I,...... , firmly embrace and accept
all and each of the things defined, affirmed and declared by the
inerrant Magisterium of the Church, mainly those points of doctrine
directly opposed to the errors of our time.
And in the first place I profess that God,
beginning and end of all things, can be certainly known, and therefore
also proved, as the cause through its effects, by the natural
light of reason through the things that have been made, that is,
through the visible works of creation.
Secondly, I admit and recognize as most certain
signs of the divine origin of the Christian religion the external
arguments of revelation, that is, the divine deeds, and in the
first place the miracles and prophecies. And I maintain that these
are eminently suited to the mentality of all ages and men, including
those of our time.
Thirdly, I also firmly believe that the Church,
guardian and teacher of the revealed word, was immediately and
directly instituted by the real and historical Christ himself,
while dwelling with us; and that it was built upon Peter, prince
of the apostolic hierarchy, and his successors till the end of
time.
Fourthly, I sincerely accept the doctrine of
the faith handed on to us by the Apostles through the orthodox
Fathers, always with the same meaning and interpretation; and
therefore I flatly reject the heretical invention of the evolution
of dogmas, to the effect that these would change their meaning
from that previously held by the Church. I equally condemn every
error whereby the divine deposit, handed over to the Spouse of
Christ to be faithfully kept by her, would be replaced by a philosophical
invention or a creation of human consciousness, slowly formed
by the effort of men and to be henceforward perfected by an indefinite
progress.
Fifthly, I maintain in all certainty and sincerely
profess that faith is not a blind feeling of religion welling
up from the recesses of the subconscious, by the pressure of the
heart and of the inclination of the morally educated will, but
a real assent of the intellect to the truth received from outside
through the ear, whereby we believe that the things said, testified
and revealed by the personal God, our creator and lord, are true,
on account of the authority of God, who is supremely truthful.
I also submit myself with due reverence, and
wholeheartedly join in all condemnations, declarations and prescriptions
contained in the encyclical Pascendi and in the decree Lamentabili,
mainly those concerning the so-called history of dogmas.
Likewise I reprove the error of those who affirm
that the faith proposed by the Church can be repugnant to history,
and that the Catholic dogmas, in the way they are understood now,
cannot accord with the truer origins of the Christian religion.
I also condemn and reject the opinion of those
who say that the more learned Christian has a two-fold personality,
one of the believer and the other of the historian, as if it would
be lawful for the historian to uphold views which are in contradiction
with the faith of the believer, or to lay down propositions from
which it would follow that the dogmas are false or doubtful, as
long as these dogmas were not directly denied.
I likewise reprove the method of judging and
interpreting Holy Scripture which consists in ignoring the tradition
of the Church, the analogy of faith and the rulings of the Apostolic
See, following the opinions of rationalists, and not only unlawfully
but recklessly upholding the critique of the text as the only
and supreme rule.
Besides, I reject the opinion of those who
maintain that whoever teaches theological history, or writes about
these matters, has to set aside beforehand any preconceived opinion
regarding the supernatural origin of Catholic tradition, as well
as the divine promise of a help for the perpetual preservation
of each one of the revealed truths; and that, besides, the writings
of each of the Fathers should be interpreted only by the principles
of science, leaving aside all sacred authority, and with the freedom
of judgment wherewith any secular monument is usually studied.
Lastly, I profess myself in everything totally
averse to the error whereby modernists hold that there is nothing
divine in sacred tradition, or, what is much worse, that there
is, but in a pantheistic sense; so that nothing remains there
but the bare and simple fact to be equated to the common facts
of history, namely, some men who through their work, skill and
ingenuity, continue in subsequent ages the school started by Christ
and his apostles. Therefore I most firmly retain the faith of
the Fathers, and will retain it up to the last gasp of my life,
regarding the unwavering charisma of the truth, which exists,
has existed and will always exist in the succession of bishops
from the Apostles; not so that what is maintained is what may
appear better or more suitably adapted to the culture of each
age, but so that the absolute and unchangeable truth preached
by the Apostles from the beginning may never be believed or understood
otherwise.
All these things I pledge myself to keep faithfully,
integrally and sincerely, and to watch over them without fail,
never moving away from them whether in teaching or in any way
by word or in writing. Thus do I promise, thus do I swear, so
help me God, etc.
[On May 31, 1967, the so-called "Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith" substituted for the Oath Against Modernism a brief "Profession of Faith."]