Oath Against Modernism

The Oath Against Modernism
Sacrorum antistitum
Given by His Holiness St. Pius X, 1 September , 1910. 


To be sworn to by all clergy, pastors, confessors, preachers, religious
superiors, and professors in philosophical-theological seminaries. 

	I . . . . firmly embrace and accept each and every definition that
has been set forth and declared by the unerring teaching authority of the
Church, especially those principal truths which are directly opposed to
the errors of this day. Ego N. N. Firmiter amplector ac recipio omnia et
singula, quae ab inerranti Ecclesia magisterio definita, adserta ac
declarata sunt, praesertim ea doctrinae capita, quae huius temporis
erroribus directo adversantur. 

And first of all, I profess that God, the origin and end of all things,
can be known with certainty by the natural light of reason from the
created world (see Rom. 1:90), that is, from the visible works of
creation, as a cause from its effects, and that, therefore, his existence
can also be demonstrated. 

Ac primum quidem: Deum, rerum omnium principium et finem, naturali
rationis lumine "per ea quae facta sunt" hoc est, per visibilia creationis
opera, tamquam causam per effectus, certo cognosci, adeoque demonstrari
etiam posse, profiteor. 

Secondly, I accept and acknowledge the external proofs of revelation, that
is, divine acts and especially miracles and prophecies as the surest signs
of the divine origin of the Christian religion and I hold that these same
proofs are well adapted to the understanding of all eras and all men, even
of this time. 

Secundo: externa revelationis argumenta, hoc est facta divina, in
primisque miracula et prophetias admitto et agnosco tanquam signa
certissima divinitus ortae christianae religionis, eademque tenea aetatum
omnium atque hominum, etiam huius temporis, intelliegentiae esse maxime
accommodata. 

Thirdly, I believe with equally firm faith that the Church, the guardian
and teacher of the revealed word, was personally instituted by the real
and historical Christ when he lived among us, and that the Church was
built upon Peter, the prince of the apostolic hierarchy, and his
successors for the duration of time. 

Tertio: firma pariter fide credo Ecclesiam, verbi revelati custodem et
magistram, per ipsum verum atque historicum Christum, cum apud nos
degeret, proximo ac directo institutam eandemque super Petrum, apostolicae
hierarchiae principem, eiusque in aevum successores aedificatam. 

Fourthly, I sincerely hold that the doctrine of faith was handed down to
us from the apostles through the orthodox Fathers in exactly the same
meaning and always in the same purport. Therefore, I entirely reject the
heretical' misrepresentation that dogmas evolve and change from one
meaning to another different from the one which the Church held
previously. I also condemn every error according to which, in place of the
divine deposit which has been given to the spouse of Christ to be
carefully guarded by her, there is put a philosophical figment or product
of a human conscience that has gradually been developed by human effort
and will continue to develop indefinitely. 

Quarto: fidei doctrinam ab Apostolis per orthodoxos Patres eodem sensu
eademque semper sententia ad nos usque transmissam, sincero recipio;
ideoque prorsus reicio haereticum commentum evolutionis dogmatum, ab uno
in alium sensum transeuntium, diversum ab eo, quem prius habuit Ecclesia;
pariterque damno errorem omnem, quo, divino deposito, Christi Sponsae
tradito ab eaque fideliter custodiendo, sufficitur philosophicum inventum,
vel creatio humanae conscientiae, hominum conatu sensim efformatae et in
posterum indefinito progressu perficiendae. 

Fifthly, I hold with certainty and sincerely confess that faith is not a
blind sentiment of religion welling up from the depths of the subconscious
under the impulse of the heart and the motion of a will trained to
morality; but faith is a genuine assent of the intellect to truth received
by hearing from an external source. By this assent, because of the
authority of the supremely truthful God, we believe to be true that which
has been revealed and attested to by a personal God, our creator and Lord. 

Quinto: certissime teneo ac sincere profiteor, fidem non esse caecum
sensum religionis e latrebis subconscientiae erumpentem, sub pressione
cordis et inflesione voluntatis maraliter informatae, sed verum assensum
intellectus veritati extrinsecus acceptae "ex auditu", quo nempe, quae a
Deo personali, creatore ac Domino nostro dicta, testata et revelata sunt,
vera esse credimus, propter Dei auctoritatem summe veracis. 

Furthermore, with due reverence, I submit and adhere with my whole heart
to the condemnations, declarations, and all the prescripts contained in
the encyclical Pascendi and in the decree Lamentabili, especially those
concerning what is known as the history of dogmas. 

