PART III, THE THIRD HEADWhich is the Last Part of the Work: How the Process is to be Concluded by the
Pronouncement of a Definite and Just Sentence.
HAVING by the grace of God examined
the proper means of arriving at a knowledge of the heresy of witchcraft, and
having shown how the process on behalf of the faith should be initiated and
proceeded with, it remains to discuss how that process is to be brought to a
fitting termination with an appropriate sentence.
Here it is to be noted that this
heresy, as was shown in the beginning of this Last Part, is not to be confused
with other simple heresies, since it is obvious that it is not a pure and
single crime, but partly ecclesiastical and partly civil. Therefore in dealing
with the methods of passing sentence, we must first consider a certain kind of
sentence to which witches are in the habit of appealing, in which the secular
judge can act on his own account independently of the Ordinary. Secondly, we
shall consider those in which he cannot act without the Ordinary. And so
thirdly it will be shown how the Ordinaries can discharge themselves of their
duties.
GENERAL & INTRODUCTORYWho are the Fit and Proper Judges in the Trial of Witches?
The question is whether witches,
together with their patrons and protectors and defenders, are so entirely
subject to the jurisdiction of the Diocesan Ecclesiastical Court and the Civil
Court so that the Inquisitors of the crime of heresy can be altogether
relieved from the duty of sitting in judgement upon them. And it is argued
that this is so. For the Canon (c. accusatus, § sane, lib. VI)
says: Certainly those whose high privilege it is to judge concerning matters
of the faith ought not to be distracted by other business; and Inquisitors
deputed by the Apostolic See to inquire into the pest of heresy should
manifestly not have to concern themselves with diviners and soothsayers,
unless these are also heretics, nor should it be their business to punish such,
but they may leave them to be punished by their own judges.
Nor does there seem any difficulty
in the fact that the heresy of witches is not mentioned in that Canon. For
these are subject to the same punishment as the others in the court of
conscience, as the Canon goes on to say (dist. I, pro dilectione). If
the sin of diviners and witches is secret, a penance of forty days shall be
imposed upon them: if it is notorious, they shall be refused the Eucharist.
And those whose punishment is identical should receive it from the same Court.
Then, again, the guilt of both being the same, since just as soothsayers
obtain their results by curious means, so do witches look for and obtain from
the devil the injuries which they do to creatures, unlawfully seeking from His
creatures that which should be sought from God alone; therefore both are
guilty of the sin of idolatry.
This is the sense of Ezechiel
xxi, 23; that the King of Babylon stood at the cross-roads, shuffling his
arrows and interrogating idols.
Again it may be said that, when the
Canon says “Unless these are also heretics,” it allows that some diviners
and soothsayers are heretics, and should therefore be subject to trial by the
Inquisitors; but in that case artificial diviners would also be so subject,
and no written authority for that can be found.
Again, if witches are to be tried
by the Inquisitors, it must be for the crime of heresy; but it is clear that
the deeds of witches can be committed without any heresy. For when they stamp
into the mud of the Body of Christ, although this is a most horrible crime,
yet it may be done without any error in the understanding, and therefore
without heresy. For it is entirely possible for a person to believe that It is
the Lord's body, and yet throw It into the mud to satisfy the devil, and this
by reason of some pact with him, that he may obtain some desired end, such as
the finding of a treasure or anything of that sort. Therefore the deeds of
witches need involved no error in faith, however great the sin may be; in
which case they are not liable to the Court of the Inquisition, but are left
to their own judges.
Again, Solomon showed reverence to
the gods of his wives out of complaisance, and was not on that account guilty
of apostasy from the Faith; for in his heart he was faithful and kept the true
Faith. So also when witches give homage to devils by reason of the pact they
have entered into, but keep the Faith in their hearts, they are not on that
account to be reckoned as heretics.
But it may be said that all witches
have to deny the Faith, and therefore must be judged heretics. On the contrary,
even if they were to deny the Faith in their hearts and minds, still they
could not be reckoned as heretics, but as apostates. But a heretic is
different from an apostate, and it is heretics who are subject to the Court of
the Inquisition; therefore witches are not so subject.
Again it is said, in c. 26, quest.
