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PDF versionProfession of Faith and Oath of Fidelity
Jun. 02, 2009
Editor's note: The following profession of faith and oath of fidelity are to be taken upon assuming an office to be exercised in the name of the church, according to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
The following conforms to Pope John Paul II's Apostolic Letter Motu Proprio Ad Tuendam Fidem and supercedes the Profession and Oath of 1989.
I. PROFESSION OF FAITH
I, N., with firm faith believe and profess everything that is contained in the Symbol of faith: namely:
I believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen. I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten not made, one in Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation, he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
With firm faith, I also believe everything contained in the Word of God, whether written or handed down in Tradition, which the Church, either by a solemn judgment or by the ordinary and universal Magisterium, sets forth to be believed as divinely revealed.
I also firmly accept and hold each and everything definitively proposed by the Church regarding teaching on faith and morals.
Moreover, I adhere with religious submission of will and intellect to the teachings which either the Roman pontiff or the College of Bishops enunciate when they exercise their authentic Magisterium, even if they do not intend to proclaim these teachings by a definitive act.
II. OATH OF FIDELITY ON ASSUMING AN OFFICE TO BE EXERCISED IN THE NAME OF THE CHURCH
(Formula to be used by the Christian faithful mentioned in Canon 833, nn. 5-8)
I, N., in assuming the office of __________, promise that in my words and in my actions I shall always preserve communion with the Catholic Church.
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With great care and fidelity I shall carry out the duties incumbent on me toward the Church, both universal and particular, in which, according to the provisions of the law, I have been called to exercise my service.
In fulfilling the charge entrusted to me in the name of the Church, I shall hold fast to the deposit of faith in its entirety; I shall faithfully hand it on and explain it, and I shall avoid any teachings contrary to it.
I shall follow and foster the common discipline of the entire Church and I shall maintain the observance of all ecclesiastical laws, especially those contained in the Code of Canon Law.
With Christian obedience I shall follow what the Bishops, as authentic doctors and teachers of the faith, declare, or what they, as those who govern the Church, establish.
I shall also faithfully assist the diocesan Bishops, so that the apostolic activity, exercised in the name and by mandate of the Church, may be carried out in communion with the Church.
So help me God, and God's Holy Gospels on which I place my hand.
(Variations in the fourth and fifth paragraphs of the formulary, for use by those members of the Christian faithful indicated in can. 833, n. 8).
I shall foster the common discipline of the entire Church and I shall insist on the observance of all ecclesiastical laws, especially those contained in the Code of Canon Law.
With Christian obedience I shall follow what the Bishops, as authentic doctors and teachers of the faith, declare, or what they, as those who govern the Church, establish. I shall also — with due regard for the character and purpose of my institute — faithfully assist the diocesan Bishops, so that the apostolic activity, exercised in the name and by mandate of the Church, may be carried out in communion with the Church.
EXTENSIVE USE OF THE OATH OF FIDELITY….
NOTE: Canon 833, Nos. 5-8 obliges the following to make the profession of faith: vicars general, episcopal vicars and judicial vicars; "at the beginning of their term of office, pastors, the rector of a seminary and the professors of theology and philosophy in seminaries; those to be promoted to the diaconate"; "the rectors of an ecclesiastical or Catholic university at the beginning of the rector's term of office"; and, "at the beginning of their term of office, teachers in any universities whatsoever who teach disciplines which deal with faith or morals"; and "superiors in clerical religious institutes and societies of apostolic life in accord with the norm of the constitutions."
Taken from:
L'Osservatore Romano
Weekly Edition in English
15 July 1998, page 3
Dear NCR, Each day I thank
Dear NCR,
Each day I thank Alimghty God for the great blessing which is Our Holy Father Saint Benedict's little Rule for Monks from 1500 years ago. Please read what is pledged therein. Please read it all, one paragraph a day, for the rest of our lives. The obedience framed therein differs in degree from what is demanded here; the slow "conversio" of our frail and distracted human heart taken into full account, as is our human weakness.
