail St Robert as a Doctor of the Church. That is a desire and wish fostered not only by those who share common principles of living with him in the Society of Jesus which has continually and everywhere served well the cause of promoting and defending the Catholic Faith, but also by the most illustrious men from all the ranks of the Church’s hierarchy. For the Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church and nearly all the Archbishops and bishops of the whole world, as well as the superiors of the religious communities, the officers of the Catholic universities, and lastly very many other illustrious men support such desires.


The Process of Elevation

Wherefore we have deemed it opportune to commit the matter of so great importance as a wish and earnest desire to the Sacred Roman Congregation for the protection of Rites. This Congregation by our Special Mandate delegated the most eminent and reverend men to examine the matter: Alexius Henricus Lépicier, titular Cardinal of St Susanna of the Holy Roman Church, Francis Ehrle, Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, deacon of St Caesareus in Palatio.

So having sought and obtained the separate verdicts of these cardinals and even had them printed, the only thing that remained was to ask those in charge of the Congregation of Sacred Rites whether, all things being considered that are usually required in a Doctor of the Universal Church, they thought it was possible to proceed to the declaration of St Robert Bellarmine as a Doctor of the Universal Church. In an ordinary meeting on the fourth day of August just passed convened in the Vatican, after a due account of the matter had been given by our beloved son, the relater of the cause, Cajetan Bisleti, Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, the Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church in charge of the Congregation of Sacred Rites declared with unanimous consent their affirmative opinion.


The Elevation Itself

Wherefore, having listened also on all these [matters] to our beloved son, Promoter General of the Holy Faith on the sixth day of August of this year, we, yielding of our own accord and gladly to the wishes of so many and so great proposers that have been laid before us, do by the tenor of these presents and in virtue of our own certain knowledge and mature deliberation establish and declare St Robert Bellarmine Bishop, Confessor, Doctor of the Universal Church; we decree therefore that the Mass and Office under the Double Minor rite, which have been assigned to the feast day of the same Saint on 13 May every year, be extended by Our authority from now on to the universal Church.

Whatever other Apostolic constitutions and ordinances may have effect to the contrary are not to impede this. We decree the present letters ever to be and to remain established, valid and in effect: and to receive and obtain fully and unimpaired their effects; and that it is thus rightly to be judged and defined that if anything with regard to these matters should happen to be attempted differently [= contrary to what we have decreed] by anyone, of whatever authority, whether knowingly or in ignorance, that would be from now on invalid and to no avail.

Given at Rome at St Peter’s, under the ring of the Fisherman, on the 17th day of September, in the year 1931, the tenth of our pontificate.

‘Really chilling’: Five countries to test European vaccination card
Belgium, Germany, Greece, Latvia and Portugal will test the new vaccination card in a variety of formats, including printed cards, mailed copies and digital versions for smartphones. Critics called it a 'direct threat to freedom.'



Children's Health Defense

Quote:The proposed vaccination card reflects an increasing effort to utilize public health tools as a means to concentrate wealth and provide a means to control populations. It is very reminiscent of approaches in parts of Europe pre-World War II, and essentially serves a similar purpose: to exclude individuals who do not follow government instructions from society.

The trial in Europe is an obvious next step after the recent widening of surveillance under the IHR [International Health Regulation] amendments, which greatly increase the likelihood of recurrent lockdowns to enable mandated vaccination as a way to force mass use, and profit-making, from vaccines.

Quote:The goal is financial control. There is no legitimate public health purpose. The central bankers are hiding behind a health narrative — policies like lockdown are a way to manage inflation and resource demand when monetary policy is highly inflationary.

Quote:Many steps are underway to prepare for a bird flu pandemic. Chicken is the most significant source of meat protein.

So far in response to the current bird flu claims, I am told by experts who follow bird flu claims that 99 million birds have been killed in the U.S. and 500 million worldwide. Bird flu vaccines have been shipped to Europe. A vaccine card can be used to try to pressure or force people to take another unnecessary injection.

Quote:WHO and other agencies are clear in their intent to link compliance with centralized health dictates with the ability of people to go about their daily life.

Whilst directly against post-WWII conventions, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the spirit of the Nuremberg Declaration, they have the backing of major international agencies and the corporate interests that have become enmeshed with them over the past two decades.

Archbishop Lefebvre and Conditional Confirmations
Why did Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre administer the sacrament of confirmation to Catholics who were not his subjects, and repeat it conditionally for those confirmed in the new rites?



Image: Wiki Commons CC, with image of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre.

