Chapter II: On the External Act of Faith or on Its Confession

St. Thomas, II-II, q. 3.

711. Confession of faith is its external manifestation through some sign suitable for this. It is an external act of the virtue of faith, because it is produced immediately by faith, with no other habit mediating; whence confession of faith according to object and species is directly ordered to faith as to an end.

From natural-divine law there is given a precept, obliging under grave obligation, of confessing faith outwardly; this precept is at once affirmative and negative (can. 1325, § 1).

712. Insofar as it is negative, the precept of confessing faith prohibits, in any case or danger whatever, even of death, expressly or tacitly, by word or sign or deed (by silence, for example), outwardly to deny the faith or to profess or simulate a false faith. For he who acted thus would at least implicitly say either that God reveals false things or that He did not reveal the dogmas of the Christian faith, each of which is most injurious to God. Hence Christ: "But he who shall deny me before men, I also will deny him before my Father who is in heaven" (Matt. X, 32, 33; cf. Luke IX, 26; XII, 8-9; II Tim. II, 12).

This can happen in two ways: a) directly and explicitly, when someone knowingly denies the faith or professes a false one; b) indirectly and implicitly, if without the intention of denying he places an action which is held by others as a denial of faith, such as assisting at or participating in heretical rites can be (for example, receiving the Calvinist supper).

Therefore they sin against faith:

1. by words, who openly, seriously or fictitiously, deny even one article of faith, or deny that they are Christians or Catholics, or say that they are disciples of another sect (Old Catholics, rationalists, positivists, Mohammedans), or deny that they are papists, ultramontanes, clericals, ... in regions in which those words signify nothing except a Catholic by religion;

2. by deeds: those who for concealing faith employ the rites or ceremonies of false worship, such as burning incense, genuflecting or sacrificing before an idol (S. C. de Prop. F., September 12, 1645), receiving the Calvinist supper, using circumcision as a religious rite, etc.;

3. likewise those who with money buy a certificate that they have professed a false religion (libellatici);

4. likewise those who place an action which from itself or from circumstances signifies the profession of a false religion, for example, to drink to the death of Papists or to the health of the enemies of the Church, to pray, sing, etc., together with them, to give one's name to a heretical, schismatic, Masonic sect, to an anti-Catholic or biblical society, for whatever cause;

5. generally those who use garments, gestures of the hands, or signs specially professive of a false religion, such as sacred garments which display honor to the Prophet, to an idol, etc. (S. C. P. F., March 23, 1844), and insignia or signs professive of Freemasons;

6. generally those who, when questioned concerning the faith by name and personally by public power, are silent or use ambiguous words (which, for example, are taken by the questioner as a denial): for this, on account of the circumstances, according to common estimation, is considered as denial or shame of faith, or fear of imminent punishment (prop. 18 condemned by Innocent XI).

I said generally, because, if on account of certain altogether peculiar circumstances it were manifest to all that those things are not a denial of religion or shame concerning it, for example, if silence were held by those present rather as a confession of faith, or if the law openly established that no public power is permitted to insert itself into the conscience of citizens, it would not be illicit. But when this happens is left to be determined by prudent estimation.

713. Insofar as it is affirmative, the precept of confessing faith commands, even sometimes with danger of life, the external confession of faith, and indeed in a twofold case: 1. when by the omission of this confession, privatively a great honor due to God would be subtracted, or positively or contrarily God would be affected by a great injury; hence not only one questioned concerning faith, who by silence is held as an infidel, must confess and procure great honor for God, but also he who sees sacred things trampled upon by infidels or heretics is bound to prevent it if he can, and he who hears the faith attacked must contradict if he can or impose silence on those attacking, or profess the faith, if these are judged useful or likely to profit; 2. when, by not confessing faith, grave spiritual harm would arise for one's neighbor, such as contempt of religion, the perversion of the faithful, scandal, for example, if, with someone being silent, others would believe that the faith was not true and would be turned away from the faith, or would be delayed for a long time, or would not be converted to the faith. Hence Rom. X, 9, 10: "If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart..., you will be saved: for with the heart one believes unto justice, but with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."

For faith itself obliges us to confess it when, by omitting confession, injury is done to God in faith or one's neighbor suffers detriment.

