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MAIORES ECCLESIAE CAUSAS
LETTER OF POPE INNOCENT III
TO THE ARCHBISHOP OF BURGUNDY END OF 1201 [excerpt] |
. . . Asserunt enim, parvulis inutiliter baptisma conferri. . . . Respondemus, quod baptisma circumcisione successit. . . . Unde, sicut anima circumcisi de populo suo non peribat [Gn 17,14], sic, qui ex aqua fuerit et Spiritu sancto renatus, regni caelorum introiturn obtinebit [Io 3, 5] . . . Etsi originalis culpa remittebatur per circumcisionis mysterium, et damnationis periculum vitabatur, non tamen perveniebatur ad regnum caelorum, quod usque ad mortem Christi fuit omnibus obseratum; sed per sacramentum baptismi Christi sanguine rubricati culpa remittitur, et ad regnum caelorum etiam pervenitur, cuius ianuam Christi sanguis fidelibus suis misericorditer reseravit. Absit enim, ut universi parvuli pereant, quorum quotidie tanta multitudo moritur quin et ipsis misericors Deus, qui neminem vult perire, aliquod remedium procuraverit ad salutem ... Quod opponentes inducunt, fidem aut caritatem aliasque virtutes parvulis, utpote non consentientibus, non infundi, a plerisque non conceditur absolute . . ., aliis asserentibus per virtutem baptismi parvulis quidem culpam remitti, sed gratiam non conferri; nonnullis vero dicentibus, et dimitti peccatum, et virtutes infundi, habentibus illas quoad habitum, non quoad usum, donec perveniant ad aetatem adultam. . . . Dicimus distinguendum, quod peccatum est duplex: originale scilicet et actuale: originale, quod absque consensu contrahitur, et actuale, quod committitur cum consensu. Originale igitur, quod sine consensu contrahitur, sine consensu per vim remittitur sacramenti; actuale vero, quod cum consensu contrahitur, sine consensu minime relaxatur.... Poena originalis peccati est carentia visionis Dei, actualis vero poena peccati est gehennae perpetuae cruciatus. . . .
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(For) they assert that baptism is conferred uselessly on children. . . . We respond that baptism has taken the place of circumcision. . . . Therefore as "the soul of the circumcised did not perish from the people" [Gen. 17:4], so "he who has been reborn from water and the Holy Spirit will obtain entrance to the kingdom of heaven" [John 3:5]. . . . Although original sin was remitted by the mystery of circumcision, and the danger of damnation was avoided, nevertheless there was no arriving at the kingdom of heaven, which up to the death of Christ was barred to all. But through the sacrament of baptism the guilt of one made red by the blood of Christ is remitted, and to the kingdom of heaven one also arrives, whose gate the blood of Christ has mercifully opened for His faithful. For God forbid that all children of whom daily so great a multitude die, would perish, but that also for these the merciful God who wishes no one to perish has procured some remedy unto salvation. . . . As to what opponents say, (namely), that faith or love or other virtues are not infused in children, inasmuch as they do not consent, is absolutely not granted by most . . ., some asserting that by the power of baptism guilt indeed is remitted to little ones but grace is not conferred; and some indeed saying both that sin is forgiven and that virtues are infused in them as they hold virtues as a possession not as a function, until they arrive at adult age. . . . We say that a distinction must be made, that sin is twofold: namely, original and actual: original, which is contracted without consent; and actual which is committed with consent. Original, therefore, which is committed without consent, is remitted without consent through the power of this sacrament; but actual, which is contracted with consent, is not mitigated in the slightest without consent. . . . The punishment of original sin is deprivation of the vision of God, but the punishment of actual sin is the torments of everlasting hell.
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Id est religioni christianae contrarium, ut semper invitus et penitus contradicens ad recipiendam et servandam Christianitatem aliquis compellatur. Propter quod inter invitum et invitum, coactum et coactum alii non absurde distinguunt, quod is, qui terroribus atque suppliciis violenter attrahitur, et, ne detrimentum incurrat, baptismi suscipit sacramentum, talis quidem sicut et is, qui ficte ad baptismum accedit, characterem suscipit Christianitatis impressum et ipse tamquam conditionaliter volens, licet absolute non velit, cogendus est ad observantiam fidei christianae. . . . Ille vero, qui numquam consentit, sed penitus contradicit, nec rem nec characterem suscipit sacramenti, quia plus est expresse contradicere, quam minime consentire: sicut nec ille notam alicuius reatus incurrit, qui contradicens penitus et reclamans thurificare idolis cogitur violenter. Dormientes autem et amentes, si prius quam amentiam incurrerent aut dormirent, in contradictione persisterent: quia in eis intelligitur contradictionis propositum perdurare, etsi fuerint sic immersi, characterem non suscipiunt sacramenti; secus autem si prius catechumeni exstitissent et habuissent propositum baptizandi; unde tales in necessitatis articulo consuevit Ecclesia baptizare. Tunc ergo characterem sacramentalis imprimit operatio, cum obicem voluntatis contrariae non invenit obsistentem.
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This is contrary to the Christian religion, that anyone always unwilling and interiorily objecting be compelled to receive and to observe Christianity. On this account, some absurdly do not distinguish between willing and unwilling, and forced and forced, because he who is violently forced by terrors and punishments, and, lest he incur harm, receives the sacrament of baptism, such a one also as he who under pretense approaches baptism, receives the impressed sign of Christianity, and he himself, just as he willed conditionally although not absolutely, must be forced to the observance of Christian Faith. . . . But he who never consents, but inwardly contradicts, receives neither the matter nor the sign of the sacrament, because to contradict expressly is more than not to agree. . . . The sleeping, moreover, and the weak-minded, if before they incurred weak-mindedness, or before they went to sleep persisted in contradiction, because in these the idea of contradiction is understood to endure, although they have been so immersed, they do not receive the sing of the sacrament; not so, however, if they had first lived as catechumens and had the intention of being baptized; therefore, the Church has been accustomed to baptize such in a time of necessity. Thus, then the sacramental operation impresses the sign, when it does not meet the resisting obstacle of a contrary will.
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INNOCENT III
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