Quote:“It can happen that the sacraments are not valid. In any case it can occur that the Sacraments are doubtfully valid, that is, that they are doubtful.”1

Quote:“I believe that we all have a serious requirement for the type of priests who transmit the life of the soul. I am certain you do not wish to have priests who are apt to administer sacraments, which are invalid.

“From time to time I am asked to administer Confirmation which, of course, is irritating to local bishops who remind me that I have no right to confirm in their dioceses.

“Naturally, I recognize this, but I remind them in turn that they have no right to administer sacraments of doubtful validity to children whose parents want them to receive the sacramental grace. These parents have the right to be certain that their children are receiving the grace of Confirmation. This is, after all, a grave responsibility for parents. It is grace, which keeps the soul alive, and, to this end, I much prefer to see parents confident that their children have received the sacramental grace of Confirmation even when, by administering the sacrament in someone else's diocese, I am acting illicitly.

“I may at least rest easy in the knowledge that the children confirmed in the manner prescribed by the Church for centuries truly carry the sacramental grace within them, that the sacrament is truly valid.

“With respect to sacraments of doubtful validity, today bishops rarely confirm: they delegate their vicars-general or other priests, and many of these change even the new authorized formulas. Because the particular sacramental grace of each sacrament has to be signified explicitly, and as many of these changes of working do not signify the sacrament in question, it follows that the sacrament is invalid. In other words, it is not permissible to toy with the formula of the sacraments, just as in the Sacrifice of the Mass we many not tamper with the wording of the consecration. It is necessary to perform as the Church has always intended.”2 (Line breaks added)

Quote:“I always respond to the requests of parents who have doubts regarding the validity of the confirmation received by their children or who fear it will be administered invalidly, seeing what goes on around them. [...]

“I explained why I carried on in this way. I meet the wishes of the faithful who ask me for valid confirmation, even if it is not licit, because we are in a period when divine law, natural and supernatural, has precedence over positive ecclesiastical law when the latter opposes the former instead of being a channel to transmit it.

“We are passing through an extraordinary crisis and there need be no surprise if I sometimes adopt an attitude that is out of the ordinary.”3 (Line breaks and emphasis added)

Quote:“I hope that you know if your Confirmation was valid or very doubtful. If there is no doubt, then you cannot ask me to repeat it. You know, that is very important. In Rome, they accuse me of performing many conditional sacraments without having investigated to see if there was sufficient doubt to warrant repeating them.”5

Quote:“I used the old sacramental formula. But I recognize the validity of the new Latin formula. I use the old formula to meet the wishes of the faithful. […]”6

Quote:"Salus animarum suprema lex – the salvation of souls is the supreme law. I cannot refuse the sacrament to the faithful who ask me for it. It is at the request of the faithful, attached to Tradition, that I use the old sacramental formula, and also for safety's sake, keeping to formulas which have communicated grace for centuries with certainty.”7 (Emphasis added)

Quote:“The Archbishop also believed that the validity of the sacrament of confirmation was affected by the new ‘form’ of the sacrament published on August 15, 1971.

“It came from an Eastern confirmation rite and expressed less clearly the special character of confirmation, especially in the sometimes unreliable vernacular translations.”8

Quote:“It is impossible to modify profoundly the lex orandi without modifying the lex credendi. To the Novus Ordo Missae correspond a new catechism, a new priesthood, new seminaries, a charismatic Pentecostal Church—all things opposed to orthodoxy and the perennial teaching of the Church.

“This Reformation, born of Liberalism and Modernism, is poisoned through and through; it derives from heresy and ends in heresy, even if all its acts are not formally heretical.

“It is therefore impossible for any conscientious and faithful Catholic to espouse this Reformation or to submit to it in any way whatsoever.”10

Quote:“A common rite today is to pronounce simply ‘I sign you with the Sign of the Cross. Receive the Holy Spirit.’ In administering Confirmation, the bishop must indicate precisely the special sacramental grace whereby he confers the Holy Ghost. There is no Confirmation if he does not say, ‘I confirm you in the name of the Father...’

“Bishops frequently reproach me, and remind me, that I confer the Sacrament where I am not authorized. To them I answer that I confirm because the faithful fear that their children have not received the grace of Confirmation, because they have a serious doubt as to the validity of the Sacrament conferred in their Churches. Therefore, in order that they might at least be secure in their knowledge of the validity of the sacramental grace, they ask that I confirm their children.

