Article — Billuart, Summa Summae · from Schola Thomistica
On apostasy
Apostasia in Greek means the same as discessio or desertio, departure or desertion, in Latin. It is taken here for a withdrawal from a good which one has solemnly professed. And apostasy is threefold: from the faith, from religion, and from order45 45 This q. 12, a. 1, o.
Apostasia graece idem est ac latine discessio seu desertio. Sumitur hic pro discessione a bono quod quis solemniter professus est. Et est triplex apostasia: a fide, a religione et ordine45 45 Hic q. 12, a. 1, o.
I say 1°: Apostasy from the faith is the desertion of the whole of the faith. And by this it is distinguished from heresy, which is a desertion of the faith as to a part only.
Dico 1°: Apostasia a fide est desertio totius fidei. Et per hoc distinguitur ab haeresi, qua est desertio fidei quoad partem tantum.
[Nor indeed does the crime of apostasy require the profession of some false religion. Hence under the name of apostates come those who vindicate to themselves the liberty of thinking and of admitting whatever pleases them, by that very fact rejecting Catholic doctrine: among whom must be numbered rationalists, deists, naturalists, pantheists, spiritists, and in general all who, after receiving baptism, have withdrawn entirely from the Christian faith, even if they have not passed over to Protestantism, or Judaism, or Mohammedanism, or paganism.
[Nec vero ad crimen apostasia requiritur alicuius falsae religionis professio. Unde sub nomine apostatarum veniunt qui libertatem cogitandi et admittendi quidquid ipsis placuerit sibi vindicant, eo ipso doctrinam catholicam respuentes: inter quos adnumerari debent rationalistae, deistae, naturalistae, pantheistae, spiritistae, et generatim omnes qui, post susceptum baptismum, a christiana fide penitus recesserunt, quamvis ad protestantismum, vel iudaismum, vel mahumetismum, vel paganismum non transierint.
From what has been said it is clear that apostasy does not differ from heresy essentially, but only according to more and less, which does not diversify the species. For, as the Angelic Doctor says, this q. 12, a. 1, ad 3, « apostasy looks to infidelity as the term to which the movement of one withdrawing from the faith tends. Hence apostasy does not import a determinate species of infidelity, but a certain circumstance aggravating it, according to that of 2 Pet., II, 21: It had been better for them not to have known the way of truth, than, after they have known it, to turn back. »
Ex dictis patet apostasiam non essentialiter ab haeresi differre, sed tantum secundum plus et minus, qua non diversificant speciem. Etenim, ut ait Angelicus, hic q. 12, a. 1, ad 3, « apostasia respicit infidelitati ut terminum ad quem est motus recedentis a fide. Unde apostasia non importat determinatam speciem infidelitatis, sed quamdam circumstantiam aggravantem, secundum illud, II Petr., II, 21: Melius erat eis veritatem non cognoscere, quam post cognitam retroire. »
Apostates are bound by the same excommunication as heretics, as was related above, de Poenis haereticorum.]
Eadem excommunicatione innodantur apostatae, qua haeretici, ut fuit relatum supra, de Poenis haereticorum.]
I say 2°: He who abandons an approved religion which he has professed tacitly or expressly, without the legitimate license of his superiors, with the intention of not returning, even if he does not lay aside the habit, is an apostate46; because, as the habit does not make the monk, but the profession of the religious life, so the laying aside of the habit does not make the apostate, but the withdrawal from the religious life. Those who laid aside the habit were formerly excommunicated by that very fact, by the chapter Ut periculosa, tit. Ne clerici et monachi, in 6°, lib. III. But he who does not lay aside the habit is not excommunicated by the common law; each one, however, ought to consult the laws of his own Order. In our Order of Preachers he is excommunicated by that very fact, dist. I, cap. 20, litt. A. Likewise, if he rashly lays aside the habit, that is, with the mind of wandering about, even though with the will of returning, he is indeed not an apostate, yet he is excommunicated by that very fact by the cited chapter, Ut periculosa. 46 Ibid.