5: Let the Bishops and their representatives strive by every means to rid
their parishes entirely of the pernicious art of soothsaying and magic derived
from Zoroaster; and if they find any man or woman addicted to this crime, let
him be shamefully cast out of their parishes in disgrace. So when it says at
the end of c. 348, Let them leave them to their own Judges; and since it
speaks in the plural, both of the Ecclesiastic and the Civil Court; therefore,
according to this Canon they are subject to no more than the Diocesan Court.
But if, just as these arguments
seem to show it to be reasonable in the case of Inquisitors, the Diocesans
also wish to be relieved of this responsibility, and to leave the punishment
of witches to the secular Courts, such a claim could be made good by the
following arguments. For the Canon says, c. ut inquisitionis: We
strictly forbid the temporal lords and rulers and their officers in any way to
try to judge this crime, since it is purely an ecclesiastical matter: and it
speaks of the crime of heresy. It follows therefore that, when the crime is
not purely ecclesiastical, as is the case with witches because of the temporal
injuries which they commit, it must be punished by the Civil and not by the
Ecclesiastical Court.
Besides, in the last Canon Law
concerning Jews it says: His goods are to be confiscated, and he is to be
condemned to death, because with perverse doctrine he opposed the Faith of
Christ. But if it is said that this law refers to Jews who have been converted,
and have afterwards returned to the worship of the Jews, this is not a valid
objection. Rather is the argument strengthened by it; because the civil Judge
has to punish such Jews as apostates from the Faith; and therefore witches who
abjure the Faith ought to be treated in the same way; for abjuration of the
Faith, either wholly or in part, is the essential principle of witches.
And although it says that apostasy
and heresy are to be judged in the same way, yet it is not the part of the
ecclesiastical but of the civil Judge to concern himself with witches. For no
one must cause a commotion among the people by reason of a trial for heresy;
but the Governor himself must make provision for such cases.
The Authentics of Justinian,
speaking of ruling princes, says: You shall not permit anyone to stir up your
Province by reason of a judicial inquiry into matters concerning religions or
heresies, or in any way allow an injunction to be put upon the Province over
which you govern; but you shall yourself provide, making use of such monies
and other means of investigation as are competent, and not allow anything to
be done in matters of religion except in accordance with our precepts. It is
clear from this that no one must meddle with a rebellion against the Faith
except the Governor himself.
Besides, if the trial and
punishment of such witches were not entirely a matter for the civil Judge,
what would be the purpose of the laws which provide as follows? All those who
are commonly called witches are to be condemned to death. And again: Those who
harm innocent lives by magic arts are to be thrown to the beasts. Again, it is
laid down that thy are to be subjected to questions and tortures; and that
none of the faithful are to associate with them, under pain of exile and the
confiscation of all their goods. And many other penalties are added, which
anyone may read in those laws.
But in contradiction of all these
arguments, the truth of the matter is that such witches may be tried and
punished conjointly by the Civil and the Ecclesiastical Courts. For a
canonical crime must be tried by the Governor and the Metropolitan of the
Province; not by the Metropolitan alone, but together with the Governor. This
is clear in the Authentics, where ruling princes are enjoined as
follows: If it is a canonical matter which is to be tried, you shall inquire
into it together with the Metropolitan of the Province. And to remove all
doubt on this subject, the gloss says: If it is a simple matter of the
observance of the faith, the Governor alone may try it; but if the matter is
more complicated, then it must be tried by a Bishop and the Governor; and the
matter must be kept within decent limits by someone who has found favour with
God, who shall protect the orthodox faith, and impose suitable indemnities of
money, and keep our subjects inviolate, that is, shall not corrupt the faith
in them.
And again, although a secular
prince may impose the capital sentence, yet this does not exclude the
judgement of the Church, whose part it is to try and judge the case. Indeed
this is perfectly clear from the Canon Law in the chapters de summa trin.
and fid. cath., and again in the Law concerning heresy, c. ad
abolendam and c. urgentis and c. excommunicamus, 1 and 2.
For the same penalties are provided by both the Civil and the Canon Laws, as
is shown by the Canon Laws concerning the Manichaean and Arian heresies.
Therefore the punishment of witches belongs to both Courts together, and not
to one separately.
Again, the laws decree that clerics
shall be corrected by their own Judges, and not by the temporal or secular
Courts, because their crimes are considered to be purely ecclesiastical. But
the crime of witches is partly civil and partly ecclesiastical, because they
commit temporal harm and violate the faith; therefore it belongs to the Judges
of both Courts to try, sentence, and punish them.
