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Schism |
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Under the title “Who belongs to the Catholic Church?” the Catechism of the Catholic Church notes that fullness of Catholic communion depends on maintaining “the bonds constituted by the profession of faith, the sacraments, ecclesiastical government, and communion” (837). Catholic communion is ruptured, and one separates oneself from full life-giving participation in the Church, not only by heresy but also by schism. While heresy involves the formal denial of a point of doctrine taught by the Church’s Magisterium as revealed truth, schism as such implies a refusal to accept the central or supreme governing authority of the Church; it is not preserving “unity or communion under the successor of Peter” (CCC 838; cf. 2089). Schism can be express or implicit. Certain attitudes involve what might be termed incipient schism, insofar as they substantially involve a rejection of Church authority, even while acceptance of doctrine often is formally proclaimed. Those who follow schismatic trends thus separate themselves more and more from the full union with Christ that he himself made conditional on being united with his Church. His words “Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me” (Lk 10:16) apply to government and discipline as well as to doctrine. They indicate the condition for remaining in life-giving communion not only with Christ’s truth but also with his will, on which our salvation and sanctification likewise depend.
See: Apostasy; Church, Membership in; Church, Nature, Origin, and Structure of; Communio; Heresy. |
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