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(including a commentary) by the Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith
L’Osservatore Romano, Weekly Edition, N. 28
-15 July 1998
I, N., with firm faith believe and profess each and everything that is
contained in the Symbol of faith, namely:
I believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and
earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from
Light, true God from true God, begotten not made, of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation, he came
down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate of the
Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius
Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in
accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the
right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and
the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the
Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the
Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the
Prophets. I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge
one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. I look for the resurrection of the
dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
With firm faith, I also believe everything contained in the Word of God,
whether written or handed down in Tradition, which the Church, either by a
solemn judgement or by the ordinary and universal Magisterium, sets forth to be
believed as divinely revealed.
I also firmly accept and hold each and everything definitively proposed
by the Church regarding teaching on faith and morals.
Moreover, I adhere with religious submission of will and intellect to
the teachings which either the Roman Pontiff or the College of Bishops
enunciate when they exercise their authentic Magisterium, even if they do not
intend to proclaim these teachings by a definitive act.
Oath of Fidelity on Assuming an Office To Be Exercised
in the Name of the Church
(Formula to be used by members of the Christian faithful mentioned in
canon 833, nn. 5-8).
I, N., in assuming the office of ____, promise that in my words and in
my actions I shall always preserve communion with the Catholic Church.
With great care and fidelity I shall carry out the duties incumbent on
me toward the Church, both universal and particular, in which, according to the
provisions of the law, I have been called to exercise my service.
In fulfilling the charge entrusted to me in the name of the Church, I
shall hold fast to the deposit of faith in its entirety; I shall faithfully
hand it on and explain it, and I shall avoid any teachings contrary to it.
I shall follow and foster the common discipline of the entire Church and
I shall maintain the observance of all ecclesiastical laws, especially those
contained in the Code of Canon Law.
With Christian obedience I shall follow what the Bishops, as authentic
doctors and teachers of the faith, declare, or what they, as those who govern
the Church, establish.
I shall also faithfully assist the diocesan Bishops, so that the
apostolic activity, exercised in the name and by mandate of the Church, may be
carried out in communion with the Church.
So help me God, and God's Holy Gospels on which I place my hand.
(Variations in the fourth and fifth paragraphs of the formulary, for
use by those members of the Christian faithful indicated in can. 833, n. 8).
I shall foster the common discipline of the entire Church and I shall
insist on the observance of all ecclesiastical laws, especially those contained
in the Code of Canon Law.
With Christian obedience I shall follow what the Bishops, as authentic
doctors and teachers of the faith, declare, or what they, as those who govern
the Church, establish. I shall also — with due regard for the character
and purpose of my institute — faithfully assist the diocesan Bishops, so
that the apostolic activity, exercised in the name and by mandate of the
Church, may be carried out in communion with the Church.
Commentary on the Concluding Formula of the
‘Professio fidei’
1. From her very beginning, the Church has professed faith in the Lord,
crucified and risen, and has gathered the fundamental contents of her belief
into certain formulas. The central event of the death and resurrection of the
Lord Jesus, expressed first, in simple formulas and subsequently in formulas
that were more developed,1 made it possible to give life to that
uninterrupted proclamation of faith in which the Church has handed on both what
had been received from the lips of Christ and from his works, as well as what
had been learned “at the prompting of the Holy Spirit”.
2
The same New Testament is the singular witness of the first profession
proclaimed by the disciples immediately after the events of Easter: “For I
handed on to you as of first importance what I received that Christ died for
our sins in accordance with the Scriptures; that he was buried; that he was
raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures; that he appeared to
Cephas, then to the Twelve”.3
2. In the course of the centuries, from this unchangeable nucleus
testifying to Jesus as Son of God and as Lord, symbols witnessing to the unity
of the faith and to the communion of the Churches came to be developed. In
these, the fundamental truths which every believer is required to know and to
profess were gathered together. Thus, before receiving Baptism, the catechumen
must make his profession of faith. The Fathers too, coming together in Councils
to respond to historical challenges that required a more complete presentation
of the truths of the faith or a defence of the orthodoxy of those truths,
formulated new creeds which occupy “a special place in the Church’s
life”4 up to the present day. The diversity of these symbols
expresses the richness of the one faith; none of them is superseded or
nullified by subsequent professions of faith formulated in response to later
historical circumstances.