“And I respond to their plea because it appears to me that I may not refuse those who request that their confirmation be valid, even if it may not be licit. We are clearly at a time when divine natural and supernatural law takes precedence over positive Church law when the latter is opposed to the former, when in reality it should he the channel leading to it.

“We are living in an age of extraordinary crisis, and we cannot accept its Reforms. […]

“I count on you for your prayers for my seminarians, that they may become true priests, priests who have the faith, in order that they may administer the true Sacraments and celebrate the true Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.”11 (Line breaks and emphasis added)

Quote:Canon 732

§ 1. The Sacraments of baptism, confirmation, and orders, which imprint a character, cannot be repeated.

§ 2. But if a prudent doubt exists about whether really and validly these [Sacraments] were conferred, they are to be conferred again under condition.

Quote:Forbidden, if repeated on basis of a “groundless and foolish” fear

Lawful, if repeated on the basis of a “prudent misgiving”

Obligatory (gravely or lightly, depending on the case) if repeated on the basis of a “well-founded fear” and “if charity, justice or religion calls for repetition and the inconvenience will not be too great.”

Quote:“The bishops of the Society administer the sacrament of Confirmation conditionally when the faithful request it, that is, when they have a reasonable doubt as to the validity of the sacrament that they received, and this doubt cannot be resolved, as is usually the case.”12

Quote:“Since there is a great variety in the words used, and since the traditional words ‘I sign thee with the sign of the cross and I confirm thee with the chrism of salvation, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost’ are never used, there is very frequently a doubt about the validity of the administration of this sacrament.

“This is the reason why the Society’s bishops do not hesitate to administer it conditionally when asked to do so.”13

Quote:“Because of the defects presented above, one should not receive the sacraments in the new rites, but only in the traditional rites, which alone are worthy and certainly valid.

“Receiving the sacraments under a form that is even slightly doubtful is not allowed.”14

Quote:“We no longer know if they are sacraments which give grace or do not give it.”15

Quote:“The faithful have the right to receive the sacraments validly.”16

Is Archbishop Viganò really in schism?
In this article we will examine the Vatican’s charge against Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò and ask whether he is truly guilty of the crime of schism.



Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò
don Elvir Tabaković, Can.Reg

Quote:His public statements manifesting his refusal to recognize and submit to the Supreme Pontiff, his rejection of communion with the members of the Church subject to him, and of the legitimacy and magisterial authority of the Second Vatican Council are well known. 

Quote:Schismatics are those who refuse to submit to the Sovereign Pontiff, and to hold communion with those members of the Church who acknowledge his supremacy.[2]

Quote:Actually only those are to be included as members of the Church who have been baptized and profess the true faith, and who have not been so unfortunate as to separate themselves from the unity of the Body, or been excluded by legitimate authority for grave faults committed… And therefore, if a man refuse to hear the Church, let him be considered – so the Lord commands – as a heathen and a publican. It follows that those who are divided in faith or government cannot be living in the unity of such a Body, nor can they be living the life of its one Divine Spirit. 

Quote:[N]ot every sin, however grave it may be, is such as of its own nature to sever a man from the Body of the Church, as does schism or heresy or apostasy.[3]

Quote:Public schismatics are not members of the Church. They are not members because by their own action they sever themselves from the unity of Catholic communion. The term Catholic communion, as used here, signifies both cohesion with the entire body catholic (unity of worship, etc.), and union with the visible head of the Church (unity of government).[4]

Quote:The sin of schism specially so called is committed by one who, being baptized, by a public and formal act renounces subjection to the governors of the Church; also by one who formally and publicly takes part in any public religious worship which is set up in rivalry of that of the Church. It is not an act of schism to refuse obedience to a law or precept of the Supreme Pontiff, or other ecclesiastical Superior, provided this refusal does not amount to a disclaimer of all subjection to him.[5]

Quote:I strongly reject the accusation of having torn the seamless garment of the Savior and of having departed from being under the Supreme Authority of the Vicar of Christ: in order to separate myself from ecclesial communion with Jorge Mario Bergoglio, I would have to have first been in communion with him, which is not possible since Bergoglio himself cannot be considered a member of the Church, due to his multiple heresies and his manifest alienness and incompatibility with the role he invalidly and illicitly holds.

• Is it schismatic to refuse submission to a doubtful claimant to the papacy?
  
• Are Francis’s claims to the papacy truly doubtful?
  

