The Spirit of Roman Catholicism
Contents
What Lies Behind the Modern Public Image?
by Mary Ann Collins
A Former Catholic Nun
Preface
In the early 1900's a famous baseball player was accused of cheating. Unfortunately, the accusation proved to be true. A young fan met the baseball player and said, "Say it isn't so!" I have often felt that way while doing research about the Roman Catholic Church. Sometimes it has caused me so much distress that it has adversely affected my health. However, the truth is precious, even when it is painful. Our God is Truth incarnate. (John 14:6; Romans 3:4) And He promised that the truth would set us free. (John 8:32) Please read the poems at the end of this book. They will help you see these issues from the long-term perspective of God's love and faithfulness.
I want to share the information in this book. You can copy it and quote from it. Please give it to anybody who might be interested. You can download the book from my web site. (Information is at the end of the book.) May the Lord bless you, protect you, guard you, and guide you. And may He reveal Himself to you in a new way. Mary Ann Collins February 19, 2002
Chapter 1
Introduction
Since I left the Roman Catholic Church to join a Scripturally based Protestant church, I have wrestled with various issues relating to Catholicism. Some papers emerged from that struggle. Then one morning I woke up thinking, "I need to look up 'Anathema' in the 'Catholic Encyclopaedia'." It was like this idea had been downloaded in my head while I was sleeping.
I looked it up. That was the beginning of three months of intense research and writing, which resulted in this book. You may be surprised at what I discovered. I certainly was. I discovered that there is something behind Catholicism which is not obvious at first, something which is quite different from the modern public image.
How can we see what this is? By looking at how the Catholic Church has behaved when it was in a position of power, and therefore it was able to do what it really wanted to do. And by looking at some official Catholic documents which show a surprising side of the Catholic Church.
Chapter 2
Anathemas
According to the 1913 edition of the "Catholic Encyclopaedia," when the Catholic Church anathematizes someone, the Pope ritually puts curses on them. There is a solemn written ritual for doing this. The "Catholic Encyclopaedia" article describes the ritual in detail, including extensive quotations from it. [This article is available on-line. Note 1 gives its address.]
In pronouncing the anathema, the Pope wears special vestments. He is assisted by twelve priests holding lighted candles. Calling on the name of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the Pope pronounces a solemn ecclesiastical curse. He ends by declaring, "We judge him condemned to eternal fire with Satan and his angels and all the reprobate". The priests reply, "Fiat!" (Let it be done!) and throw down their candles.
As we will see, the Catholic Church considers heresy (disagreement with Catholic doctrine) to be a crime. The Council of Trent, and other Church councils, declare that any person who disagrees with even one of their doctrinal statements is thereby anathematized. When the Pope pronounces an anathema, he is said to be passing sentence on a criminal. The "Catholic Encyclopaedia" says that the anathema ritual is "well calculated to strike terror to the criminal and bring him to a state of repentance". (Emphasis added.)
For those whose crime is heresy, repentance means renouncing everything that they have said or done which conflicts with Catholic doctrine. In other words, they have to renounce their own conscience and discernment, and the conclusions which they reached in their best efforts to understand Biblical principles. And they have to submit their minds and wills unconditionally to every official doctrinal declaration of the Catholic Church. As we will see, Canon Law says that this unquestioning submission of the mind and will is required.
According to the 1913 edition of the "Catholic Encyclopaedia," a person's religious belief is "outside the realm of free private judgment". This is consistent with the spirit behind anathematizing people. [This article is available on-line. Note 2 gives its address.]
The present Pope (John Paul II) has issued a new edition of Roman Catholic Canon Law. According to Canon 752, whenever the Pope or the college of bishops makes a declaration concerning faith or morals, "the Christian faithful" are required to give "a religious submission of the intellect and will" to it. Furthermore, they must "take care to avoid those things which do not agree with it". [Note 3] So it is against Roman Catholic Canon Law for "the Christian faithful" to doubt or deny or dispute any Catholic doctrine. If something is against the law, then any person who does it commits a crime, which makes them a criminal. Canon Law has punishments for such criminals.
ENFORCEMENT
According to Canon 1311, The Catholic Church has the right "to coerce offending members of the Christian faithful". (Emphasis added.) Canon 1312 says that penal sanctions can include depriving people of "some spiritual or temporal good". [Note 4]
"Spiritual goods" are things which are necessary to get to Heaven. The Catholic Church believes that it can deprive people of them through excommunication and anathemas. "Temporal goods" are things which are needed for life in this world. They include such things as property, liberty, and the freedoms which are guaranteed to Americans by the Bill of Rights.
The Catholic Church has never renounced its past practice of killing people that it considers to be heretics. On the contrary, the Office of the Inquisition still exists. It is part of the Vatican Curia. In 1965, its name was changed to "The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith". It is headed by Cardinal Ratzinger. [Note 5]
On December 8, 1854, Pope Pius IX declared the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. After defining the dogma, the Pope said that if any person dares to "think otherwise than as has been defined by us" they thereby shipwreck their faith, are cut off from the Church, and stand condemned because of it. The Pope went on to say that if any person says, or writes, or in any other way outwardly expresses "the errors he thinks in his heart," then they thereby "subject themselves to the penalties established by law". [This papal bull is available on-line. Note 6 gives addresses.]
The Pope's reference to legal penalties is significant because a man had been executed for heresy 28 years before this papal bull was issued. In 1826, a Spanish schoolmaster was hanged because he substituted the phrase "Praise be to God" in place of "Ave Maria" ("Hail Mary") during school prayers. [Note 7]
On November 1, 1950, Pope Pius XII issued a papal bull defining the dogma of the Assumption of Mary. He ended by saying, "It is forbidden to any man to change this, our declaration, pronouncement, and definition or, by rash attempt, to oppose and counter it." The Pope further declared that any person who attempts to do so thereby incurs the wrath of God and the wrath of the Apostles Peter and Paul. [This article is available on-line. Note 8 gives the address.]
According to "Webster's Dictionary," "forbidden" means "prohibited; interdicted." "Webster's Dictionary" defines "interdict" as used by the Roman Catholic Church as follows: "A punitive censure restraining certain persons or peoples from the sacraments, Christian burial, etc." The more general meaning of "interdict" is "a prohibitory decree". Although this papal bull doesn't openly threaten "penalties established by law," it still implies the possibility of some form of punishment.
The difference in tone between the bull of 1854 and the bull of 1950 reflects the decrease in power of the Catholic Church. In 1854, a man had recently been killed for heresy. In 1950, democracy was spreading to many countries, and the political power of the Roman Catholic Church was decreasing. By 1950, the kind of language which was used in the 1854 bull would not have created a good image for the Catholic Church.
CONCLUSION
The Roman Catholic Church believes that the Pope has the power and the authority to damn people to hell. The anathema ritual demonstrates this belief.
I have heard many Catholics deny this, saying that only God can condemn people to hell. But look at the ritual of the anathema, as described in the 1913 edition of the "Catholic Encyclopaedia." And look at the following solemn declaration of excommunication which was pronounced by Pope Innocent III, "We excommunicate, anathematize, curse and damn him" [Note 9]
The anathema ritual and its wording are a demonstration that popes believed that they could consign people to hell. The fear that the anathema produced is a demonstration that other people also believed it. So is the power that anathemas gave the popes over civil rulers. (See the chapter, "Spiritual Intimidation".) The anathema ritual is still on the books, which means that it could be invoked at any time that it was thought expedient to do so. But these days, it would probably not be considered "religiously correct" to use it.