And let us give thanks for the Rules of Saint Francis, derived directly from the Holy Gospels, which therefore the Vatican of that time wished more codified, in the time of the brutal persecution of the similar Waldensians.
Forgive me please for still finding life in such ancient Rules. Tihs turning to our sources might be called by some a conservatism so ancient it is revolutionary. Nevertheless it conserves for us the true spirit and love and commissioning of the Gospel.
Let us read and swear by these Rules, and live them every day, whether alone or in community, with each person we meet, in particular embracing the rejected and despised leper of our day. Let us dare walk barefoot and unarmed to sit and to pray with the Muslim, as Saint Francis did, as Our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI did in Turkey's Blue Mosque.
I thank God for ancient Our Holy Father Saint Benedict and for his wise and moderate Rule. What a blessing it is to read the authentic Rules of Saint Francis as written by the Saint himself.
These new documents you here publish seem a whole different kettle of fish, demanding an exacting obedience of thought and of judgement which to this poor and unlearned monk appear opposed to the glorious gifts which Almighty God has given us. To my my unlearned reading, these documents deny our strongly prophetic mission, deny the universal documents of the Second Vatican Council, and deny the free will with which we are blessed as a community of equals, a family of sisters and brothers struggling to get there all together, as Saint Benedict urges us. This lock-step demand of loyalty smells more of a Nuremberg Rally (Lord forgive me) than what Saint Francis promised and Saint Benedict lived. Such a vow of obedience of thought is a totalitarianism never before imagined on this planet, and certainly not in any truly religious ocmmunity.
Gosh, do I give thanks for my anchoritic vocation, and for the prayers of my parish community three miles south in Mexico, and of brothers and sisters in the Faith near and far, so far, and yet so close right here within my heart and soul and bone marrow.
Let us pray always for our absent brothers and sisters, and for the liberation in all aspects of life which is the true life in the Holy Spirit of Love. Let us pray with the Blessed Virgin Mary her most powerful prayer: the Magnificat, standing, bowing, blessing and foreseeing the mighty taken down from their elaborate thrones and the humble lifted up high; the rich sent empty away and the poor filled with every good thing, overflowing, pressed down, more than they can carry!
your poorest and most wayward servant,
frere charles
Responding to your concerns
Responding to your concerns about this profession and oath:
These new documents you here publish seem a whole different kettle of fish, demanding an exacting obedience of thought and of judgement which to this poor and unlearned monk appear opposed to the glorious gifts which Almighty God has given us.
The profession and the oath are from 1989. I think the differences are simply a matter of a new translation into English.
After the profession of faith come these three paragraphs:
1989: With firm faith I believe as well everything contained in God's word, written or handed down in tradition and proposed by the church--whether in solemn judgment or in the ordinary and universal Magisterium--as divinely revealed and called for faith.
2009: With firm faith, I also believe everything contained in the Word of God, whether written or handed down in Tradition, which the Church, either by a solemn judgment or by the ordinary and universal Magisterium, sets forth to be believed as divinely revealed.
1989: I also firmly accept and hold each and every thing that is proposed by that same church definitively with regard to teaching concerning faith or morals.
2009: I also firmly accept and hold each and everything definitively proposed by the Church regarding teaching on faith and morals.
1989: What is more, I adhere with religious submission of will and intellect to the teachings which either the Roman pontiff or the college of bishops enunciate when they exercise the authentic Magisterium even if they proclaim those teachings in an act that is not definitive.
2009: Moreover, I adhere with religious submission of will and intellect to the teachings which either the Roman pontiff or the College of Bishops enunciate when they exercise their authentic Magisterium, even if they do not intend to proclaim these teachings by a definitive act.
So, nothing new there. As for the oath of fidelity:
1989: I, N., on assuming the office __________ promise that I shall always preserve communion with the Catholic Church whether in the words I speak or in the way I act.
2009: I, N., in assuming the office of __________, promise that in my words and in my actions I shall always preserve communion with the Catholic Church.
1989: With great care and fidelity I shall carry out the responsibilities by which I am bound in relation both to the universal church and to the particular church in which I am called to exercise my service according to the requirements of the law.
