Fides ecclesiastica

Fides ecclesiastica is a classification of those Roman Catholic dogmas which are Church teachings, definitively decided on by the Magisterium, but not (yet) as being Divine revelations properly speaking.[1] They are considered infallible and irrevocable because, although they are not "truths of faith" (De Fide), they are nevertheless "closely related to them".[2]

It is one level below De fide and one level above Sententia fidei proxima which are generally accepted as divine revelation but not defined as such by the Magisterium.

An example for a Catholic teaching that has this rank at present, but might conceivably yet be taught as de fide in the future, is male-only priesthood. An example for a Catholic teaching that also has this rank but cannot possibly be taught as de fide in the future (because it deals with post-Apostolic historic facts and thus not with revelation properly speaking) would be, for instance, the fact that the Jansenist book Augustinus actually contains the heresies the Church condemned it for (the main point the later Jansenists denied).

See also

Sources
  1. Dulles, Avery (1973). The Survival of Dogma. Colorado Springs: Image Books. ISBN 0385089570.
  2. John Paul II (March 24, 1993). "The Holy Spirit Assists the Roman Pontiff". General Audience. Archived from the original on 2011-08-10.



This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.