This opinion is substantiated by
the Authentics, where it is said: If it is an ecclesiastical crime
needing ecclesiastical punishment and fine, it shall be tried by a Bishop who
stands in favour with God, and not even the most illustrious Judges of the
Province shall have a hand in it. And we do not wish the civil Judges to have
any knowledge of such proceedings; for such matters must be examined
ecclesiastically and the souls of the offenders must be corrected by
ecclesiastical penalties, according to the sacred and divine rules which our
laws worthily follow. So it is said. Therefore it follows that on the other
hand a crime which is of a mixed nature must be tried and punished by both
courts.
We make our answer to all the above
as follows. Our main object here is to show how, with God's pleasure, we
Inquisitors of Upper Germany may be relieved of the duty of trying witches,
and leave them to be punished by their own provincial Judges; and this because
of the arduousness of the work: provided always that such a course shall in no
way endanger the preservation of the faith and the salvation of souls. And
therefore we engaged upon this work, that we might leave to the Judges
themselves the methods of trying, judging and sentencing in such cases.
Therefore in order to show that the
Bishops can in many cases proceed against witches without the Inquisitors;
although they cannot so proceed without the temporal and civil Judges in cases
involving capital punishment; it is expedient that we set down the opinions of
certain other Inquisitors in parts of Spain, and (saving always the reverence
due to them), since we all belong to one and the same Order of Preachers, to
refute them, so that each detail may be more clearly understood.
Their opinion is, then, that all
witches, diviners, necromancers, and in short all who practise any kind of
divination, if they have once embraced and professed the Holy Faith, are
liable to the Inquisitorial Court, as in the three cases noted in the
beginning of the chapter, Multorum querela, in the decretals of Pope
Clement concerning heresy; in which it says that neither must the Inquisitor
proceed without the Bishop, nor the Bishop without the Inquisitor: although
there are five other cases in which one may proceed without the other, as
anyone who reads the chapter may see. But in one case it is definitively
stated that one must not proceed without the other, and that is when the above
diviners are to be considered as heretics.
In the same category they place
blasphemers, and those who in any way invoke devils, and those who are
excommunicated and have contumaciously remained under the ban of
excommunication for a whole year, either because of some matter concerning
faith or, in certain circumstances, not on account of the faith; and they
further include several other such offences. And by reason of this the
authority of the Ordinary is weakened, since so many more burdens are placed
upon us Inquisitors which we cannot safely bear in the sight of the terrible
Judge who will demand from us a strict account of the duties imposed upon us.
And because their opinion cannot be
refuted unless the fundamental thesis upon which it is founded is proved
unsound, it is to be noted that it is based upon the commentators on the Canon,
especially on the chapter accusatus, and § sane, and on the
words “savour of heresy.” Also they rely upon the sayings of the
Theologians, S. Thomas, Blessed Albert, and S. Bonaventura, in the Second
Book of Sentences, dist. 7.
It is best to consider some of
these in detail. For when the Canon says, as was shown in the first argument,
that the Inquisitors or heresy should not concern themselves with soothsayers
and diviners unless they manifestly savour of heresy, they say that
soothsayers and diviners are of two sorts, either artificial or heretical. And
the first sort are called diviners pure and simple, since they work merely by
art; and such are referred to in the chapter de sortilegiis, where it
says that the presbyter Udalricus went to a secret place with a certain
infamous person, that is, a diviner, says the gloss, not with the intention of
invoking the devil, which would have been heresy, but that, by inspecting the
astrolabe, he might find out some hidden thing. And this, they say, is pure
divination or sortilege.
But the second sort are called heretical diviners, whose art involves some
worship of or subjection to devils, and who essay by divination to predict the
future of something of that nature, which manifestly savours of heresy; and
such are, like other heretics, liable to the Inquisitorial Court.
And that this is the meaning of the
Canon they prove from commentaries of the Canonists on the “savour.”
For Giovanni d’Andrea, writing on this Canon accusatus, and the
“saviour,” says: They savour of heresy in this way, that they utter
nefarious prayers and offer sacrifices at the altars of idols, and they
consult with devils and receive answers from them; or they meet together to
practise heretical sortes, that they may have an answer, re-baptize a child,
and practise other such matters.
