altioris intelligentiæ specie et nomine, recedendum. Crescat igitur et multum vehementerque proficiat, tam singulorum, quam omnium, tam unius hominis, quam totius Ecclesiæ, ætatem ac sæculorum gradibus, intelligentia, scientia, sapientia; sed in suo dumtaxat genere, in eodem scilicet dogmate, eodem sensu, eademque sententia. ever to be departed from, under the pretense or pretext of a deeper comprehension of them. Let, then, the intelligence, science, and wisdom of each and all, of individuals and of the whole Church, in all ages and all times, increase and flourish in abundance and vigor; but simply in its own proper kind, that is to say, in one and the same doctrine, one and the same sense, one and the same judgment. [287] Canones. Canons. I. I. De Deo rerum omnium Creatore. Of God, the Creator of all things. 1. Si quis unum verum Deum visibilium et invisibilium Creatorem et Dominum negaverit: anathema sit. 1. If any one shall deny one true God, Creator and Lord of things visible and invisible: let him be anathema. 2. Si quis præter materiam nihil esse affirmare non erubuerit: anathema sit. 2. If any one shall not be ashamed to affirm that, except matter, nothing exists: let him be anathema. 3. Si quis dixerit, unam eandemque esse Dei et rerum omnium substantiam vel essentiam: anathema sit. 3. If any one shall say that the substance and essence of God and of all things is one and the same: let him be anathema. 4. Si quis dixerit, res finitas, tum corporeas tum spirituales aut saltem spirituales, e divina substantia emanasse; aut divinam essentiam sui manifestatione vel evolutione fieri omnia; aut denique Deum esse ens universale 4. If any one shall say that finite things, both corporeal and spiritual, or at least spiritual, have emanated from the divine substance; or that the divine essence by the manifestation and evolution of itself becomes all things; or, lastly, that God is
seu indefinitum, quod sese determinando constituat rerum universitatem in genera, species et individua distinctam: anathema sit. universal or indefinite being, which by determining itself constitutes the universality of things, distinct according to genera, species, and individuals: let him be anathema. 5. Si quis non confiteatur, mundum, resque omnes, quæ in eo continentur, et spirituales et materiales, secundum totam suam substantiam a Deo ex nihilo esse productas; aut Deum dixerit non voluntate ab omni necessitate libera, sed tam necessario creasse, quam necessario amat seipsum; aut mundum ad Dei gloriam conditum esse negaverit: anathema sit. 5. If any one confess not that the world, and all things which are contained in it, both spiritual and material, have been, in their whole substance, produced by God out of nothing; or shall say that God created, not by his will, free from all necessity, but by a necessity equal to the necessity whereby he loves himself; or shall deny that the world was made for the glory of God: let him be anathema. II. II. De Revelatione. Of Revelations. 1. Si quis dixerit, Deum unum et verum, Creatorem et Dominum nostrum, per ea, quæ facta sunt, naturali rationis humanæ lumine certo cognosci non posse: anathema sit. 1. If any one shall say that the one true God, our Creator and Lord, can not be certainly known by the natural light of human reason through created things: let him be anathema. 2. Si quis dixerit, fieri non posse, aut non expedire ut per revelationem divinam homo de Deo cultuque ei exhibendo edoceatur: anathema sit. 2. If any one shall say that it is impossible or inexpedient that man should be taught by divine revelation concerning God and the worship to be paid to him: let him be anathema. 3. Si quis dixerit, hominem ad cognitionem et perfectionem, quæ naturalem superet, divinitus evehi non posse, sed ex seipso 3. If any one shall say that man can not be raised by divine power to a higher than natural knowledge and perfection, but can and ought,
ad omnis tandem veri et boni possessionem jugi profectu pertingere posse et debere: anathema sit. by a continuous progress, to arrive at length, of himself, to the possession of all that is true aud good: let him be anathema. 4. Si quis sacræ Scripturæ libros integros cum omnibus suis partibus, prout illos sancta Tridentina Synodus recensuit, pro sacris et canonicis non susceperit, aut eos divinitus inspiratos esse negaverit: anathema sit. 4. If any one shall not receive as sacred and canonical the books of Holy Scripture, entire with all their parts, as the holy Synod of Trent has enumerated them, or shall deny that they have been divinely inspired: let him be anathema. III. III. De Fide. On Faith. 1. Si quis dixerit, rationem humanam ita independentem esse, ut fides ei a Deo imperari non possit: anathema sit. 1. If any one shall say that human reason is so independent that faith can not be enjoined upon it by God: let him be anathema. 2. Si quis dixerit, fidem divinam a naturali de Deo et rebus moralibus scientia non distingui, ac propterea ad fidem divinam non requiri, ut revelata veritas propter auctoritatem Dei revelantis credatur: anathema sit. 2. If any one shall say that divine faith is not distinguished from natural knowledge of God and of moral truths, and therefore that it is not requisite for divine faith that revealed truth be believed because of the authority of God, who reveals it: let him be anathema. 3. Si quis dixerit, revelationem divinam externis signis credibilem fieri non posse, ideoque sola interna cujusque experientia aut inspiratione privata homines ad fidem moveri debere: anathema sit. 3. If any one shall say that divine revelation can not be made credible by outward signs, and therefore that men ought to be moved to faith solely by the internal experience of each, or by private inspiration: let him be anathema. 4. Si quis dixerit, miracula nulla fieri posse, proindeque omnes de iis narrationes, etiam 4. If any one shall say that miracles are impossible, and therefore that all the accounts regarding
