07-14-2026, 09:40 AM
XI. Is Heresy a great Sin?
— Heresy is one of the greatest crimes a child of God can be guilty of. It is an apostasy from the Church.
Faith is the foundation of all religious edifices, — the first element of Christian life. Accordingly, our Lord sums up the whole system of religion in faith. At every page of his gospel he repeats that to be saved it is necessary to believe in him, to believe in his word, to believe in the word of the Church.
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be condemned. (Mark xvi. 16.)
Heresy is a sin against faith. It is a deliberate and obstinate rebellion against the divine teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ. Heresy subverts the order established by God, and separates man from the great Catholic family which, on earth and in heaven, is the family of God.
Hence, heresy is in itself a more grievous sin, an evil far greater and more baneful, than immorality and the inordinations of sensuality. These disorders and sins are very bad, indeed, and separate a great many from Jesus Christ; but they do not inflict upon the soul an inordination so radical and so dangerous as heresy.
We have, then, the criterion whereby to judge the religious responsibility and heavy culpability of those evangelical ministers who sow heresy around them. They inflict upon society an evil far worse than the emissaries of libertinism can inflict.
— Heresy is one of the greatest crimes a child of God can be guilty of. It is an apostasy from the Church.
Faith is the foundation of all religious edifices, — the first element of Christian life. Accordingly, our Lord sums up the whole system of religion in faith. At every page of his gospel he repeats that to be saved it is necessary to believe in him, to believe in his word, to believe in the word of the Church.
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be condemned. (Mark xvi. 16.)
Heresy is a sin against faith. It is a deliberate and obstinate rebellion against the divine teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ. Heresy subverts the order established by God, and separates man from the great Catholic family which, on earth and in heaven, is the family of God.
Hence, heresy is in itself a more grievous sin, an evil far greater and more baneful, than immorality and the inordinations of sensuality. These disorders and sins are very bad, indeed, and separate a great many from Jesus Christ; but they do not inflict upon the soul an inordination so radical and so dangerous as heresy.
We have, then, the criterion whereby to judge the religious responsibility and heavy culpability of those evangelical ministers who sow heresy around them. They inflict upon society an evil far worse than the emissaries of libertinism can inflict.
"So let us be confident, let us not be unprepared, let us not be outflanked, let us be wise, vigilant, fighting against those who are trying to tear the faith out of our souls and morality out of our hearts, so that we may remain Catholics, remain united to the Blessed Virgin Mary, remain united to the Roman Catholic Church, remain faithful children of the Church."- Abp. Lefebvre