ON THE EXTERIOR ACT OF FAITH OR ITS CONFESSION.

S. Th. II-II, q. 3.

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

From natural-divine law there is a precept, obligating under grave sin, of externally confessing the faith ; this precept is at once affirmative and negative (can. 1325, § 1).

712. Insofar as the precept of confessing faith is negative, it forbids, in any case whatever or even danger of death, expressly or tacitly, by word, sign, or deed (by silence, for example), externally to deny the faith or to profess or feign a false one. For he who acted thus would at least implicitly say either that God reveals false things or that He has not revealed the dogmas of the Christian faith, both of which are most injurious to God. Hence Christ : « But he who shall deny me before men, I will also deny him before my Father who is in heaven » (Mt. X, 32, 33 ; cf. Lk. IX, 26 ; XII, 8-9 ; 2 Tim. II, 12).

This can be done in two ways : a) directly and explicitly, when one knowingly denies the faith or professes a false one ; b) indirectly and implicitly, if without the intention of denying one performs an action which is taken by others as a denial of faith, such as assisting at or participating in heretical rites (e.g. to take part in a 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 they are disciples of another sect (Old Catholics, rationalists, positivists, Mohammedans), or deny that they are Papists, Ultramontanes, Clericals, ... in regions where those words mean nothing but the Catholic religion ;

2° by deeds : who, to hide the faith, use the rites or ceremonies of false worship, such as to offer incense, to genuflect or sacrifice before an idol (S. C. de Pr. F. 12 Sept. 1645), to take part in a Calvinist supper, to use circumcision as a religious rite, etc.

3° likewise those who buy with money the testimony that they professed a false religion (libellatici) ;

4° likewise those who perform an action which of itself or by its circumstances signifies the profession of a false religion, e.g. to drink to the death of Papists or to the health of the enemies of the Church, to pray or sing with them, to give one's name to a heretical, schismatic, Masonic, anti-Catholic, or Bible society, for whatever reason ;

5° in general, those who use vestments, gestures of the hands, or signs specifically professing a false religion, such as sacred vestments which exhibit honor to the Prophet, an idol, etc. (S. C. P. F. 23 March 1844) and the insignia or professing signs of the Freemasons ;

6° in general, those who, when questioned about the faith by name and personally by a public authority, keep silent or use ambiguous words (which, e.g., are taken by the interrogator as a denial) : for this, because of the circumstances, is considered by common estimation as a denial or shame of the faith, on account of an imminent punishment (prop. 18 condemned by Innocent XI).

I said : in general, because, if by certain altogether peculiar circumstances it were manifest to all that these things were not a denial or shame of religion, e.g. if the silence were taken by those present rather as a confession of faith, or if the law openly established that no public authority may intrude itself into the conscience of citizens, it would not be illicit. When, however, it is done, it is left to prudent estimation to determine.

713. Insofar as the precept of confessing faith is affirmative, it prescribes, even with some danger of life, the external confession of faith, and indeed in a twofold case : 1) when by the omission of this confession, privatively great honor due to God would be withdrawn, or positively or by contrast God would be greatly injured ; hence not only those questioned about the faith who by their silence are taken as infidels ought to confess and procure great honor to God, but also he who sees sacred things trampled under foot by infidels or heretics is bound to prevent it if he can, and he who hears the faith being attacked ought to contradict if he can or impose silence on the attackers, or profess the faith, if these things are judged useful or profitable ; 2) when, by not confessing the faith, grave spiritual harm would arise to the neighbor, such as contempt of religion, perversion of the faithful, scandal, e.g. if, by someone's silence, others would believe that the faith was not true and be turned away from the faith, or long delayed, or not converted to the faith. Hence Rom. X, 9, 10 : « If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart, ... you shall be saved : for with the heart one believes unto justice, but with the mouth confession is made unto salvation ».

Faith itself obliges us to confess it, when, by omitting the confession, an injury is done to faith in God, or the neighbor is harmed.