3. Christ’s promise to bestow the Holy Spirit, who “will guide
you into all truth”, constantly sustains the Church on her
way.5 Thus, in the course of her history, certain truths have been
defined as having been acquired through the Holy Spirit’s assistance and
are therefore perceptible stages in the realization of the original promise.
Other truths, however, have to be understood still more deeply before full
possession can be attained of what God, in his mystery of love, wished to
reveal to men for their salvation6
In recent times too, in her pastoral care for souls, the Church has
thought it opportune to express in a more explicit way the faith of all time.
In addition, the obligation has been established for some members of the
Christian faithful, called to assume particular offices in the community in the
name of the Church, to publicly make a profession of faith according to the
formula approved by the Apostolic See.7
4. This new formula of the Professio fidei restates the
Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed and concludes with the addition of three
propositions or paragraphs intended to better distinguish the order of the
truths to which the believer adheres. The correct explanation of these
paragraphs deserves a clear presentation, so that their authentic meaning, as
given by the Church’s Magisterium, will be well understood, received and
integrally preserved.
In contemporary usage, the term “Church” has come to include a
variety of meanings, which, while true and consistent, require greater
precision when one refers to the specific and proper functions of persons who
act within the Church, In this area, it is clear that, on questions of faith
and morals, the only subject qualified to fulfil the office of teaching with
binding authority for the faithful is the Supreme Pontiff and the College of
Bishops in communion with him.8 The Bishops are the “authentic
teachers” of the faith, “endowed with the authority of
Christ”,9 because by divine institution they are the successors
of the Apostles “in teaching and in pastoral governance”: together
with the Roman Pontiff they exercise supreme and full power over all the
Church, although this power cannot be exercised without the consent of the
Roman Pontiff.10
5. The first paragraph states: “With firm faith, I also believe
everything contained in the Word of God, whether written or handed down in
Tradition, which the Church, either by a solemn judgement or by the ordinary
and universal Magisterium, sets forth to be believed as divinely
revealed”. The object taught in this paragraph is constituted by all those
doctrines of divine and catholic faith which the Church proposes as divinely
and formally revealed and, as such, as irreformable. 11
These doctrines are contained in the Word of God, written or handed
down, and defined with a solemn judgement as divinely revealed truths either by
the Roman Pontiff when he speaks ”ex cathedra”, or by the College of
Bishops gathered in council, or infallibly proposed for belief by the ordinary
and universal Magisterium.
These doctrines require the assent of theological faith by all
members of the faithful. Thus, whoever obstinately places them in doubt or
denies them falls under the censure of heresy, as indicated by the
respective canons of the Codes of Canon Law.12
6. The second proposition of the Professio fidei states: “I
also firmly accept and hold each and everything definitively proposed by the
Church regarding teaching on faith and morals”. The object taught by this
formula includes all those teachings belonging to the dogmatic or moral
area,13 which are necessary for faithfully keeping and expounding
the deposit of faith, even if they have not been proposed by the Magisterium of
the Church as formally revealed.
Such doctrines can be defined solemnly by the Roman Pontiff when he
speaks “ex cathedra” or by the College of Bishops gathered in
council, or they can be taught infallibly by the ordinary and universal
Magisterium of the Church as a “sententia definitive
tenenda”.14“ Every believer, there-ore, is required to
give firm and definitive assent to these truths, based on faith in the Holy
Spirit’s assistance to the Church’s Magisterium, and on the Catholic
doctrine of the infallibility of the Magisterium in these matters.15
Whoever denies these truths would be in a position of rejecting a truth of
Catholic doctrine16 and would therefore no longer be in full
communion with the Catholic Church.
7. The truths belonging to this second paragraph can be of various
natures, thus giving different qualities to their relationship with revelation.
There are truths which are necessarily connected with revelation by virtue of
an historical relationship; while other truths evince a logical connection that
expresses a stage in the maturation of understanding of revelation which the
Church is called to undertake. The fact that these doctrines may not be
proposed as formally revealed, insofar as they add to the data of faith
elements that are not revealed or which are not yet expressly recognized as
such, in no way diminishes their definitive character, which is required at
least by their intrinsic connection with revealed truth. Moreover, it cannot be
excluded that at a certain point in dogmatic development, the understanding of
the realities and the words of the deposit of faith can progress in the life of
the Church, and the Magisterium may proclaim some of these doctrines as also
dogmas of divine and catholic faith.
