Abjuration

Please help support the mission of New Advent and get the full contents of this website as an instant download. Includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more — all for only $19.99...

A denial, disavowal, or renunciation underoath. In commonecclesiastical language this term is restricted to the renunciation ofheresy made by the penitentheretic on the occasion of his reconciliation with theChurch. TheChurch has always demanded such renunciation, accompanied by appropriate penance. In some cases the abjuration was the onlyceremony required; in others abjuration was followed by theimposition of hands or by unction, or both by thelaying on of hands and by unction.St. Gregory the Great (A.D. 590-604) in a letter (Epistolae, lib. XI, Ep. lxvii, P.L., Tom. LXXVII, Col. 1204-08; Decret. Gratiani, Pars III, Dist. iv, c. xliv) to Quiricus and the Bishops of Iberia concerning the reconciliation ofNestorians, sets forth the practice of the ancient Church in this matter. According to this testimony ofSt. Gregory, in cases where thehereticalbaptism was invalid, as with thePaulinists,Montanists, or Cataphrygians (Conc. Nicaen., can. xix, P.L., II, 666; Decret. Gratiani, Pars II Causa I, Q. i, c. xlii),Eunomians (Anomoeans), and others, the rule was that the penitent should bebaptized (cum ad sanctam Ecclesiam veniunt, baptizantur); but where thehereticalbaptism was considered validconverts were admitted into theChurch either by anointing withchrism, or by theimposition of hands or by a profession offaith (aut unctione chrismatis, aut impositione manus, aut professione fidei ad sinum matris Ecclesiae revocantur).

Applying this rule,St. Gregory declares thatArians were received into theChurch in the West by theimposition of hands, in the East by unction (Arianos per impositionem manus Occidens, per unctionem vero sancti chrismatis . . . Oriens, reformat), while theMonophysites, who separated from theChurch in the fifth and sixth centuries, were treated with less severity, being admitted, with some others, upon a mere profession of theorthodoxfaith [sola vera confessione recipit (Ecclesia)].St. Gregory's statement applies to theRoman Church and toItaly (Siricius, Epist., i, c. i; Epist., iv, c. viii; Innoc. I, Epist. ii, c. viii; Epist. xxii, c. iv), but not to the wholeWestern Church, since inGaul andSpain the rite of unction was also in use [Second Coun. of Arles, can. xvii; Coun. of Orange (A.D. 529), can. ii; Coun. of Epaon, can. xxi; Greg. ofTours, Historia, lib. II, c. xxxi; lib. IV, cc. xxvii, xxviii; lib. V, c. xxxix; lib. IX, c. xv].

As to theEastern Church,St. Gregory's phrase entirely agrees with the rule laid down in the seventh canon of Constantinople, which, though not emanating from the Ecumenical Council of 381 bears Witness nevertheless to the practice of theChurch of Constantinople in the fifth century [Duchesne, Christian Worship (London, 1904), 339, 340]. This canon, which was inserted in theTrullan or Quinisext Synod (canon xcv), and thus found a place in Byzantine canon law, distinguishes betweensects whosebaptism, but not confirmation, was accepted and those whosebaptism and confirmation were rejected. With theArians, consequently, are classed the Macedonians,Novatians (Conc. Nicaen., I, can. ix; Nicaen., II, can. ii), Sabellians,Apollinarists, and others, who were to be received by the anointing withchrism on the forehead, eyes, nostrils, mouth, and ears. Some identify thisceremony of thelaying on of hands with the rite of confirmation, and not merely animposition of hands unto penance. A similar discussion prevails in regard to the anointing withchrism.