714. Applications. - Since an affirmative precept does not oblige for always, hence per se and generally they do not sin, at least against faith, by words, signs, or acts:

1. who conceal or dissemble faith but for a grave cause;

2. who, when questioned by a private man, out of contempt either are silent or use equivocal words;

3. who deny or are silent that they are priests, religious, etc.;

4. a fortiori who, lest they be recognized as Catholics, eat meats, or do not assist at Mass, do not pray before or after lunch, unless this were expressly demanded in hatred of religion, disobedience to the Church, profession of a false sect;

5. indeed who for a graver cause use garments or signs distinctive of a nation, and also probably of a false religion only;

6. likewise those who flee in time of persecution (Matt. X, 23); pastors of souls are excepted, who would flee with the spiritual harm of these souls (John X, 11);

7. who pay money so that others may not harm them or inquire concerning their faith;

8. who, when the prince commands that Catholics betray themselves or appear, are unwilling to appear or betray themselves.

I say generally, for if the aforesaid actions from special circumstances were held by others as denial or shame of faith, or if great honor would be subtracted from God, or grave scandal would arise, they would be sinful against faith and must be abandoned. But when this happens is left to be determined by prudent estimation.

715. Observations. - 1. From other precepts or virtues we are also sometimes obliged to external confession of faith, for example, in the reception of Baptism (cf. ritual) or of another sacrament, by reason of external worship and adherence to the Church, from the precept of the Church (Holy Office, July 20, 1859; can. 1406-1408), etc. But in those cases it is not the precept itself of faith which obliges us.

2. Sometimes it is necessary to conceal faith, whenever, the precept of confessing faith not urging, from its confession religion would be more blasphemed, or disturbances would arise, or danger of death would have to be undergone, or other grave harms would follow (St. Thomas, a. 2, ad 3).

3. Concerning communication with infidels and heretics, it will be said in the fourth part.

4. Noldin notes: "If somewhere political power prohibits conversion to the true faith before a certain year of age (16 or 18), the law is impious, nor is it lawful for him who is persuaded concerning the truth of the Catholic religion to defer the profession of faith longer on account of civil law. Pastors of souls are bound to admit to the profession of faith those who ask to be enrolled in the bosom of the Church, notwithstanding whatever temporal evil, proper or alien. But to avoid the evils which from civil law would threaten both the parish priest and the one to be converted, it can be permitted that by mutual consent conversion be deferred to lawful age, or that a conversion already made be concealed until that age, if it is already close at hand," Theologia Moralis, II, n. 14. But internal adherence must immediately be given to faith, nor can it be deferred.

5. Yet union with the Church and profession of faith per se must be made publicly, nor must they be concealed at least perpetually, as the constant praxis of the Church bears. Whence:

a) "Outside the case of necessity it is not lawful to baptize an adult or admit him to conversion secretly, with only the priest knowing, but this must be done publicly before others, at least two witnesses. Therefore the Church prescribes that the abjuration of heresy, which is required from neoconverts, be made before two witnesses and that the conversion made be inserted into the parish books, both so that satisfaction may be made to the obligation of professing faith, and so that the convert may be subject to the jurisdiction of the Church in the external forum...

b) Therefore it was established that a Mohammedan cannot be admitted to Baptism who, on account of danger of life, wishes to be and remain a hidden Christian, but that he must transfer himself to places where he can publicly profess the Christian religion (S. C. de Prop. F., May 28, 1635).

c) In the case of necessity, where namely a dying person from a reasonable grave cause refuses public conversion to the faith, he can be received into the Church altogether secretly by any priest, so that his salvation may be provided for, unless the reason of preventing scandal or promoting the salvation of one's neighbor demands otherwise, as in a man of great dignity and authority. But even in this case conversion can be made before two witnesses only, who can afterwards divulge the matter, if there is need" (ibid., n. 16, 2; cf. Holy Office, July 25, 1630).

d) Likewise "some heretic or pagan, who wishes to embrace the true faith but cannot accomplish this without great temporal inconveniences, can secretly before two discreet witnesses be received into the bosom of the Church (and conceal this for a time). But after conversion he can no longer perform acts which are a profession of heresy or paganism, for example, receive the Protestant supper, contract marriage before a non-Catholic minister, wear signs signifying idolatry, etc. But he could perform other things which are not a direct profession of heterodox faith, as, for example, visit the temples of heretics, assist (merely) at a non-Catholic funeral, indeed once or twice assist at a non-Catholic sermon, provided nevertheless that danger of perversion or scandal is absent," Prummer, Theologia Moralis I, n. 507, resol. 1.

6. Prummer notes, ibid., n. 507, 5: "In practice it cannot always easily be distinguished whether concealment of faith is lawful or not. Generally speaking, it is much better to profess faith candidly, because the harms arising from profession are not wont to be so great as they appear at first sight. On the contrary, from an honest profession of faith the greatest goods are wont to be produced both for the one professing himself, and for others admiring his good example."