in sacra Scriptura contentas, inter fabulas vel mythos ablegandas esse; aut miracula certo cognosci nunquam posse, nec iis divinam religionis Christianæ originem rite probari: anathema, sit. them, even those contained in Holy Scripture, are to be dismissed as fabulous or mythical; or that miracles can never be known with certainty, and that the divine origin of Christianity can not be proved by them: let him be anathema. 5. Si quis dixerit, assensum fidei Christianæ non esse liberum, sed argumentis humanæ rationis necessario produci; aut ad solam fidem vivam, quæ per caritatem operatur, gratiam Dei necessariam esse: anathema sit. 5. If any one shall say that the assent of Christian faith is not a free act, but inevitably produced by the arguments of human reason; or that the grace of God is necessary for that living faith only which worketh by charity: let him be anathema. 6. Si quis dixerit, parem esse conditionem fidelium atque eorum, qui ad fidem unice veram nondum pervenerunt, ita ut Catholici justam causam habere possint, fidem, quam sub Ecclesiæ magisterio jam susceperunt, assensu suspenso in dubium vocandi, donec demonstrationem scientificam credibilitatis et veritatis fidei suæ absolverint: anathema sit. 6. If any one shall say that the condition of the faithful, and of those who have not yet attained to the only true faith, is on a par, so that Catholics may have just cause for doubting, with suspended assent, the faith which they have already received under the magisterium of the Church, until they shall have obtained a scientific demonstration of the credibility and truth of their faith: let him be anathema. IV. IV. De Fide et Ratione. On Faith and Reason. 1. Si quis dixerit, in revelatione divina nulla vera et proprie dicta mysteria contineri, sed universa fidei dogmata posse per rationem rite excultam e naturalibus principiis intelligi et demonstrari: anathema sit. 1. If any one shall say that in divine revelation there are no mysteries, truly and properly so called, but that all the doctrines of faith can be understood and demonstrated from natural principles, by properly cultivated reason: let him be anathema.
2. Si quis dixerit, disciplinas humanas ea cum libertate tractandas esse, ut earum assertiones, etsi doctrinæ revelatæ adversentur, tanquam veræ retineri, neque ab Ecclesia proscribi possint: anathema sit. 2. If any one shall say that human sciences are to be so freely treated that their assertions, although opposed to revealed doctrine, are to be held as true, and can not be condemned by the Church: let him be anathema. 3. Si quis dixerit, fieri posse, ut dogmatibus ab Ecclesia propositis, aliquando secundum progressum scientiæ sensus tribuendus sit alius ab eo, quem intellexit et intelligit Ecclesia: anathema sit. 3. If any one shall assert it to be possible that sometimes, according to the progress of science, a sense is to be given to doctrines propounded by the Church different from that which the Church has understood and understands: let him be anathema. Itaque supremi pastoralis Nostri officii debitum exeguentes, omnes Christi fideles, maxime vero eos, qui præsunt vel docendi munere funguntur, per viscera Jesu Christi obtestamur, necnon ejusdem Dei et Salvatoris nostri auctoritate jubemus, ut ad hos errores a Sancta Ecclesia arcendos et eliminandos, atque purissimæ fidei lucem pandendam studium et operam conferant. Therefore, we, fulfilling the duty of our supreme pastoral office, entreat, by the mercies of Jesus Christ, and, by the authority of the same, our God and Saviour, we command, all the faithful of Christ, and especially those who are set over others, or are charged with the office of instruction, that they earnestly and diligently apply themselves to ward off and eliminate these errors from holy Church, and to spread the light of pure faith. Quoniam vero satis non est, hæreticam pravitatem devitare, nisi ii quoque errores diligenter fugiantur, qui ad illam plus minusve accedunt; omnes officii monemus, servandi etiam Constitutiones et Decreta, quibus pravæ ejusmodi opiniones, quæ isthic And since it is not sufficient to shun heretical pravity, unless those errors also be diligently avoided which more or less nearly approach it, we admonish all men of the further duty of observing those constitutions and decrees by which such erroneous opinions as are not here
diserte non enumerantur, ab hac Sancta Sede proscriptæ et prohibitæ sunt. specifically enumerated, have been proscribed and condemned by this Holy See. Datum Romæ in publica Sessione in Vaticana Basilica, solemniter celebrata, anno Incarnationis Dominicæ millesimo octingentesimo septuagesimo, die vigesima quarto, Aprilis. Pontificatus Nostri anno vigesimo quarto. Given at Rome in public Session solemnly held in the Vatican Basilica in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy, on the twenty-fourth day of April, in the twenty-fourth year of our Pontificate. Constitutio Dogmatica Prima de Ecclesia Christi. First Dogmatic Constitution on the Church of Christ.
Edita in Sessione Quarta Sacrosancti OEcumenici Concilii Vaticani.
Published in the Fourth Session of the holy OEcumenical Council of the Vatican.