Many others also they quote in
support of their opinion, including John Modestus; S. Raymund, and William de
Laudun, O.P. And they refer to the decision of the Church at the Council of
Aquitaine, c. 26, q. 5, Episcopi, where such superstitious women are called
infidels, saying, Would that these had perished alone in their perfidy. And
perfidy in a Christian is called heresy; therefore they are subject to the
Court of the Inquisitors of heresy.
They quote also the Theologians,
especially S. Thomas, the Second Book of Sentences, dist. 7, where he
considers whether it is a sin to use the help of devils. For speaking of that
passage in Esaias viii: Should not a people seek unto their God? he
says among other things: In everything the fulfilment of which is looked for
from the power of the devil, because of a pact entered into with him, there is
apostasy from the faith, either in , if there is some invocation, or in
deed, even if there be no sacrifice offered.
To the same effect they quote
Albertus, and Peter of Tarentaise, and Giovanni Bonaventura, who has lately
been canonized, not under the name of Giovanni, although that was his true
name. Also they quote Alexander of Hales and Guido the Carmelite. All these
say that those who invoke devils are apostates, and consequently heretics, and
therefore subject to the Court of the Inquisitors of heretics.
But the said Inquisitors of Spain
have not, by the above or any other arguments, made out a sufficient case to
prove that such soothsayers etc. may not be tried by the Ordinary or the
Bishops without the Inquisitors; and that the Inquisitors may not be relieved
from the duty of trying such diviners and necromancers, and even witches: not
that the Inquisitors are not rather to be praised than blamed when they do try
such cases, when the Bishops fail to do so. And this is the reason that they
have not proved their case. The Inquisitors need only concern themselves with
matters of heresy, and the heresy must be manifest; as is shown by the
frequently quoted Canon accusatus, § sane.
This being the case, it follows
that however serious and grave may be the sin which a person commits, if it
does not necessarily imply heresy, then he must not be judged as a heretic,
although he is to be punished. Consequently an Inquisitor need not interfere
in the case of a man who is to be punished as a malefactor, but not as a
heretic, but may leave him to be tried by the Judges of his own Province.
It follows again that all the
crimes of invoking devils and sacrificing to them, of which the Commentators
and Canonists and Theologians speak, are no concern of the Inquisitors, but
can be left to the secular or episcopal Courts, unless they also imply heresy.
This being so, and it being the case that the crimes we are considering are
very often committed without any heresy, those who are guilty of such crimes
are not to be judged or condemned as heretics, as is proved by the following
authorities and arguments.
For a person rightly to be adjudged
a heretic he must fulfil five conditions. First, there must be an error in his
reasoning. Secondly, that error must be in matters concerning the faith,
either being contrary to the teaching of the Church as to the true faith, or
against sound morality and therefore not leading to the attainment of eternal
life. Thirdly, the error must lie in one who has professed the Catholic faith,
for otherwise he would be a Jew or a Pagan, not a heretic. Fourthly, the error
must be of such a nature that he who holds it must confess some of the truth
of Christ as touching either His Godhead or His Manhood; for is a man wholly
denies the faith, he is an apostate. Fifthly, he must pertinaciously and
obstinately hold to and follow that error. And that this is the sense of
heretics is proved as follows (not by way of refuting, but of substantiating
the gloss of the Canonists).
For it is well known to all through
common practice that the first essential of a heretic is an error in the
understanding; but two conditions are necessary before a man can be called a
heretic; the first material, that is, an error in reasoning, and the second
formal, that is, an obstinate mind. S. Augustine shows this when he says: A
heretic is one who either initiates or follows new and false opinions. It can
also be proved by the following reasoning: heresy is a form of infidelity, and
infidelity exists subjectively in the intellect, in such a way that a man
believes something which is quite contrary to the true faith.
This being so, whatever crime a man
commits, if he acts without an error in his understanding he is not a heretic.
For example, if a man commits fornication or adultery, although he is
disobeying the command Thou shalt not commit adultery, yet he is not a
heretic unless he holds the opinion that it is lawful to commit adultery. The
point can be argued in this way: When the nature of a thing is such that two
constituent parts are necessary to its existence, if one of those two parts is
wanting the thing itself cannot exist; for if it could, then it would not be
true that that part is necessary to its existence. For in the constitution of
a house it is necessary that there should be a foundation, walls, and a roof;
and if one of these is missing, there is no house. Similarly, since an error
in the understanding is a necessary condition of heresy, no action which is
done entirely without any such error can make a man a heretic.