8. With regard to the nature of the assent owed to the truths set forth
by the Church as divinely revealed (those of the first paragraph) or to be held
definitively (those of the second pararaph ), it is important to emphasise that
there is no difference with respect to the full and irrevocable character of
the assent which is owed to these teachings. The difference concerns the
supernatural virtue of faith: in the case of truths of the first paragraph, the
assent is based directly on faith in the authority of the Word of God
(doctrines de fide credenda); in the case of the truths of the second
paragraph, the assent is based on faith in the Holy Spirit’s assistance to
the Magisterium and on the Catholic doctrine of the infallibility of the
Magisterium (doctrines de fide tenenda).
9. The Magisterium of the Church, however, teaches a doctrine to be
believed as divinely revealed (first para-graph) or to be held
definitively (second paragraph) with an act which is either defining
or non-defining. In the case of a defining act, a truth is
solemnly defined by an “ex cathedra” pronouncement by the Roman
Pontiff or by the action of an ecumenical council. In the case of a
non-defining act, a doctrine is taught infallibly by the ordinary
and universal Magisterium of the Bishops dispersed throughout the world who are
in communion with the Successor of Peter. Such a doctrine can be confirmed
or reaffirmed by the Roman Pontiff, even without recourse to a solemn
definition, by declaring explicitly that it belongs to the teaching of the
ordinary and universal Magisterium as a truth that is divinely revealed (first
paragraph) or as a truth of Catholic doctrine (second paragraph). Consequently,
when there has not been a judgement on a doctrine in the solemn form of a
definition,but this doctrine, belonging to the inheritance of the depositum
fidei, is taught by the ordinary and universal Magisterium, which
necessarily includes the Pope, such a doctrine is to be understood as having
been set forth infallibly.(17) The declaration of confirmation or
reaffirmation by the Roman Pontiff in this case is not a new dogmatic
definition, but a formal attestation of a truth already possessed and
infallibly transmitted by the Church.
10. The third proposition of the Professio fidei states:
“Moreover, I adhere with religious submission of will and intellect to the
teachings which either the Roman Pontiff or the College of Bishops enunciate
when they exercise their authentic Magisterium, even if they do not intend to
proclaim these teachings by a definitive act”.
To this paragraph belong all those teachings — on faith and
morals — presented as true or at least as sure, even if they have not been
defined with a solemn judgement or proposed as definitive by the ordinary and
universal Magisterium. Such teachings are, however, an authentic expression
of the ordinary Magisterium of the Roman Pontiff or of the College of Bishops
and therefore require religious submission of will and intellect.(18)
They are set forth in order to arrive at a deeper understanding of
revelation, or to recall the conformity of a teaching with the truths of faith,
or lastly to warn against ideas incompatible with these truths or against
dangerous opinions that can lead to error.(19)
A proposition contrary to these doctrines can be qualified as
erroneous or, in the case of teachings of the prudential order, as
rash or dangerous and therefore “tuto doceri non
potest”.(20)
11. Examples. Without any intention of completeness or
exhaustiveness, some examples of doctrines relative to the three paragraphs
described above can be recalled.
To the truths of the first paragraph belong the articles of faith
of the Creed, the various Christological dogmas(21) and Marian dogmas;(22) the
doctrine of the institution of the sacraments by Christ and their efficacy with
regard to grace;(23) the doctrine of the real and substantial presence of
Christ in the Eucharist(24) and the sacrificial nature of the Eucharistic
celebration;(25) the foundation of the Church by the will of Christ,(26) the
doctrine on the primacy and infallibility of the Roman Pontiff;(27) the
doctrine on the existence of original sin;(28) the doctrine on the immortality
of the spiritual soul and on the immediate recompense after death;(29) the
absence of error in the inspired sacred texts;(30) the doctrine on the grave
immorality of direct and voluntary killing of an innocent human being.(31)
With respect to the truths of the second paragraph, with
reference to those connected with revelation by a logical necessity, one can
consider, for example, the development in the understanding of the doctrine
connected with the definition of papal infallibility, prior to the dogmatic
definition of the First Vatican Council. The primacy of the Successor of Peter
was always believed as a revealed fact, although until Vatican I the discussion
remained open as to whether the conceptual elaboration of what is understood by
the terms “jurisdiction” and “infallibility” was to be
considered an intrinsic part of revelation or only a logical consequence. On
the other hand, although its character as a divinely revealed truth was defined
in the First Vatican Council, the doctrine on the infallibility and primacy of
jurisdiction of the Roman Pontiff was already recognized as definitive in the
period before the council. History clearly shows, therefore, that what was
accepted into the consciousness of the Church was considered a true doctrine
from the beginning, and was subsequently held to be definitive; however, only
in the final stage — the definition of Vatican I — was it also
accepted as a divinely revealed truth.
