4.
Moved therefore by this need, and after
careful deliberation, we have decided to overcome this lacuna in the universal
law in the following way:
A) Canon 750 of the Code of Canon Law
will now consist of two paragraphs; the first will present the text of the existing
canon; the second will contain a new text. Thus, canon 750, in its complete
form, will read:
Canon 750 – § 1. Those things are to be believed by divine and
catholic faith which are contained in the word of God as it has been written or
handed down by tradition, that is, in the single deposit of faith entrusted to
the Church, and which are at the same time proposed as divinely revealed either
by the solemn Magisterium of the Church, or by its ordinary and universal
Magisterium, which in fact is manifested by the common adherence of Christ’s
faithful under the guidance of the sacred Magisterium. All are therefore bound
to avoid any contrary doctrines.
§ 2. Furthermore, each and everything set
forth definitively by the Magisterium of the Church regarding teaching on faith
and morals must be firmly accepted and held; namely, those things required for
the holy keeping and faithful exposition of the deposit of faith; therefore,
anyone who rejects propositions which are to be held definitively sets himself against
the teaching of the Catholic Church.
Canon 1371, n. 1 of the Code of Canon Law,
consequently, will receive an appropriate reference to canon 750 § 2, so that
it will now read:
Canon 1371 – The following are to be punished with a just
penalty:
1° a person who, apart from the case
mentioned in canon 1364 § 1, teaches a doctrine condemned by the Roman Pontiff,
or by an Ecumenical Council, or obstinately rejects the teachings mentioned in
canon 750 § 2 or in canon 752 and, when warned by the Apostolic See or by the
Ordinary, does not retract;
2° a person who in any other way does not
obey the lawful command or prohibition of the Apostolic See or the Ordinary or
Superior and, after being warned, persists in disobedience.
B) Canon 598 of the Code of Canons of the
Eastern Churches will now have two paragraphs: the first will present the
text of the existing canon and the second will contain a new text. Thus canon
598, in its complete form, will read as follows:
Canon 598 – § 1. Those things are to be believed by divine and
catholic faith which are contained in the word of God as it has been written or
handed down by tradition, that is, in the single deposit of faith entrusted to
the Church, and which are at the same time proposed as divinely revealed either
by the solemn Magisterium of the Church, or by its ordinary and universal
Magisterium, which in fact is manifested by the common adherence of Christ’s
faithful under the guidance of the sacred Magisterium. All Christian faithful
are therefore bound to avoid any contrary doctrines.
§ 2. Furthermore, each and everything set
forth definitively by the Magisterium of the Church regarding teaching on faith
and morals must be firmly accepted and held; namely, those things required for
the holy keeping and faithful exposition of the deposit of faith; therefore,
anyone who rejects propositions which are to be held definitively sets himself
against the teaching of the Catholic Church.
Canon 1436 § 2 of the Code of Canons of
the Eastern Churches, consequently, will receive an appropriate reference
to canon 598 § 2, so that it will now read:
Canon 1436 – § 1. Whoever denies a truth which must be believed
with divine and catholic faith, or who calls into doubt, or who totally
repudiates the Christian faith, and does not retract after having been
legitimately warned, is to be punished as a heretic or an apostate with a major
excommunication; a cleric moreover can be punished with other penalties, not
excluding deposition.
§ 2. In addition to these cases, whoever
obstinately rejects a teaching that the Roman Pontiff or the College of
Bishops, exercising the authentic Magisterium, have set forth to be held
definitively, or who affirms what they have condemned as erroneous, and does
not retract after having been legitimately warned, is to be punished with an
appropriate penalty.
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