WHAT IS APOSTASY?
According to the code of canon law(1917), apostasy is the complete abandonment of the Christian faith after baptism.
Can. 1325.§1. Fideles Christi fidem aperte profiteri tenentur quoties eorum silentium, tergiversatio aut ratio agendi secumferrent implicitam fidei negationem, contemptum religionis, iniuriam Dei vel scandalum proximi.
§2. Post receptum baptismum si quis, nomen retinens christianum, pertinaciter aliquam ex veritatibus fide divina et catholica credendis denegat aut de ea dubitat, haereticus; si a fide christiana totaliter recedit, apostata; si denique subesse renuit Summo Pontifici aut cum membris Ecclesiae ei subiectis communicare recusat, schismaticus est.
Can. 1325. §1. The faithful of Christ are obliged to openly profess their faith whenever their silence, evasion, or way of acting would imply a denial of the faith, contempt for religion, an injury to God, or scandal to their neighbour.
§2. After receiving baptism, if anyone, while retaining the name of Christian, obstinately denies or doubts any of the truths which must be believed by divine and Catholic faith, they are a heretic; if they completely abandon the Christian faith, they are an apostate; and if, finally, they refuse to submit to the Supreme Pontiff or to communicate with the members of the Church subject to him, they are schismatic.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN APOSTASY AND HERESY?
Apostasy from the faith is not essentially different from heresy. While the apostate rejects the entirety of the faith and the heretic denies only certain parts, this distinction reflects a difference in degree, not in the nature of the sin. Consequently, the apostate is subject to the same penalties as the heretic.
HERESY = REJECTION OF PARTS OF THE FAITH
APOSTASY = TOTAL REPUDIATION OF THE FAITH
WHO IS AN APOSTATE?
Among apostates are unbelievers, pantheists, sceptics, and naturalists, and others of this sort.
HOW DOES ONE BECOME AN APOSTATE?
Apostasy has two aspects:
a) Essential element: It is the complete abandonment of the faith once received.
b) Accidental element: It consists of conversion to a false sect. To commit the crime of apostasy, it is not necessary to convert to a false religion; it suffices to have abandoned Christianity, meaning it makes little difference whether the apostate has turned to Judaism, paganism, Islam, or has fallen into deism, atheism, or indifference.
FORMAL OR INTERPRETATIVE APOSTASY
a) Formal apostasy occurs when there is a manifest and complete abandonment of the faith, manifested in words, deeds, or equivalent signs, or professes errors. In addition to people who convert from Christianity to another false religion, formal apostates can also be people who reject revelation and promote naturalism, deism, pantheism, atheism, pure rationalism, or indifferentism while posing as Christians. Those who deliberately become members of the Masonic organisation or the Sect of Spirits should also be considered apostates.
b)Interpretative apostasy concerns those who maintain the Christian name but behave in such a way that they implicitly show that they have become completely alien to the Christian faith and have completely abandoned it, such as Those who maliciously applaud the insults of unbelievers against the Church and take every opportunity to attack and ridicule it, are to be considered interpretive apostates.
APOSTASY IN A NUTSHELL:
- Apostasy is the complete abandonment of the Christian faith after the baptism.
- Apostasy and heresy differ in degree, not in the nature of the sin.
- The apostate rejects the whole faith, while the heretic repudiates only certain parts.
- Among the apostates are the unbelievers, the pantheists, the sceptics, the naturalists, and the indifferent.
- The essential element of apostasy is the complete abandonment of the faith once received.
- The Accidental element consists of conversion to a false sect.
- Formal apostasy occurs through, words, deeds or other external actions.
- Interpretative apostates are those who, while still identifying as Christians, act in ways that demonstrate a complete departure from the Christian faith.
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