Quote:[J]urisdiction is essentially a relation between a superior who has the right to obedience and a subject who has the duty of obeying. Now when one of the parties to this relationship is wanting, the other necessarily ceases to exist also, as is plain from the nature of the relationship.[6]

Quote:However, if a pope is truly and permanently doubtful, the duty of obedience cannot exist towards him on the part of any subject. For the law, ‘Obedience is owed to the legitimately-elected successor of St. Peter,’ does not oblige if it is doubtful; and it most certainly is doubtful if the law has been doubtfully promulgated, for laws are instituted when they are promulgated, and without sufficient promulgation they lack a constitutive part, or essential condition. 

Quote:But if the fact of the legitimate election of a particular successor of St. Peter is only doubtfully demonstrated, the promulgation is doubtful; hence that law is not duly and objectively constituted of its necessary parts, and it remains truly doubtful and therefore cannot impose any obligation. 

Indeed, it would be rash to obey such a man who had not proved his title in law.

Quote:The same conclusion is confirmed on the basis of the visibility of the Church. For the visibility of the Church consists in the fact that she possesses such signs and identifying marks that, when moral diligence is used, she can be recognized and discerned, especially on the part of her legitimate officers. But in the supposition we are considering, the pope cannot be found even after diligent examination. The conclusion is therefore correct that such a doubtful pope is not the proper head of the visible Church instituted by Christ.

Quote:They cannot be numbered among the schismatics, who refuse to obey the Roman Pontiff because they consider his person to be suspect or doubtfully elected on account of rumors in circulation.[7]

Quote:If someone, for reasonable motive, holds the person of the pope in suspicion and refuses his presence and even his jurisdiction, he does not commit the delict of schism, not any other whatsoever, provided that he be ready to accept the pope were he not held in suspicion.[8]

Quote:[H]e will not be a schismatic who denies submission to the Pope because he doubts probably about his legitimate election or his authority.[9]

Quote:Nor is there any schism… if one refuses obedience inasmuch as one suspects the person of the Pope or the validity of his election, or if one resists him as the civil head of a state.[10]

Quote:Public heretics (and a fortiori, apostates) are not members of the Church. They are not members because they separate themselves from the unity of Catholic faith and from the external profession of that faith. Obviously, therefore, they lack one of the three factors – baptism, profession of the same faith, union with the hierarchy – pointed out by Pius XII as requisite for membership of the Church. The same pontiff has explicitly pointed out that, unlike other sins, heresy, schism and apostasy automatically sever a man from the Church.[11]

Quote:By the term public heretics at this point we mean all who externally deny a truth (for example Mary’s Divine Maternity), or several truths of divine and Catholic faith, regardless of whether the one denying does so ignorantly and innocently (a merely material heretic), or willfully and guiltily (a formal heretic).[12]

Quote:He must be a member of the Church since no one can be the head of any society unless he be a member of that society.[13]

Quote:[T]o enable us to fulfil the obligation to embrace the true faith and to persistently persevere in it, God has instituted the Church through his only-begotten Son, and has bestowed on it manifest marks of that institution, that it may be recognized by all men as the guardian and teacher of the revealed Word.[15]

Quote:The unity of faith which Christ decreed without qualification consists in this, that everyone accepts the doctrines presented for belief by the Church’s teaching office. In fact, our Lord requires nothing other than the acceptance by all of the preaching of the apostolic college, a body which is to continue forever; or, what amounts to the same thing, of the pronouncements of the Church’s teaching office, which He Himself set up as the rule of faith. And the essential unity of faith definitely requires that everyone hold each and every doctrine clearly and distinctly presented for belief by the Church’s teaching office; and that everyone hold these truths explicitly or at least implicitly, i.e., by acknowledging the authority of the Church which teaches them.[16]

Quote:‘…the Church, which is ruled by the Spirit of God, could establish a discipline not merely useless and insupportable for the Christian spirit, but even dangerous, harmful, and conducive to superstition and to materialism.’

Quote:It is an article of Catholic doctrine that the Church is infallible in the laws in which her general discipline consists – so that it is not permissible to maintain, without breaking with orthodoxy, that a regulation emanating from the sovereign power in the Church with the intention of obliging all the faithful, or at least a whole class of the faithful, could contain or favor error in faith or in morals.   

It follows from this that, apart from the duty of submission in conduct, imposed by general discipline on all those whom it governs, we must recognize a ‘doctrinal value’ in ecclesiastical regulations like this.[17]

Quote:[T]he Church is assisted by God so that she can never institute a discipline which would be in any way opposed to the rule of faith or to evangelical holiness.[18]