Therefore we Inquisitors of Germany
are in agreement with Blessed Antoninus where he treats of this matter in the
second part of his Summa; saying that to baptize things, to worship
devils, to sacrifice to them, to tread underfoot the Body of Christ, and all
such terrible crimes, do not make a man a heretic unless there is an error in
his understanding. Therefore a man is not a heretic who, for example, baptizes
an image, not holding any erroneous belief about the Sacrament of Baptism or
its effect, nor thinking that the baptism of the image can have any effect of
its own virtue; but does this in order that he may more easily obtain some
desire from the devil whom he seeks to please by this means, acting with
either an implied or an expressed pact that the devil will fulfil the desires
either of himself or of someone else. In this way men who, with either a tacit
or an expressed pact, invoke devils with characters and figures in accordance
with magic practice to perform their desires are not necessarily heretics. But
they must not ask from the devil anything which is beyond the power or the
knowledge of the devil, having a wrong understanding of his power and
knowledge. Such would be the case with any who believed that the devil could
coerce a man's free will; or that, by reason of their pact with him, the devil
could do anything which they desired, however much it were forbidden by God;
or that the devil can know the whole of the future; or that he can effect
anything which only God can do. For there is no doubt that men with such
beliefs have an error in their understanding, holding a wrong opinion of the
power of the devil; and therefore, granting the other conditions necessary for
heresy, they would be heretics, and would be subject at once to the Ordinary
and to the Inquisitorial Court.
But if they act for the reasons we
have said, not out of any wrong belief concerning baptism or the other matters
we have mentioned, as they very commonly do; for since witches and
necromancers know that the devil is the enemy of the faith and the adversary
of salvation, it must follow that they are compelled to believe in their
hearts that there is great might in the faith and that there is no false
doctrine of which the father of lies is not known to be the origin; then,
although they sin most grievously, yet they are not heretics. And the reason
is that they have no wrong belief concerning the sacrament, although they use
it wrongly and sacrilegiously. Therefore they are rather sorcerers than
heretics, and are to be classed with those whom the above Canon accusatus
declares are not properly subject to the Inquisitorial Court, since they do
not manifestly savour of heresy; their heresy being hidden, if indeed it
exists at all.
It is the same with those who
worship and sacrifice to the devil. For if they do this in the belief that
there is any divinity in devils, or that they ought to be worshipped and that,
by reason of such worship, that can obtain from the devil what they desire in
spite of the prohibition or permission of God, then they are heretics. But if
they act in such a way not out of any such belief concerning the devil, but so
that they may the more easily obtain their desires because of some pact formed
with the devil, then they are not necessarily heretics, although they sin most
grievously.
For greater clearness, some
objections are to be disposed of and refuted. For it appears to be against our
argument that, according to the laws, a simonist is not a heretic (1, q. 1:
“Whoever by means of money, but not having an error of the understanding”).
For a simonist is not in the narrow and exact sense of the a heretic; but
broadly speaking and by comparison he is so, according to S. Thomas, when he
buys or sells holy things in the belief that the gift of grace can be had for
money. But if, as is often the case, he does not act in this belief, he is not
a heretic. Yet he truly would be if he did believe that the gift of grace
could be had for money.
Again we are apparently in
opposition to what is said of heretics in the Canon; namely, that he who
reveres a heretic is himself a heretic, but he who worships the devil sins
more heavily than he who reveres a heretic, therefore, etc.
Also, a man must be obviously a
heretic in order that he may be judged as such. For the Church is competent to
judge only of those things which are obvious, God alone having knowledge and
being the Judge of that which is hidden (dist. 33, erubescant). But the
inner understanding can only be made apparent by intrinsic actions, either
seen or proved; therefore a man who commits such actions as we are considering
is to be judged a heretic.
Also, it seems impossible that
anyone should commit such an action as the treading underfoot of the Body of
Christ unless he held a wrong opinion concerning the Body of Christ; for it is
impossible for evil to exist in the will unless there is error in the
understanding. For according to Aristotle every wicked man is either ignorant
or in error. Therefore, since they who do such things have evil in their wills,
they must have an error in their understandings.
