Post 4



“Manifest heretics are heretics who have severed their external bonds of union with the Church, and are therefore not Catholics.”

From what has been proved already, we know that an “heretic” is one who pertinaciously doubts or denies a dogma. Hence a manifest heretic must be one whose error and pertinacity are manifest.

By “manifest” we mean “open.” The term “manifest” excludes the idea of secrecy, so it refers to the case of an heretic whose heresy is not hidden, or secret, but rather out in the open, clear. Further, the “openness” of heresy is not a subjective matter, dependent on the knowledge or clear-sightedness of those who witness it. Rather, it is a quality of the thing itself. Hence the definitions of the various grades of “publicity” of crimes, as given in the Code of Canon Law.

Canon 2197.

"A crime is:

1. Public, if it is already commonly known or the circumstances are such as to lead to the conclusion that it can and will easily become so.
   
2. Notorious in law, after judgement by a competent judge which has become res iudicata (cf. c. 1902), or after confession by the culprit in open court according to canon 1750;
   
3. Notorious in fact, if it is publicly known and was committed under such circumstances that no manoeuvre can conceal nor legal defence excuse it;
   
4. Occult, if not public; materially occult if the crime itself is hidden, formally occult if its imputability is hidden."
   

Note that these definitions do not make “publicity” depend on how many people actually know about a particular crime. Rather, they depend on how easy it would be for men to know about a given crime.

Now, a manifest heretic differs from an occult (“secret”) heretic in one important detail – the manifest heretic is no longer a member of the Church. He has left it, by his own will, in the very act of revealing himself openly as an heretic.

Pope Pius XII, (Mystici Corporis Christi): “For not every sin, however grave and enormous it be, is such as to sever a man automatically from the Body of the Church, as does schism or heresy or apostasy." [Emphasis added.]

Pope Pius XII, (Mystici Corporis Christi): "Actually only those are to be included as members of the Church who have been baptised 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." [Emphasis added.]

Mgr. G. Van Noort, STD, (Dogmatic Theology, Vol. II, "Christ's Church" - Mercier Press, 1958) pp.239 ff. :

"Scholion 1. Who are not members of the Church?

[Van Noort gives some preliminary comments on membership, then the following]

"a. Those who have not received baptism of water are not members of the Church. Etc.

…

"b. 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, unity with the hierarchy - pointed out by Pius XII as requisite for membership in the Church (see above, p. 238) [This citation refers to the relevant section of Mystici Corporis Christi by Pope Pius XII]. The same pontiff has explicitly pointed out that, unlike other sins, heresy, schism, and apostasy automatically sever a man from the Church. 'For not every sin, however grave and enormous it be, is such as to sever a man automatically from the Body of the Church, as does schism or heresy or apostasy'. (MCC 30; italics Van Noort's)" [MCC refers to Mystici Corporis Christi, Pope Pius XII. Bolding added.].

St. Robert Bellarmine, (On the Church Militant, bk. 3, ch. 4, On Heretics and Apostates) "Alphonsus de Castro teaches (On the Just Punishment of Heretics, bk. 2, ch. 24) that baptized heretics and apostates are members and parts of the Church, even if they openly [palam] profess false doctrine. This opinion, as it is plainly false, is very easily refuted."

St. Robert Bellarmine, (On the Roman Pontiff, bk. 2, ch. 30.): "The foundation of this argument is that the manifest heretic is not in any way a member of the Church, that is, neither spiritually nor corporally, which signifies that is not such by internal union nor by external union. For even bad Catholics are united and are members, spiritually by faith, corporally by confession of faith and by participation in the visible sacraments; the occult heretics are united and are members although only by external union; on the contrary, the good catechumens belong to the Church only by an internal union, not by the external; but manifest heretics do not pertain in any manner, as we have already proved." [Emphasis added.]

Yours in JMJ,
John Lane
www.sedevacantist.com

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