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In the years following the Second Vatican Council, there was much debate amongst theologians and canonists as to whether and to what extent the Church could insist on the “religious submission of intellect and will” called for by Lumen gentium for non-definitive, and therefore non-infallible, teachings of the magisterium. Indeed, dissent from the authority of the Church and her teaching has been a serious obstacle to the council’s implementation. For this reason, ecclesiastical authorities, especially over the last 150 years, but culminating with the recent revision of the Church’s penal law in 2021, have sought to protect and promote this unity of faith even regarding teachings proposed without a definitive act by recourse to sanctions against obstinate dissent. Indeed, this most recent reform enacted by Pope Francis in the apostolic constitution Pascite gregem Dei has brought greater clarity and specificity to the penalties that may be imposed in response to such dissent that what was originally offered by the 1983 CIC. This important change to what is now canon 1365 has allowed a formerly ambiguous and difficult to employ disciplinary sanction to become a truly clear and more useful instrument for the Church’s shepherds to safeguard and restore the unity of faith.
This thesis seeks to clarify the delict mentioned in canon 1365 and to analyze the penalties prescribed in order to demonstrate the significance of their change and their increased effectiveness in meeting the challenge of preserving the integrity of the faith and morals. A tracing of the historical iter of the current canon 1365 from its theological foundations and various codification in law will show the importance the Church places on assent even to doctrines proposed by non-infallible exercises of the magisterium. An analysis of canon 752 will allow a more in depth examination of both the kinds of doctrines involved in this broad category of the “non-definitive” ordinary magisterium of the supreme authority, as well as the significance of the “religious submission of intellect and will” which the Church requires all the faithful to exhibit towards them. Finally, the delict of canon 1365 will be examined more closely to bring a greater clarity to the actions it proscribes and demonstrate the greater efficacy of the revised penalties that are to be imposed.