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Eminent and esteemed Father Bellon
I am writing to ask you for clarification regarding the situation of an acquaintance of mine who asserts the following
1) that she is in favor of abortion
2) that she is in favor of homosexual unions

3) that the church (exact words) should modernize itself regarding these issues and declare them normal or in any case that they are not sins
I ask you if this acquaintance of mine can be considered a heretic (and also specify whether heterodoxy and heresy are synonymous terms) and whether she can incur excommunication for these theses of hers or not.

Among other things, I ask you if a Catholic Christian is free to examine the sacred writings, perhaps even based on the so-called apocryphal gospels etc. because in my discussion with her, she cited an Aramaic text in which the Virgin Mary was not defined as a virgin but only girl but after that I don’t know what point she was trying to make (maybe she doesn’t believe in Her virginity? I can’t say) also because it sounds like Protestantism to me (and then if you are part of the church you should follow the magisterium, the tradition of the fathers of the church and of the councils). 

Yours sincerely,

Nicolò Tobia

Priest’s answer

Dear Nicolò Tobia,
1. It is necessary to distinguish between Defining Magisterium and Definitive Magisterium.

2. Defining Magisterium is infallible and establishes truths of faith, that is, dogmas.

Anyone who rejects the dogma is a heretic and is therefore excommunicated.

Defining Magisterium can only be expressed by an Ecumenic Council or by the Pope when he speaks ex cathedra.

3.Definitive Magisterium is expressed by the Pope when he declares his authority in defining the teachings of the Church.
This emerges by the way in which he expresses himself and by the constant reiteration of that doctrine.
It can also be fruit of the collegial Magisterium i.e. of the Pope with the bishops scattered across the globe.
The definitive Magisterium, as Vatican Council’s II Lumen gentium reminds us at number 25, it is equally infallible.
However this teaching is not sanctioned as dogma of faith or of moral to avoid placing the faithful in an aut aut situation, in or out.
The Church, as a mother, desires the salvation of all her children and is patient toward those who struggle to adhere to the Magisterium on some points.
This is why those who do not adhere to this teaching are wrong and commit a sin.
But they’re not heretics and consequently they are not excommunicated.

4. The Magisterium on abortion and on euthanasia belongs to the definitive Magisterium of the Church, as John Paul II expressed in the encyclical Evangelium vitae.
Equally, definitive Magisterium is the one about contraception and sodomy.
Therefore your acquaintance, however mistaken, is not heretic.

5. Those who deviate from the doctrine of the church are heterodox.
But as the doctrine of the Church expresses itself in a definitive and defining manner, only the heterodox about the defining doctrine are heretic.
Those who are heterodox about the definitive doctrine, however mistaken they are, for example like your acquaintance, they are not heretics.

6. The Sacred Scriptures are to be interpreted according to the Tradition defined by the Magisterium of the Church.

This is because it is the Tradition determined by the Magisterium of the Church that has delivered to us the Sacred Scriptures. 

7. There are three criteria according to which Tradition should be understood, and consequently Scripture, and they are determined by the Holy Fathers: quod ubique, quod a semper, quod ab omnibus creditum est: what is everywhere, what has always been, what has been believed by everyone.

8. The word almah Is 7,14 refers to, has been believed since always, everywhere and by everyone to be regarding to a virgin.
When Sacred Scripture has been translated by the Jews in Greek (this is the so called version LXX, of the Seventies) almah has been translated with parthenos, i.e. with virgin..
The version of the LXX, which took place between 250 and 100 b.C., was considered inspired by the Jews themselves and therefore enjoyed a very high esteem.

9. As I have already had occasion to mention in other answers, almah means young woman, young girl. It also means virgin.
The LXX opted for virgin. Why? Perché? Because the common meaning that everyone gave to that prophecy was precisely in reference to a virgin.
After all, what prophecy would it be to indicate that a woman was about to give birth? How many others gave birth!
The LXX therefore, have remained faithful to the Tradition.
Fittingly, the Jerusalem Bible notes: “The text of the LXX is a precious witness of ancient Jewish interpretation”.

I thank you for your questions, I bless you, I wish you all good things and I remember you in my prayers.


Fr Angelo