A similar process can be observed in the more recent teaching regarding
the doctrine that priestly ordination is reserved only to men. The Supreme
Pontiff, while not wishing to proceed to a dogmatic definition, intended to
reaffirm that this doctrine is to be held definitively,(32) since, founded on
the written Word of God, constantly preserved and applied in the Tradition of
the Church, it has been set forth infallibly by the ordinary and universal
Magisterium.(33) As the prior example illustrates, this does not foreclose the
possibility that, in the future, the consciousness of the Church might progress
to the point where this teaching could be defined as a doctrine to be believed
as divinely revealed.
The doctrine on the illicitness of euthanasia, taught in the Encyclical
Letter Evangelium vitae, can also be re-called. Confirming that
euthanasia is “a grave violation of the law of God”, the Pope
declares that “this doctrine is based upon the natural law and upon the
written Word of God, is transmitted by the Church’s Tradition and taught
by the ordinary and universal Magisterium”.(34) It could seem that there
is only a logical element in the doctrine on euthanasia, since Scripture does
not seem to be aware of the concept. In this case, however, the
inter-relationship between the orders of faith and reason becomes apparent:
Scripture, in fact, clearly excludes every form of the kind of
self-determination of human existence that is presupposed in the theory and
practice of euthanasia.
Other examples of moral doctrines Which are taught as definitive by the
universal and ordinary Magisterium of the Church are: the teaching on the
illicitness of prostitution(35) and of fornication.(36)
With regard to those truths connected to revelation by historical
necessity and which are to be held definitively, but are not able to be
declared as divinely revealed, the following examples can be given: the
legitimacy of the election of the Supreme Pontiff or of the celebration of an
ecumenical council, the canonizations of saints (dogmatic facts), the
declaration of Pope Leo XIII in the Apostolic Letter Apostolicae curae
on the invalidity of Anglican ordinations....(37)
As examples of doctrines belonging to the third paragraph, one
can point in general to teachings set forth by the authentic ordinary
Magisterium in a non-definitive way, which require degrees of adherence
differentiated according to the mind and the will manifested; this is shown
especially by the nature of the documents, by the frequent repetition of the
same doctrine, or by the tenor of the verbal expression.(38)
12. With the different symbols of faith, the believer recognizes and
attests that he professes the faith of the entire Church. It is for this reason
that, above all in the earliest symbols of faith, this consciousness is
expressed in the formula “We believe”. As the Catechism of the
Catholic Church teaches: “‘I believe’ (Apostles’
Creed) is the faith of the Church pro fessed personally by each believer
principally during Baptism. ‘We believe’
(Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed) is the faith of the Church confessed
by the Bishops assembled in council or more generally by the liturgical
assembly of believers. ‘I believe’ is also the Church, our mother,
re- sponding to God by faith as she teaches us to say both ‘I
believe’ and ‘We believe’”.(39)
In every profession of faith, the Church verifies different stages she
has reached on her path toward the definitive meeting with the Lord. No content
is abrogated with the passage of time; instead, all of it becomes an
irreplaceable inheritance through which the faith of all time, of all
believers,and lived out in every place, contemplates the constant action of the
Spirit of the risen Christ, the Spirit who accompanies and gives life to his
Church and leads her into the fullness of the truth.
Rome, from the offices of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the
Faith, 29 June 1998, the Solemnity of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul.
* Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger
Prefect
* Tarcisio Bertone, S.D.B.