Me etiam, qua par est, reverentia subicio totoque animo adhaereo
damnationibus, declarationibus, praescriptis omnibus, quae in Encyclicis
litteris "Pascendi" et in Decreto "Lamentabili" continentur, praesertim
circa eam quam historiam dogmatum vocant. 

I also reject the error of those who say that the faith held by the Church
can contradict history, and that Catholic dogmas, in the sense in which
they are now understood, are irreconcilable with a more realistic view of
the origins of the Christian religion. 

Idem reprobo errorem affirmantium, propositam ab Ecclesia fidem posse
historiae repugnare, et catholica dogmata, quo sensu nunc intelliguntur,
cum verioribus christianae religionis originibus componi non posse. 

I also condemn and reject the opinion of those who say that a
well-educated Christian assumes a dual personality-that of a believer and
at the same time of a historian, as if it were permissible for a historian
to hold things that contradict the faith of the believer, or to establish
premises which, provided there be no direct denial of dogmas, would lead
to the conclusion that dogmas are either false or doubtful. 

Damno quoque ac reicio eorum sententiam, qui dicunt christianum hominem
eruditiorem induere personam duplicem, aliam credentis, aliam historici,
quasi liceret historico ea retinere, quae credentis fidei contradicant,
aut praemissas adstruere, ex quibus consequatur, dogmata esse aut falsa
aut dubia, modo haec directo non denegentur. 

Likewise, I reject that method of judging and interpreting Sacred
Scripture which, departing from the tradition of the Church, the analogy
of faith, and the norms of the Apostolic See, embraces the
misrepresentations of the rationalists and with no prudence or restraint
adopts textual criticism as the one and supreme norm. 

Reprobo pariter eam Scripturae sanctae diiudicandae atque interpretandae
rationem, quae, Ecclesiae traditione, analogia fidei et Apostolicae Sedis
normis posthabitis, rationalistarum comentis inhaeret, et criticem textus
velut unicam supremamque regulam haud minus licenter quam temere
amplectitur. 

Furthermore, I reject the opinion of those who hold that a professor
lecturing or writing on a historico-theological subject should first put
aside any preconceived opinion about the supernatural origin of Catholic
tradition or about the divine promise of help to preserve all revealed
truth forever; and that they should then interpret the writings of each of
the Fathers solely by scientific principles, excluding all sacred
authority, and with the same liberty of judgment that is common in the
investigation of all ordinary historical documents. 

Sententiam praeterea illorum reicio, qui tenent, doctori disciplinae
historicae theologicae tradendae aut iis de rebus scribenti seponendam
prius esse opinionem ante conceptam sive de supernaturali origine
catholicae traditionis, sive de promissa divinitus ope ad perennem
conservationem uniuscuiusque revelati veri; deinde scripta Patrum
singulorum interpretanda solic scientiae principiis, sacra qualibet
auctoritate seclusa, eaque iudicii libertate, qua profana quaevis
monumenta solent investigari. 

Finally, I declare that I am completely opposed to the error of the
modernists who hold that there is nothing divine in sacred tradition; or
what is far worse, say that there is, but in a pantheistic sense, with the
result that there would remain nothing but this plain simple fact-one to
be put on a par with the ordinary facts of history-the fact, namely, that
a group of men by their own labor, skill, and talent have continued
through subsequent ages a school begun by Christ and his apostles. 

In universum denique me alienissimum ab errore profiteor, quo modernistae
tenent in sacra traditione nihil inesse divini, aut, quod longe deterius,
pantheistico sensu illud admittunt, ita ut nihil iam restet nisi nudum
factum et simplex, communibus historiae factis aequandum: hominum nempe
sua industria, solertia, ingenio scholam a Christo eiusque Apostolis
inchoatam per subsequentes aetates continuantium. 

I promise that I shall keep all these articles faithfully, entirely, and
sincerely, and guard them inviolate, in no way deviating from them in
teaching or in any way in word or in writing. Thus I promise, this I
swear, so help me God, and these holy Gospels of God which I touch with my
hand. 

Haec omnia spondeo me fideliter, integre sincereque servaturum et
inviolabiliter custoditurum, nusquam ab iis sive in docendo sive
quomodolibet verbis scriptisque deflectendo. Sic spondeo, sic iuro, sic me
Deus adiuvet et haec sancta Dei Evangelia.