2009: With great care and fidelity I shall carry out the duties incumbent on me toward the Church, both universal and particular, in which, according to the provisions of the law, I have been called to exercise my service.
1989: In carrying out my charge, which is committed to me in the name of the church, I shall preserve the deposit of faith in its entirety, hand it on faithfully and make it shine forth. As a result, whatsoever teachings are contrary I shall shun.
2009: In fulfilling the charge entrusted to me in the name of the Church, I shall hold fast to the deposit of faith in its entirety; I shall faithfully hand it on and explain it, and I shall avoid any teachings contrary to it.
1989: I shall follow and foster the common discipline of the whole church and shall look after the observance of all ecclesiastical laws, especially those which are contained in the Code of Canon Law.
2009: I shall follow and foster the common discipline of the entire Church and I shall maintain the observance of all ecclesiastical laws, especially those contained in the Code of Canon Law.
1989: With Christian obedience I shall associate myself with what is expressed by the holy shepherds as authentic doctors and teachers of the faith or established by them as the church's rulers. And I shall faithfully assist diocesan bishops so that apostolic activity, to be exercised by the mandate and in the name of the church, is carried out in the communion of the same church.
2009: With Christian obedience I shall follow what the Bishops, as authentic doctors and teachers of the faith, declare, or what they, as those who govern the Church, establish. I shall also faithfully assist the diocesan Bishops, so that the apostolic activity, exercised in the name and by mandate of the Church, may be carried out in communion with the Church.
1989: May God help me in this way and the holy Gospels of God which I touch with my hands.
2009: So help me God, and God's Holy Gospels on which I place my hand.
1989: I shall foster the common discipline of the whole church and urge the observance of all ecclesiastical laws, especially those which are contained in the Code of Canon Law.
2009: I shall foster the common discipline of the entire Church and I shall insist on the observance of all ecclesiastical laws, especially those contained in the Code of Canon Law.
1989: With Christian obedience I shall associate myself with what is expressed by the holy shepherds as authentic doctors and teachers of the faith or established by them as rulers of the church. And with diocesan bishops I shall gladly devote my energy so that apostolic activity, to be exercised by the mandate and in the name of the church, is -- with provision made for the character and goal of my institute -- carried out in the communion of the church.
2009: With Christian obedience I shall follow what the Bishops, as authentic doctors and teachers of the faith, declare, or what they, as those who govern the Church, establish. I shall also — with due regard for the character and purpose of my institute — faithfully assist the diocesan Bishops, so that the apostolic activity, exercised in the name and by mandate of the Church, may be carried out in communion with the Church.
I don't see anything new here either (although I haven't examined them meticulously, but my quick skimming didn't reveal anything substantially new).
So the profession and oath are essentially the same from 1989.
To my unlearned reading, these documents deny our strongly prophetic mission, deny the universal documents of the Second Vatican Council, and deny the free will with which we are blessed as a community of equals...
Could you give examples from the profession and oath and from the Vatican II documents? What is our "strongly prophetic mission" which you refer to, and what does the Church's prophetic mission have to do with disobedience to the Church herself and her authentic Magisterium exercised by her bishops? Regarding our free will, we are of course always charged with the responsibility to direct our will to that of God.
St. Francis' rule included this clause: "Indeed let the friars, who are subjects, remember, that for the sake of God they have renounced their own wills. Whence I firmly command them, to obey their ministers in all things which they have promised the Lord to observe and which are not contrary to their souls or to our rule."
Our souls -- our consciences -- must be INFORMED and FORMED, and that formation is properly done under the guidance of the Church: "In the formation of conscience the Word of God is the light for our path, we must assimilate it in faith and prayer and put it into practice. We must also examine our conscience before the Lord's Cross. We are assisted by the gifts of the Holy Spirit, aided by the witness or advice of others and guided by the authoritative teaching of the Church." (CCC 1785) Indeed, "rejection of the Church's authority and her teaching, lack of conversion ... can be at the source of errors of judgment in moral conduct." (CCC 1792)
Brother, since you obviously
Brother, since you obviously have all the time in the world to comment on every single article and reply here, perhaps you would like to read some of the documents of Vatican II that you say this oath denies. This is paragraph 25 of Lumen Gentium. I think you will agree that this oath is pretty accurate according to VII. In fact, it quotes directly at points.