Archbishop emeritus of Vercelli Secretary
NOTES
(1) The simple formulas normally profess the messianic fulfilment in
Jesus of Nazareth; cf. for example, Mk 8:29; Mt 16:16; Lk 9:20; Jn 20:31; Acts
9:22. The complex formulas, in addition to the resurrection, confess the
principal events of the life of Jesus and their salvific meaning; cf. for
example, Mk 12:35-36; Acts 2:23-24; 1 Cor 15:3-5; 1 Cor 16:22; Phil 2:7, 10-11;
Col 1:15-20; 1 Pt 3:19-22; Rv 22:29 Besides the formulas of confession of faith
relating to salvation history and to the historical event of Jesus of Nazareth,
which culminates with Easter, there are professions of faith in the New
Testament which concern the very being of Jesus: cf. 1 Cor 12:3: “Jesus is
Lord”. In Rom 10:9, the two forms of confession are found together.
(2)Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution Dei
Verbum,n. 7.
(3)1 Cor 15:3-5.
(4) Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 193.
(5) Jn 16:13.
(6) Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution Dei
Verbum, n. 11.
(7) Cf. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Profession of
Faith and Oath of Fidelity: MS 81 (1989), 104-106; CIC, can. 833.
(8) Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution
Lumen gentium, n. 25.
(9) Ibid., n.25 (10) Cf. ibid.,n .22.
(11) Cf. DS 3074.
(12) Cf. CIC, cann. 750 and 751; 1364, §1; CCEO,
cann. 598; 1436, §1.
(13) Cf. Paul VI, Encyclical Letter Humanae vitae, n.4: AAS 60
(1968), 483; John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Veritatis splendor, nn.
36-37: AAS 85 (1993), 1162-1163.
(14) Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution
Lumen gentium, n. 25.
(15) Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution Dei
Verbum, nn. 8 and 10; Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith,
Declaration Mysterium Ecclesiae, n. 3: AAS 65 (1973), 400-401.
(16) Cf. John Paul II, Motu proprio Ad tuendam fidem (18 May
1998).
(17) It should be noted that the infallible teaching of the ordinary and
universal Magisterium is not only set forth with an explicit declaration of a
doctrine to be believed or held definitively, but is also expressed by a
doctrine implicitly contained in a practice of the Church’s faith, derived
from revelation or, in any case, necessary for eternal salvation, and attested
to by the uninterrupted Tradition: such an infallible teaching is thus
objectively set forth by the whole episcopal body, understood in a diachronic
and not necessarily merely synchronic sense. Furthermore, the intention of the
ordinary and universal Magisterium to set forth a doctrine as definitive is not
generally linked to technical formulations of particular solemnity; it is
enough that this be clear from the tenor of the words used and from their
context.
(18) Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution
Lumen gentium, n. 25; Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith,
Instruction Donum veritatis, n. 23: AAS 82 (1990), 1559-1560.
(19) Cf. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruction
Donum veritatis, nn. 23 and 24: AAS 82 (1990), 1559-1561.
(20) Cf. CIC, cann. 752, 1371; CCEO, cann. 599,1436,
§2.
(21) Cf. DS301-302.
(22) Cf. DS 2803; 3903
(23) Cf. DS 1601; 1606.
(24) Cf. DS 1636,
(25) Cf. DS 1740; 1743
(26) Cf. DS 3050.
(27) Cf. DS 3059-3075.
(28) Cf. DS 1510-1515.
(29) Cf.DS 1000-1002.
(30) Cf. DS 3293; Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic
Constitution Dei Verbum, n. 11.
(31) Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Evangelium vitae, n. 57:
AAS 87 (1995), 465.
(32) Cf. John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Ordinatio sacerdotalis,
n. 4: MS 86 (1994), 548.
(33) Cf. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Response to a
Dubium concerning the teaching contained in the Apostolic Letter
“Ordinatio sacerdotalis”: AAS 87 (1995), 1114.
(34) “John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Evangelium vitae, n.
65: AAS 87 (1995), 477.
(35) Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 193.
(36) Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 2353.
(37) Cf. DS 3315-3319.
(38) Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution
Lumen gentium, n.25; Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith,
Instruction Donum veritatis, nn. 17, 23 and 24: A4S 82 (1990),
1557-1558, 1559-1561.
(39) Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 167.
See also;
Version published in 1989
Does the ‘oath of fidelity’ bind irrespective of
its contents?
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