Anathemas

[goldenchild17]

From NewAdvent

[quote]"Anathema remains a major excommunication which is to be promulgated with great solemnity. A formula for this ceremony was drawn up by Pope Zachary (741-52) in the chapter Debent duodecim sacerdotes, Cause xi, quest. iii. The Roman Pontifical reproduces it in the chapter Ordo excommunicandi et absolvendi, distinguishing three sorts of excommunication: minor excommunication, formerly incurred by a person holding communication with anyone under the ban of excommunication; major excommunication, pronounced by the Pope in reading a sentence; and anathema, or the penalty incurred by crimes of the gravest order, and solemnly promulgated by the Pope. In passing this sentence, the pontiff is vested in amice, stole, and a violet cope, wearing his mitre, and assisted by twelve priests clad in their surplices and holding lighted candles. He takes his seat in front of the altar or in some other suitable place, amid pronounces the formula of anathema which ends with these words: "Wherefore in the name of God the All-powerful, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, of the Blessed Peter, Prince of the Apostles, and of all the saints, in virtue of the power which has been given us of binding and loosing in Heaven and on earth, we deprive N-- himself and all his accomplices and all his abettors of the Communion of the Body and Blood of Our Lord, we separate him from the society of all Christians, we exclude him from the bosom of our Holy Mother the Church in Heaven and on earth, we declare him excommunicated and anathematized and we judge him condemned to eternal fire with Satan and his angels and all the reprobate, so long as he will not burst the fetters of the demon, do penance and satisfy the Church; we deliver him to Satan to mortify his body, that his soul may be saved on the day of judgment."[/quote]

So the Church really does condemn people to hell through an anathema?

[ironmonk]

[quote name='goldenchild17' date='Jul 10 2005, 10:52 PM']From NewAdvent
So the Church really does condemn people to hell through an anathema?
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[u][b]anathema[/b][/u]: A Greek word with the root meaning of cursed or separated and the adapted meaning of excommunicated. Used in Church documents, especially the canons of ecumenical councils, to condemn heresy and practices opposed to proper discipline.


The Church doesn't condemn people, people condemn themselves by rejecting God.


God Bless,
ironmonk

[Apotheoun]

[quote name='goldenchild17' date='Jul 10 2005, 06:52 PM']So the Church really does condemn people to hell through an anathema?
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There is always an element of contingency in ecclesiastical pronouncements of this kind, because the person could repent of his heresy and be restored to a state of grace. That's why the prayer that you cited says, ". . . [i]so long as he will not burst the fetters of the demon, do penance and satisfy the Church[/i]; we deliver him to Satan to mortify his body, [i]that his soul may be saved on the day of judgment[/i]." Excommunication always has a medicinal purpose, that is, it is meant primarily to bring a man to repentance.

[Mateo el Feo]

The end of the text reminded me of a verse in St. Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians ([url="http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/1corinthians/1corinthians5.htm#v5"]link[/url]):
[quote name='1 Cor 5:5']you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.[/quote]
The man was "excommunicated" for his sin (incest).

[goldenchild17]

That verse is interesting, but I'm still not sure about this whole thing...

[Apotheoun]

[quote name='goldenchild17' date='Jul 10 2005, 09:21 PM']That verse is interesting, but I'm still not sure about this whole thing...
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The power to excommunicate a person was granted to the Church by Christ the Lord Himself (cf. Matthew 16:17-19; and Matthew 18:17-18), so there is no sense in doubting the authority of the Church in pronouncing a judgment upon a man. Again, as I said before, the judgment is contingent upon the man's refusal to repent, if he dies in a state of mortal sin, he will be damned, but if he repents, he may be restored to the Church.

[goldenchild17]

Okay, so what's the relation between modern-day protestants, anathemas, and excommunication and there salvation according to the Church? That's something I just don't really get.

[Apotheoun]

[quote name='goldenchild17' date='Jul 10 2005, 09:55 PM']Okay, so what's the relation between modern-day protestants, anathemas, and excommunication and there salvation according to the Church?  That's something I just don't really get.
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Although I don't completely understand the nature of your question, because it is rather vaguely worded, here is my answer:

A modern day Protestant is a material heretic in most cases, and so he may lack culpability for his schismatic and heretical beliefs. But the judgment as to whether or not a person in invincibly ignorant can only be made by God, for He alone sees the secrets of the heart.

As far as my own case is concerned, when I was a Protestant I began as a material heretic. Now as I continued along my spiritual journey and slowly came to realize that the Catholic Church is the one true Church, had I then failed to enter the Catholic Church, I would have become a formal heretic, and my lack of action would have damned me. But thanks be to God, I followed the impulse of divine grace and entered the Catholic Church.

Simply put, any man who through his own fault remains separated from the Catholic Church damns himself to hell.

[mulls]

[quote name='ironmonk' date='Jul 10 2005, 10:15 PM'][u][b]anathema[/b][/u]:  A Greek word with the root meaning of cursed or separated and the adapted meaning of excommunicated. Used in Church documents, especially the canons of ecumenical councils, to condemn heresy and practices opposed to proper discipline.
The Church doesn't condemn people, people condemn themselves by rejecting God.
God Bless,
ironmonk
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so the Church just declares it?

[goldenchild17]

[quote name='Apotheoun' date='Jul 11 2005, 12:06 AM']Although I don't completely understand the nature of your question, because it is rather vaguely worded, here is my answer: 

A modern day Protestant is a material heretic in most cases, and so he may lack culpability for his schismatic and heretical beliefs.  But the judgment as to whether or not a person in invincibly ignorant can only be made by God, for He alone sees the secrets of the heart.

As far as my own case is concerned, when I was a Protestant I began as a material heretic.  Now as I continued along my spiritual journey and slowly came to realize that the Catholic Church is the one true Church, had I then failed to enter the Catholic Church, I would have become a formal heretic, and my lack of action would have damned me.  But thanks be to God, I followed the impulse of divine grace and entered the Catholic Church.

Simply put, any man who through his own fault remains separated from the Catholic Church damns himself to hell.
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That's good for now. Do you mind if I use this explanation in a discussion I'm having? I'd rep ya of course