Although the individual bishops do not enjoy the prerogative of infallibility, they nevertheless proclaim Christ's doctrine infallibly whenever, even though dispersed through the world, but still maintaining the bond of communion among themselves and with the successor of Peter, and authentically teaching matters of faith and morals, they are in agreement on one position as definitively to be held.(40*) This is even more clearly verified when, gathered together in an ecumenical council, they are teachers and judges of faith and morals for the universal Church, whose definitions must be adhered to with the submission of faith.(41*)
And this infallibility with which the Divine Redeemer willed His Church to be endowed in defining doctrine of faith and morals, extends as far as the deposit of Revelation extends, which must be religiously guarded and faithfully expounded. And this is the infallibility which the Roman Pontiff, the head of the college of bishops, enjoys in virtue of his office, when, as the supreme shepherd and teacher of all the faithful, who confirms his brethren in their faith,(166) by a definitive act he proclaims a doctrine of faith or morals.(42*) And therefore his definitions, of themselves, and not from the consent of the Church, are justly styled irreformable, since they are pronounced with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, promised to him in blessed Peter, and therefore they need no approval of others, nor do they allow an appeal to any other judgment. For then the Roman Pontiff is not pronouncing judgment as a private person, but as the supreme teacher of the universal Church, in whom the charism of infallibility of the Church itself is individually present, he is expounding or defending a doctrine of Catholic faith.(43*) The infallibility promised to the Church resides also in the body of Bishops, when that body exercises the supreme magisterium with the successor of Peter. To these definitions the assent of the Church can never be wanting, on account of the activity of that same Holy Spirit, by which the whole flock of Christ is preserved and progresses in unity of faith.(44*)
Among the principal duties of bishops the preaching of the Gospel occupies an eminent place.(39*) For bishops are preachers of the faith, who lead new disciples to Christ, and they are authentic teachers, that is, teachers endowed with the authority of Christ, who preach to the people committed to them the faith they must believe and put into practice, and by the light of the Holy Spirit illustrate that faith. They bring forth from the treasury of Revelation new things and old,(164) making it bear fruit and vigilantly warding off any errors that threaten their flock.(165) Bishops, teaching in communion with the Roman Pontiff, are to be respected by all as witnesses to divine and Catholic truth. In matters of faith and morals, the bishops speak in the name of Christ and the faithful are to accept their teaching and adhere to it with a religious assent. This religious submission of mind and will must be shown in a special way to the authentic magisterium of the Roman Pontiff, even when he is not speaking ex cathedra; that is, it must be shown in such a way that his supreme magisterium is acknowledged with reverence, the judgments made by him are sincerely adhered to, according to his manifest mind and will. His mind and will in the matter may be known either from the character of the documents, from his frequent repetition of the same doctrine, or from his manner of speaking.
But when either the Roman Pontiff or the Body of Bishops together with him defines a judgment, they pronounce it in accordance with Revelation itself, which all are obliged to abide by and be in conformity with, that is, the Revelation which as written or orally handed down is transmitted in its entirety through the legitimate succession of bishops and especially in care of the Roman Pontiff himself, and which under the guiding light of the Spirit of truth is religiously preserved and faithfully expounded in the Church.(45*) The Roman Pontiff and the bishops, in view of their office and the importance of the matter, by fitting means diligently strive to inquire properly into that revelation and to give apt expression to its contents;(46*) but a new public revelation they do not accept as pertaining to the divine deposit of faith.(47*)
Please tell me how this oath
Please tell me how this oath and the Nicene Creed go against Vatican II?
I appears to me that those
I appears to me that those commentators to frere Charles' letter are much more astute in Canon Law than they are in Spirituality.
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