To these three objections we answer
as follows; and the first and third may be considered together. There are two
kinds of judgement, that of God and that of men. God judges the inner man;
whereas man can only judge of the inner thoughts as they are reflected by
outer actions, as is admitted in the third of these arguments. Now he who is a
heretic in the judgement of God is truly and actually a heretic; for God
judges no one as a heretic unless he has some wrong belief concerning the
faith in his understanding. But when a man is a heretic in the judgement of
men, he need not necessarily be actually a heretic; but because his deeds give
an appearance of a wrong understanding of the faith he is, by legal
presumption, considered to be a heretic.
And if it be asked whether the
Church should stigmatize at once as heretics those who worship devils or
baptize imagines, note these answers. First, it belongs rather to the
Canonists than to the Theologians to discriminate in this matter. The
Canonists will say that they are by legal presumption to be considered as
heretics, and to be punished as such. A Theologian will say that it is in the
first instance a matter for the Apostolic See to judge whether a heresy
actually exists or is only to be presumed in law. And this may be because
whenever an effect can proceed from a twofold cause, no precise judgement can
be formed of he actual nature of the cause merely on the basis of the effect.
Therefore, since such effects as
the worship of the devil or asking his help in the working of witchcraft, by
baptizing an image, or offering to him a living child, or killing an infant,
and other matters of this sort, can proceed from two separate causes, namely,
a belief that it is right to worship the devil and sacrifice to him, and that
images can receive sacraments; or because a man has formed some pact with the
devil, so that he may obtain the more easily from the devil that which he
desires in those matters which are not beyond the capacity of the devil, as we
have explained above; it follows that no one ought hastily to form a definite
judgement merely on the basis of the effect as to what is its cause, that is,
whether a man does such things out of a wrong opinion concerning the faith. So
when there is no doubt about the effect, still it is necessary to inquire
farther into the cause; and if it be found that a man has acted out of a
perverse and erroneous opinion concerning the faith, then he is to be judged a
heretic and will be subject to trial by the Inquisitors together with the
Ordinary. But if he has not acted for these reasons, he is to be considered a
sorcerer, and a very vile sinner.
Another answer which touches the matter nearly is that, whatever may be said
and alleged, it is agreed that all diviners and witches are judged as heretics
by legal presumption and not by actual fact are subject to the Court of the
Ordinary, not of the Inquisitors. And the aforesaid Inquisitors of other
countries cannot defend their opinions by quoting the Canon and its
commentators, because they who sacrifice to and worship devils are judged to
be heretics be legal presumption, and not because the facts obviously show
that they are such. For the text says that they must savour of heresy
manifestly, that is, intrinsically and by their very nature. And it is enough
for us Inquisitors to concern ourselves with those who are manifestly from the
instrinsic nature of the case heretics, leaving others to their own judges.
It has been said that the cause
must be inquired into, to know whether or not a man acts out of an error of
faith; and this is easy. For the spirit of faith is known by the act of faith;
as the spirit of chastity is shown by a chaste life; similarly the Church must
judge a man a heretic if his actions show that he disputes any article of the
faith. In this way even a witch, who has wholly or in part denied the faith,
or used vilely the Body of Christ, and offered homage to the devil, may have
done this merely to propitiate the devil; and even if she has totally denied
the faith in her heart, she is to be judged as an apostate, for the fourth
condition, which is necessary before anyone can rightly be said to be a
heretic, will be wanting.
But if against this conclusion be
set the Bull and commission given to us by our Holy Father Innocent VIII, that
witches should be tried by the Inquisitors, we answer in this way. That this
is not to say that the Diocesans also cannot proceed to a definite sentence
against witches, in accordance with those ancient laws, as has been said. For
that Bull was rather given to us because of the great care with which we have
wrought to the utmost of our ability with the help of God.
Therefore we cannot concede to
those other Inquisitors their first argument, since the contrary conclusion is
rather the true one; for simonists are thought to be heretics only be legal
presumption, and the Ordinaries themselves without the Inquisitors can try
them. Indeed, the Inquisitors have no need to concern themselves with various
simonists, or similarly with any others who are judged to be heretics only by
legal presumption. For they cannot proceed against schismatic Bishops and
other high Dignitaries, as is shown by the chapter of the Inquisition Concerning
Heretics, Book VI, where is says: The Inquisitors of the sin of heresy
deputed by the Apostolic See or by any other authority have no power to try
such offenders on this sort of charge, or to proceed against them under
pretext of their office, unless it is expressly stated in the letters of
commission from the Apostolic See that they are empowered to do so.
