Alcala 1958

the lif tin gof a pen alt yin the extern al forum or, at mo st, the miti ga tio nof a pen anc e imp ose d in sacram ental con fes sio n,then it wa s cer tai nly no t be ne fic ia lto the fai thf ul but rath er to their det rim ent . Th e reason is that by lif tin gor mi tig ati ng the pen an ce, theChu rch wou ld be encour­ ag ingthe fai thf ul to om it pen itential work s wh ich are als o me rit oriou s in th is lif e. Th e fai th ful would the n lea ve the bu sin ess of sat isfa cti onfor their sins un til the nex t lif e. An d in purgator ythe sat isf act ionis mu ch mo re pain fu l than an y wor ks of pen anc e und erta ken in thi s lif e and is, bes ide s, tota lly de vo id of me rit . The Chu rch could not in thi s cas e urge the fai thf ul to tak e advan tag eof indu lg­ ences as a gre at sp iri tua l be ne fit . So it is that Po pe Leo X con demned thi s teac hin g of Lut her, and the cen sure was reit era ted by Pi us VI in hi s con dem na tionof the false syn od of Pi stoia. 7 As for the sep ara tistOri ent al view wh ich ide nt ifie sthe rem iss ionof sin an d of tem­ por al pun ishment,Ca tho licthe ologianshol d bey ond ca vil that sin is for given onl y thro ugh the sac ram entof pen anc erec eived eith er re or vo to . Th is me an s morta l si n. But what abo ut ven ial si n? We kno w tha t the sacrament is no t nec ess ary for the rem issio n of ven ial sin . Is it pos sib le, the n, to hol d that an ind ulg enceis the rem iss ion of ven ial si n? To ar riv e at an an swerto thi s que stio n, we must firs t obs erv etha t sin inv olv estwo thi ngs, the gu ilt of sin an d the debt of mak­ ing up for the sin . Th es e two elem ent sare cal led rea tus cu lpa e an d rea tus poe nae. It is true that ther e are a few the olo gia ns who ide ntify the se two elem ent sin the cas e of ven ial sin . For them, in other word s, ven ial sin is no th ing mo re than a rea tus poenae .* If you thu s und ers tan dvenial sin as rea tus poe nae , yo u cou ld con seq uen tly 7 Den zin ger , op.ci t., nn. 757- 762; 1540-1543. 8 Pau l Galt ier, S.J., De Pae nite ntia (Rome, 19 50 );"Ap pen dix De Indu lgen tiis, "c. 2, thes is 50, n. 603. al forum t, tion e i s ental f sion, t inly ficial ul i ent. g i ating ce, the l - i g ful i i i itorious i . t ful i es i ction i . i t y i ction ful ce t ken i s, ll i it. rc ful e tage l - t l fit. i t t hing f , re te nation . 7 tist al tifies t i ion - l is ent, t lic l i ns i i t ent ce i t to. is s l . i l ry i n l . i le, , l ence ission l ri e s er i n, t i serve l es t , i - for th . hese ts l t s l e e. l gians who i tif ts i l . , venial sin is i g p . 8 t d v as reatus poenae, l uently 7 D ger, t., 8 Paul li , it ntia , ); e dix l l ti ," i t g l y

I

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FR. QU INN the separa tedOrie ntal chu rch es,pri nci pal ly thr ough the age ncy of the 18th -cen turyRus­ sia n the olo gia n,Pro kopovic ,who had str ong lea nin gstowards Pro test anttea chi ng s. 5 Th e Ori enta l sepa ratis ts, of course , have no t embra ced the Luth eran ext rin sic ism .But ag ain stthe back grou ndof tha t ext rin sic ism the y ha ve come to den y ind ulg ences al­ tog eth eron the ground stha t theent ire debt of tempor al pun ishm ent is alway s liquidated thr oug h the sacr ame nt of pen anc e. Th e rem issi on of sin and of tempor al pun ish­ me nt the reb y bec ome ins epa rab le. Su ch, bri efly , is the pan oram a of mis­ conc ept ion . The tea chi ngof the Cat holi c Chu rch dif fer s con sidera bly from thes e views . Lut her 's tea chi ng ha s it that the indulg ­ ence is me rely the waivi ngof a good work imp ose d by ecc les iastic al author ity on a publi c sinn er. St . Thomas , thre e cen turie s ear lie r, had alre ady poi nte d out the inc on­ gruit yof suc h a con cep t. 6 He observ ed tha t if the ind ulg enc ewer e no thi ngmo re tha n 5 M .Gord illo, S.J., Comp end iumThe olog iaeOri - ent alis (Rome, 1950), c. 2, art. II, p. 37 ; c. 6, art. I, p. 164. 6SummaTheolog ica , Supplementum, Q. 25, a. 1, c. 71 t te l es, i al y t t ry • i t l i n, o o i , g l i g t g .' l tists, , ced Lh i ici . i t nd i ici t i ence - r s e t al punishment i l ay liquidated t h t ce. ission al i - y ra le. , iefl , a - conception. The te ching lic Church differs i erably views. 's i g l - l g imposed by eccle ia tical authority on a lic . . , rie li r, d th - gruity of uch a concept. 6 He observed that l ence ing than ' f. ill , . ., e dium l iae e li , a ica, up lementum, . l, c.