Case LXXXVI: Protestants and the Commandments of the Church

Justinian, a Catholic, has a Protestant servant and believes that he may provide meat for him on Friday, as, being a Protestant, he is not bound by the Catholic law of abstinence.

Justinian is, however, in the wrong.

The law of abstinence is a human law binding upon all who are the subjects of the lawgiver and have attained to the use of reason. Now all persons validly baptized belong to the Catholic Church and so are bound by her laws. There is, therefore, no doubt that Protestants are strictly called upon to observe the Catholic law of abstinence.

According to the teaching of theologians (cf. Müller, ed. 9, I. § 53, n. 5; Noldin, ed. 7, I. n. 143; Lehmkuhl, ed. 11, I. n. 228), the Church does not impose rules laid down for the personal sanctification of men upon Protestants, ne augeantur peccata; they regard themselves, generally, bona fide, as free from the commandments of the Catholic Church; they violate them, it is true, when they disregard them, but they commit no sin; their action is bad, a peccatum materiale, but not evil, not a peccatum formale.

With regard to the laws of the Church laid down for the maintenance of public order, as e. g., in those relating to impediments to marriage, Protestants are obliged to conform to the decisions of the Catholic marriage law. This point should be borne in mind when any question arises as to the validity of a Protestant marriage.

A Protestant does not sin formally by eating meat on Friday, but his action, viewed from the Catholic standpoint, is bad, and therefore no Catholic should encourage him to do so. Justinian ought not to give his Protestant servants meat on Friday, although there might be a reason for his giving meat to them rather than to Catholic servants. The same remark applies to all the laws of the Church. A good Catholic ought in such cases to display his Catholic convictions, and, by setting a good example to his non-Catholic servants, do his best to bring them to the true faith.