But if the Inquisitors know or
discover that Bishops or other high Dignitaries have been charged with heresy,
or have been denounced or suspected of that crime, it is their duty to report
the fact to the Apostolic See.
Similarly the answer to their
second argument is clear from what has been said. For he who cherishes and
comforts a heretic is himself a heretic if he does this in the belief that he
is worthy to be cherished or honoured on account of his doctrine or opinion.
But if he honours him for some temporal reason, without any error of faith in
his understanding, he is not rightly speaking a heretic, though he is so by a
legal fiction or presumption or comparison, because he acts as if he held a
wrong belief concerning the faith like him whom he cherishes: so in this case
he is not subject to the Inquisitorial Court.
The third argument is similarly
answered. For though a man should be judged by the Church as a heretic on
account of his outward actions, visible and proved, yet it does not always
follow that he is actually a heretic, but is only so reputed by legal
presumption. Therefore in this case he is not liable to be tried by the
Inquisitorial Court, because he does not manifestly savour of heresy.
For their fourth argument, it is a
false assumption to say that it is not possible for anyone to tread underfoot
the Body of Christ unless he has some perverse and wrong belief concerning the
Body of Christ. For a man may do this with a full knowledge of his sin, and
with a firm belief that the Body of Christ is truly there. But he does it to
please the devil, and that he may more easily obtain his desire from him. And
though in every sin there is an error, it need not necessarily be an error of
the understanding, which is heresy or a wrong belief concerning the faith; for
it may be an erroneous use of some power which turns it to vicious purposes;
and then it will only be the first of those five conditions which are
necessary constituents of heresy, in accordance with which a heretic is
rightly liable to the Inquisitorial Court.
And it is not a valid objection to
say that an Inquisitor may, nevertheless, proceed against those who are
denounced as heretics, or are under a light or a strong or a grave suspicion
of heresy, although they do not appear to savour manifestly of heresy. For we
answer that an Inquisitor may proceed against such in so far as they are
denounced or suspected for heresy rightly so called; and this is the sort of
heresy of which we are speaking (as we have often said), in which there is an
error in the understanding, and the other four conditions are superadded. And
the second of these conditions is that such error should consist in matters
concerning the faith, or should be contrary to the true decisions of the
Church in matters of faith and good behaviour and that which is necessary for
the attainment of eternal life. For if the error be in some matter which does
not concern the faith, as, for example, a belief that the sun is not greater
than the earth, or something of that sort, then it is not a dangerous error.
But an error against Holy Scripture, against the articles of the faith, or
against the decision of the Church, as has been said above, is heresy (art.
24, q. 1, haec est fides).
Again, the determination of doubts
respecting the faith belongs chiefly to the Church, and especially to the
Supreme Pontiff, Christ's Vicar, the successor of S. Peter, as is expressly
stated (art. 24, q. 1, quotiens). And against the determination of the
Church, as S. Thomas says, art. 2, q. 2, no Doctor or Saint maintains his own
opinion; not S. Jerome nor S. Augustine nor any other. For just as he who
obstinately argues against the faith is a heretic, so also is he who
stubbornly maintains his opinion against the determination of the Church in
matters concerning the faith and that which is necessary for salvation. For
the Church herself has never been proved to be in error over matter of faith
(as it is said in art. 24, q. 1, a recta, and in other chapters). And
it is expressly said, that he who maintains anything against the determination
of the Church, not in an open and honest manner, but in matters which concern
faith and salvation, is a heretic. For he need not be a heretic because he
disagrees over other matters, such as the separability of law from use in
matters which are affected by use: this matter has been settled by Pope John
XXII in his Extrauagantes, where he says that they who contradict this
opinion are stubborn and rebellious against the Church, but not heretics.
The third condition required is
that he who holds the error should be one who has professed the Catholic
faith. For is a man has never professed the Christian faith, he is not a
heretic but simply an infidel, like the Jews or the Gentiles who are outside
the faith. Therefore S. Augustine says in the City of God: The devil,
seeing the human race to be delivered from the worship of idols and devils,
stirred up heretics who, under the guise of Christians, should oppose
Christian doctrine. So for a man to be a heretic it is necessary that he
should have received the Christian faith in baptism.