Imposition of hands

Theimposition of hands, as a sign that due penance had been done, and in token of reconciliation (Pope Vigilius, P.L., CXXX, 1076), was prescribed first for those who had beenbaptized in theChurch and who had later fallen intoheresy.St. Cyprian in a letter to Quintus (epist. lxxi, in P.L., IV, 408-411) is witness of this practice, as is alsoSt. Augustine (De baptismo contra Donatistas, lib. III, c. xi, in P.L., XLIII, 208). This rite was prescribed, secondly, for those who had beenbaptized inheresy. RegardingPope Eusebius (A.D. 309 or 310) we read in theLiber Pontificalis (edit. Duchesne, I, 167): Hic hereticos invenit in Urbe Roma, quos ad manum impositionis [sic] reconciliavit. The same work (I, 216) declares ofPope Siricius (A.D. 384-399): Hic constituit hereticum sub manum impositionis reconciliari, presente cuncta ecclesia. [This latter was doubtless copied from the first chapter of thedecretals ofPope Siricius, writing to Himerius,Bishop ofTarragona inSpain (P.L., XIII, 1133, 1134; Duchesne, Liber Pontif;, I, 132, 133).]Pope St. Stephen declares this rite to be sufficient (see St. Cyprian, Epist. lxxiv, in P.L., IV, 412, 413; Eusebius,Church History VII.3). The firstCouncil of Arles (A.D. 314), can. viii [Labbe, Concilia (Paris, 1671), I, 1428; P.L., CXXX, 376] inculcates the same law. (See alsoSt. Leo, Epist. clix, c. vii; Epist. clxvi, c. ii; Epist. clxvii, Inquis. 18; P.L., LIV.)

Unction

The unction alone or together with theimposition of hands was also in vogue. The Council ofLaodicea (A.D. 373) in canon vii (Labbe, Concilia, I, 1497) confirms this usage in the abjuration ofNovatians,Photinians, and Quartodecimans. The secondCouncil of Arles (A.D. 451) in canon xvii (Labbe, IV, 1013) extends thediscipline to adherents ofBonosius, adversaries of the virginity of theBlessed Virgin Mary (Bonosianos . . . cum chrismate, et manus impositione in Ecclesia recipi sufficit). The Council of Epaon (A.D. 517), canon xvi (Labbe, IV, 1578), allows the same rite (Presbyteros, . . . si conversionem subitam petant, chrismate subvenire permittimus).

Profession of faith

Especially after the birth ofNestorianism andEutychianism, to abjuration ofheresy was added a solemn profession offaith. It was thus thebishops who, in the Second Council of Ephesus, had espoused the cause ofEutyches andDioscurus were reconciled to theChurch.St. Cyril of Alexandria (Epist. xlviii, ad Donat. Epis. Nicopol., P.G., LXXII, 252) received a like profession from Paul ofEmesa, who was thought to be affected withNestorianism.St. Leo (Epist. i, Ad Episc. Aquilens. c. ii, in P.L., LIV, 594) required the same from the votaries ofPelagianism, as did also a council, held atAachen in 799, from Felix,Bishop ofUrgel [Alzog, Universal Church Hist. (tr. Cincinnati, 1899), II, 181].

It is to be noted that asclerics, unless degraded or reduced to the lay state, were not submitted to the humiliation of public penance, so, consequently, their admission into theChurch involved noimposition of hands or otherceremony except a profession offaith (Fratres Ballerini, in Epist. S. Leon., n. 1594, P.L., LIV, 1492). In all cases there was demanded the presentation of alibellus, or form of abjuration, in which theconvert renounced andanathematized his former tenets. After declaring his abjuration to be free from compulsion, fear, or other unworthy motive, he proceeded toanathematize allheresies in general and in particular thatsect to which he had belonged, together with its heresiarchs, past, present, and future. He then enumerated the tenets accepted by saidsect, and, having repudiated them singly and generally, he ended with a profession of hisbelief in thetrue Faith. Sometimes there was added, under pain of punishment, a promise to remain in theChurch. Accidental differences only are found in the ancient formulas of abjuration extant. Later, in the countries especially where theInquisition was established, three sorts of abjuration were practised:

The abjuration demanded ofconverts in the presentdiscipline of the Church is essentially the same as the above. Aconvert to theChurch who has never beenbaptized is notobliged to abjureheresy. Aconvert, whosebaptism is considered valid, or who, at most, on his reception into theChurch is rebaptized conditionally, is required to make a profession offaith, which contains an abjuration ofheresy. A salutary penance also is imposed (S. Cong. S. Off., Nov., 1875. See Appendix Conc. Plen. Balt., II, 277, 278; American edit.Roman Ritual, 1, 2, 3). No abjuration is required fromconverts under the age of fourteen (S. Cong. S. Off., Mar. 8, 1882, in Collectanea S. Cong. de Propag. Fid., n. 1680, ed. 1903).

CONTACT US |ADVERTISE WITH NEW ADVENT