Whether the Church Should Receive Those Who Return from Heresy?
Objection 1: It would seem that the Church ought in all cases to
receive those who return from heresy. For it is written (Jer. 3:1) in
the person of the Lord: "Thou hast prostituted thyself to many lovers;
nevertheless return to Me saith the Lord." Now the sentence of the
Church is God's sentence, according to Deut. 1:17: "You shall hear the
little as well as the great: neither shall you respect any man's
person, because it is the judgment of God." Therefore even those who
are guilty of the prostitution of unbelief which is spiritual
prostitution, should be received all the same.
Obj. 2: Further, Our Lord commanded Peter (Matt. 18:22) to forgive
his offending brother "not" only "till seven times, but till seventy
times seven times," which Jerome expounds as meaning that "a man
should be forgiven, as often as he has sinned." Therefore he ought to
be received by the Church as often as he has sinned by falling back
into heresy.
Obj. 3: Further, heresy is a kind of unbelief. Now other unbelievers
who wish to be converted are received by the Church. Therefore
heretics also should be received.
_On the contrary,_ The Decretal Ad abolendam (De Haereticis, cap. ix)
says that "those who are found to have relapsed into the error which
they had already abjured, must be left to the secular tribunal."
Therefore they should not be received by the Church.
_I answer that,_ In obedience to Our Lord's institution, the Church
extends her charity to all, not only to friends, but also to foes who
persecute her, according to Matt. 5:44: "Love your enemies; do good
to them that hate you." Now it is part of charity that we should both
wish and work our neighbor's good. Again, good is twofold: one is
spiritual, namely the health of the soul, which good is chiefly the
object of charity, since it is this chiefly that we should wish for
one another. Consequently, from this point of view, heretics who
return after falling no matter how often, are admitted by the Church
to Penance whereby the way of salvation is opened to them.
The other good is that which charity considers secondarily, viz.
temporal good, such as life of the body, worldly possessions, good
repute, ecclesiastical or secular dignity, for we are not bound by
charity to wish others this good, except in relation to the eternal
salvation of them and of others. Hence if the presence of one of
these goods in one individual might be an obstacle to eternal
salvation in many, we are not bound out of charity to wish such a
good to that person, rather should we desire him to be without it,
both because eternal salvation takes precedence of temporal good, and
because the good of the many is to be preferred to the good of one.
Now if heretics were always received on their return, in order to
save their lives and other temporal goods, this might be prejudicial
to the salvation of others, both because they would infect others if
they relapsed again, and because, if they escaped without punishment,
others would feel more assured in lapsing into heresy. For it is
written (Eccles. 8:11): "For because sentence is not speedily
pronounced against the evil, the children of men commit evils without
any fear."
For this reason the Church not only admits to Penance those who
return from heresy for the first time, but also safeguards their
lives, and sometimes by dispensation, restores them to the
ecclesiastical dignities which they may have had before, should their
conversion appear to be sincere: we read of this as having frequently
been done for the good of peace. But when they fall again, after
having been received, this seems to prove them to be inconstant in
faith, wherefore when they return again, they are admitted to
Penance, but are not delivered from the pain of death.
Reply Obj. 1: In God's tribunal, those who return are always
received, because God is a searcher of hearts, and knows those who
return in sincerity. But the Church cannot imitate God in this, for
she presumes that those who relapse after being once received, are
not sincere in their return; hence she does not debar them from the
way of salvation, but neither does she protect them from the sentence
of death.
Reply Obj. 2: Our Lord was speaking to Peter of sins committed
against oneself, for one should always forgive such offenses and
spare our brother when he repents. These words are not to be applied
to sins committed against one's neighbor or against God, for it is
not left to our discretion to forgive such offenses, as Jerome says
on Matt. 18:15, "If thy brother shall offend against thee." Yet even
in this matter the law prescribes limits according as God's honor or
our neighbor's good demands.
Reply Obj. 3: When other unbelievers, who have never received the
faith are converted, they do not as yet show signs of inconstancy
in faith, as relapsed heretics do; hence the comparison fails.
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