Fourthly, it is necessary that the
man who so errs should retain some of the true belief concerning Christ,
pertaining either to His divinity or to His humanity. For if he retains no
part of the faith, he is more rightly to be considered an apostate than a
heretic. In this way Julian was an apostate. For the two are quite different,
though sometimes they are confused. For in this manner there are found to be
men who, driven by poverty and various afflictions, surrender themselves body
and soul to the devil, and deny the faith, on condition that the devil will
help them in their need to the attainment of riches and honours.
For we Inquisitors have known some,
of whom a few afterwards repented, who have behaved in this way merely for the
sake of temporal gain, and not through any error in the understanding;
wherefore they are not rightly heretics, nor even apostates in their hearts,
as was Julian, though they must be reckoned as apostates.
They who are apostates in their
heart and refuse to return to the faith are, like impenitent heretics, to be
delivered to the secular Court. But if they are desirous of reconciliation,
they are received back into the Church, like penitent heretics. See the
chapter ad abolendam, § praesenti, de haeretic., lib. 6. Of the
same opinion is S. Raymund in his work de Apostolica, cap. reuertentes,
where he says that they who return from the perfidy of apostasy, though they
were heretics, are to be received back like penitent heretics. And here the
two are confused, as we have said. And he adds: Those who deny the faith
through fear of death (that is, who deny the faith for the sake of temporal
gain from the devil, but do not believe their error) are heretics in the sight
of the law, but are not, properly speaking, heretics. And he adds: Although
they have no erroneous belief, yet since the Church must judge by outward
signs they are to be considered as heretics (not this fiction of law); and if
they return, they are to be received as penitent heretics. For the fear of
death, or the desire for temporal gain, is not sufficient to cause a constant
man to deny the faith of Christ. Wherefore he concludes that it is more holy
to die than to deny the faith or to be fed by idolatrous means, as S.
Augustine says.
The judgement of witches who deny
the faith would be the same; that when they wish to return they should be
received as penitents, but otherwise they should be left to the secular Court.
But they are by all means to be received back into the bosom of the Church
when they repent; and are left to the secular Court if they will not return;
and this is because of the temporal injuries which they cause, as will be
shown in the methods of passing sentence. And all this may be done by the
Ordinary, so that the Inquisitor can leave his duties to him, at least in a
case of apostasy; for it is otherwise in other cases of sorcerers.
The fifth condition necessary for a
man to be rightly thought a heretic is that he should obstinately and
stubbornly persist in his error. Hence, according to S. Jerome, the
etymological meaning of heresy is Choice. And again S. Augustine says: Not he
who initiates or follows false doctrines, but he who obstinately defends them,
is to be considered a heretic. Therefore if anyone does not evilly persist in
believing some false doctrine, but errs through ignorance and is prepared to
be corrected and to be shown that his opinion is false and contrary to Holy
Scripture and the determination of the Church, he is not a heretic. For he was
ready to be corrected when his error was pointed out to him. And it is agreed
that every day the Doctors have various opinions concerning Divine matters,
and sometimes they are contradictory, so that one of them must be false; and
yet none of them are reputed to be false until the Church has come to a
decision concerning them. See art. 24, q. 3, qui in ecclesia.
From all this is is concluded that
the sayings of the Canonists on the words “savour manifestly of heresy” in
the chapter accusatus do not sufficiently prove that witches and others
who in any way invoke devils are subject to trial by the Inquisitorial Court;
for it is only by a legal fiction that they judge such to be heretics. Neither
is it proved by the words of the Theologians; for they call such persons
apostates either in or in deed, but not in their thoughts and their
hearts; and it is of this last error that the words “savour of heresy”
speak.
And though such persons should be
judged to be heretics, it does not follow form this that a Bishop cannot
proceed against them without an Inquisitor to a definite sentence, or punish
them with imprisonment or torture. More than this, even when this decision
does not seem enough to warrant the exemption of us Inquisitors from the duty
of trying witches, still we are unwilling to consider that we are legally
compelled to perform such duties ourselves, since we can depute the Diocesans
to our office, at least in respect of arriving at a judgement.