714. Applications. — Since the affirmative precept does not oblige for always, hence in itself and in general, they do not sin, at least against faith, by words, signs, or deeds :

1° those who hide or dissemble the faith for a grave reason ;

2° those who, when questioned by a private person, out of contempt either keep silent or use equivocal words ;

3° those who deny or are silent about being priests, religious, etc. ;

4° a fortiori those who, so that they not be recognized as Catholics, eat meat, or do not assist at Mass, do not pray before or after meals, unless this were expressly demanded in hatred of religion, in disobedience to the Church, or in profession of a false sect ;

5° indeed those who, for a graver reason, use the clothing or signs of a nation, and even probably those distinctive only of a false religion ;

6° likewise those who flee in time of persecution (Mt. X, 23) ; pastors of souls are excepted, who would flee with spiritual harm to their flock (John X, 11) ;

7° those who buy with money that no harm be done them or inquiry made about their faith ;

8° those who, when the ruler orders Catholics to betray or appear, refuse to appear or betray themselves.

I say : in general, for if the foregoing actions, by special circumstances, were taken by others as a denial or shame of the faith, or if great honor would be withdrawn from God, or grave scandal would arise, they would be sinful against the faith and are to be given up. When, however, it is so, it is left to prudent estimation to determine.

715. Observations. — 1° From other precepts or virtues we are also in some way bound to the external confession of faith, e.g. in receiving Baptism (cf. Ritual) or another sacrament, by reason of external worship and adherence to the Church, by the precept of the Church (S. Off. 20 July 1859 ; can. 1406-1408), etc. But in those cases it is not the precept of faith itself which obliges us.

2° Sometimes faith must be hidden, whenever, the precept of confessing faith not being urgent, 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 (S. Th., a. 2, ad 3).

3° On communication with infidels and heretics, will be spoken in the 4th part.

4° Noldin notes : « Wherever the political power forbids conversion to the true faith before a certain age (16 or 18), the law is impious, nor is it lawful, for one who is persuaded of the truth of the Catholic religion, to delay the profession of faith longer on account of the civil law. Pastors of souls are bound to admit to the profession of faith those who ask to be received into the bosom of the Church, notwithstanding any temporal evil to themselves or to others. However, to avoid the evils which would then threaten both the parish priest and the convert from the civil law, it can be permitted, by mutual consent, that the conversion be delayed to the lawful age, or that the conversion once made be hidden up to that age, if it is now close at hand » Th. M., II, n. 14. But internal adherence to the faith must be given at once, nor can it be delayed.

5° However, union with the Church and profession of faith of themselves ought to be public, nor ought they to be hidden at least perpetually, as the constant practice of the Church bears. Hence :

a) « Outside the case of necessity, it is not lawful for an adult to be baptized or to be admitted 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 of new converts, be made before two witnesses and the conversion made be entered in the parish books, both to satisfy the obligation of professing the faith and so that the convert may be subject to the jurisdiction of the Church in the external forum... »

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

c) In case of necessity, where namely a dying person for a reasonable grave cause refuses public conversion to the faith, he can be received into the Church by any priest whenever encountered, so that his salvation may be provided for, unless a reason of avoiding scandal or promoting the neighbor's salvation demands otherwise, as in a man of great dignity and authority. But even in this case the conversion can be made before only two witnesses, who can later make the matter known if necessary » (ibid., n. 16, 2 ; cf. S. Off. 25 July 1630).

d) Likewise « sometimes heretics or pagans, who wish to embrace the true faith but cannot do so without great temporal inconveniences, can be received into the bosom of the Church secretly before two discreet witnesses, (and that for a time hidden. But after conversion they can no longer perform acts which are a profession of heresy or paganism, e.g. receive the Protestant supper, contract marriage before a non-Catholic minister, wear signs indicating idolatry, etc. But they could perform other things which are not a direct profession of heterodox faith, e.g. visit heretical temples, attend (merely) a non-Catholic funeral, indeed once or twice attend a non-Catholic sermon, provided there is no danger of perversion or scandal » Prümmer, Th. M. I, n. 507, resol. 1.

6° Prümmer notes, ib., n. 507, 5 : « In practice it is not always easy to distinguish whether the hiding of faith is licit or not. Generally speaking, it is much better to profess the faith openly, because the harms arising from the profession are not usually as great as they appear at first sight. On the contrary, from the open profession of faith the greatest goods usually result, both for the one professing it and for others admiring his good example ».