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To: Dominick

You are talking gobbledegook. Either the pope is commenting on a latae sententiae and merely giving an opinion about what it meant--which is my view--or he is judicially declaring a sentence of excommunication--which is your view. If he is commenting on a latae sententiae--then it is a matter "in formo interno"--literally, in the internal forum of the individual involved and CANNOT be known by anybody else.

You are trying to say at one and the same time it is a public matter but it is also a latae sententiae decree--which is ridiculous. Of course the consecrations were a public matter--but the MOTIVE for the consecrations resided in the hearts of the individuals involved. It is the motive for the action that matters, not the fact of it. If the motive was to protect the faith and avoid harm to souls, there could be no penalty according to Canon Law.

It was the public act alone which the Pope attempted--wrongly--to interpret. He judged the consecrations took place in order to deny his papacy; he judged wrongly and falsely. You won't concede this because you are reluctant to admit the Pope has erred. Nevertheless, those he accused were innocent of what he charged and certainly might in good conscience ignore such false accusations of excommunication or schism.


850 posted on 07/21/2004 11:30:15 AM PDT by ultima ratio
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To: ultima ratio
It is a indisputed act, that carries an excommunication. The Pope mearly let it ride, and it is in effect, Fellay says in so many words, he is excommunicated. If he admits it, that carries more worth than your arguement.

A public act, and public statements, need not have anything else done to make an excommunication stick. Adding that it can only be an internal matter is an innovation.
851 posted on 07/21/2004 11:34:28 AM PDT by Dominick ("Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought." - JP II)
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