Dico 2°: Qui religionem approbatam quam tacite vel expresse professus est, sine legitima superiorum licentia deserit cum animo non redeundi, etiamsi non dimisso habitu, est apostata46; quia, sicut habitus non facit monachum, sed professio vitae religiosae, sic dimissio habitus non facit apostatam, sed recessus a vita religiosa. Dimittentes habitum, ipso facto olim excommunicabantur, ex cap. Ut periculosa, tit. Ne clerici et monachi, in 6°, lib. III. Qui vero non dimittit habitum, iure communi non excommunicatur, sed unusquisque consulere debet leges sui Ordinis. In nostro Praedicatorum Ordine, excommunicatur ipso facto, dist. I, cap. 20, litt. A. Item, si temere dimittat habitum, animo scilicet vagandi, etsi cum voluntate redeundi, non est quidem apostata, attamen ipso facto excommunicatur cap. citato, Ut periculosa. 46 Ibid.
But if he lays aside the habit not rashly and for the sake of wandering about, but for a legitimate cause, either within the cloister, for instance for the sake of sleep, rest, infirmity, etc., or outside the cloister, for instance for fear of death while traveling through the lands of the infidels, or for the sake of avoiding scandal while traveling by night, or for some other reasonable cause, he does not sin, nor does he incur excommunication; because the celebrated canon is directed only against the rash laying aside of the habit, whereby there would be matter apt for wandering about.
Si vero non temere et causa vagandi, sed ex legitima causa dimittat habitum, sive intra claustrum, puta causa somni, quietis, infirmitatis, etc., sive extra claustrum, puta metu mortis, incedendo per terras infidelium, vel causa vitandi scandali, incedendo noctu, aliave causa rationabili, non peccat, nec incurrit excommunicationem; quia laudatus canon est tantum contra dimissionem habitus temerariam qua sit materia apta evagationi.
[By the constitution Apostolicae Sedis, « regulars or nuns who presume to contract marriage after a solemn vow of chastity » incur excommunication latae sententiae reserved to their Ordinaries, that is, their major superiors. This crime includes not only a violation of the vow of chastity, but also involves apostasy from the religious life. — It must be observed that this censure was decreed only against those solemnly professed.]
[Ex constit. Apostolicae Sedis, « regulares aut moniales post votum solemne castitatis matrimonium contrahere praesumentes, » incurrunt excommunicationem latae sententiae suis Ordinariis, id est superioribus maioribus, reservatam. Hoc crimen non tantum violationem voti castitatis includit, sed etiam apostasiam a vita religiosa implicat. — Animadvertendum est hanc censuram nonnisi contra solemniter professos fuisse decretam.]
I say 3°: He who withdraws from sacred orders back to the secular state without legitimate dispensation is an apostate and sins mortally; because he abandons the state to which he had been solemnly bound over by the Church, and which many canons forbid him to abandon, penalties being imposed against transgressors.
Dico 3°: Qui ab ordine sacro sine legitima dispensatione retrocedit ad statum saecularem, est apostata et peccat mortaliter; quia deserit statum cui per Ecclesiam erat solemniter mancipatus, et quem deserere vetant plures canones, poenis impositis contra transgressores.
[The aforesaid constitution, with excommunication latae sententiae reserved to bishops or ordinaries, punishes « clerics constituted in sacred orders who presume to contract marriage ». For such men despise more than the law of chastity, and are held as apostates. And it suffices for incurring this censure that the attempt at marriage be made before a civil magistrate, in places where the Tridentine decree on clandestinity is in force. So pronounced the S. Congregation of the Holy Office on December 22, 1880.]
[Supradicta constit. excommunicatione latae sententiae episcopis sive ordinariis reservata plectit « clericos in sacris constitutos matrimonium contrahere praesumentes. » Tales enim, praeterquam legem castitatis spernunt, ut apostatae habentur. Et sufficit ad hanc censuram incurrendam, ut attentatio matrimonii fiat coram magistratu civili, in locis ubi viget decretum Tridentinum de clandestinitate. Ita pronuntiavit Cong. S. Officii die 22 decembris 1880.]