Summa de Ecclesia

That the spiritual power of the keys is common not only to good priests but also to evil ones, and to devils, so that the sacraments can be dispensed through the evil just as through the good, is easy to show by many reasons. For which in the first place it is to be considered, according to St. Thomas in bk. 4, dist. 19, that an agent acting of itself and one acting instrumentally differ in this, that the instrumental agent does not induce in the effect a likeness of itself, but a likeness of the principal agent. The principal agent, however, induces its own likeness, and therefore a thing is constituted a principal agent from this, that it has some form which it can transfuse into another; but a thing is not constituted an instrumental agent from this, but from this, that it is applied by the principal agent to inducing some effect. Since therefore in the act of the keys the principal agent is Christ himself, as God by authority and as man by merit, from the very plenitude of divine power and of goodness in him it follows from the perfection of grace that he can act in the act of the keys; but another man could not act in the act of the keys as acting of himself, since neither can he himself give to another the grace by which sins are remitted nor sufficiently merit, and therefore he is only as an instrumental agent, whence also he who attains the effect of the keys is not assimilated to the user of the keys but to Christ. And for this reason, however much grace anyone has, he cannot reach the effect of the keys unless he is applied to this as a minister through the reception of orders. It is clear therefore that the spiritual power in the ministers of the Church, just as it is not acquired through goodness of life, so neither is it lost through malice. Secondly this same thing is shown thus, according to St. Thomas in bk. 4 against the Gentiles. Nothing can act upon that which exceeds its faculty except by power received from elsewhere, which is clear both in natural and in civil things. For water cannot heat unless it receives the power of heating from fire, nor can a bailiff coerce citizens unless he has received power from the king. But the things that are done in the sacraments exceed human faculty: therefore no one can dispense the sacraments, however good he be, unless he receives the power of dispensing. But malice and sin are opposed to goodness; therefore neither is he who has received power impeded by sin from being able to dispense the sacraments. Thirdly thus. A man is called good or evil according to virtue or vice, which are certain habits: but a habit differs from a potency in this, that through a potency we are powerful to do something; through a habit, however, we are not rendered powerful or impotent to do something, but able or unable to do well or ill what we can do. Through a habit therefore there is neither given nor taken away from us the ability to do something, but through a habit we receive that whereby we do something well or ill. Not therefore from the fact that someone is good or evil is anyone powerful or impotent to dispense the sacraments, but fit or less fit for such dispensing. Fourthly thus. Of the goodness and malice of another man a man cannot judge, for this belongs to God alone, who searches the hidden things of the heart. For if the malice of a man could impede the act of the keys or the effect of the sacrament, a man could not have certain confidence concerning his salvation, so that his conscience would remain free from sin. For on that supposition no one would know whether to absolve or to bind, and whether he is absolved or bound: and thus the greatest doubt and perplexity would be left in the Church of God, which in no way befits the constitution of the Church, which is founded on the foundation of eternal truth, therefore etc. Fifthly thus. If the power of the keys followed holiness of life, since all day long change takes place in holiness, because he who is now less holy becomes more holy, and conversely, it would follow that now the subject would become prelate and now the prelate subject, and thus there would be no stability in the Church, which right faith abhors; therefore the same as before. Sixthly the same is shown from the fact that the Lord says, Matt. 23: The scribes and the Pharisees have sat upon the chair of Moses; whatsoever they shall say to you, keep and do; but according to their works do not do. Behold that Christ commands evil prelates to be obeyed, which he would not do unless the spiritual power remained in them even while they are evil. Not therefore on account of the sins of ministers is the spiritual power conferred on them lost or lessened in them. From these things these errors are manifestly excluded: first the error of those saying that all good faithful have the power of dispensing the sacraments. Secondly the error of those saying that no evil priests have the power of dispensing the sacraments. Thirdly the error of those saying that the spiritual power given by Christ to the ministers of the Church is thus emptied in evil men on account of their malice.