Wounds of Unity in the Church: Apostasy, Heresy, and Schism “Where there are sins, there are also divisions, schisms, heresies, and disputes. Where there is virtue, however, there also are harmony and unity, from which arise the one heart and one soul of all believers. (CCC 817)

Apostasy The total rejection of the Christian Faith by someone already baptized – Different from doubt, voluntary or involuntary, because doubt is the refusal, hesitation, or difficulty in believing something that Church teaches to be true

Heresy A heresy is the denial or alteration of some part or parts of the Deposit of Faith – Deposit of Faith: revealed Truths, contained in Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition – Some heresies are very clear, while some are not as clear Ex: The Protestant Bible does not include the Apocrypha, meaning that it is an alteration of Sacred Scripture, part of the Deposit of Faith. Technically, this is heretical; HOWEVER, those who grew up without fully understanding this are not held as culpable, and therefore, they would not be labeled as heretical by the Church today.

Early Church Heresies The early Church heresies were mostly about the person of Jesus Christ – Gnosticism – Arianism (4 th century) – Appollinarianism ( ) – Nestorianism ( ) – Monophystitism (400s-600s)

Schisms A schism is the refusal to submit to the Roman Pontiff (pope) or bishops, or be in communion with the Church subject to him. Two schismatic events: – The Great Schism between the East and West, finalizing in 1450s – The Protestant Reformation; series of schisms that took place between

The Great Schism Between Catholic and Eastern Orthodox A long series of minor issues between the Eastern and Western churches, beginning as early as the 300s, included a difference in language and order/structure of liturgy; these issues soon grew to political and authority issues, which resulted in the final schism in about The Eastern Orthodox Church still contains valid Apostolic succession, holy orders, full and valid sacramental life, and almost entirely the same theology as the Catholic Church Major difference: do not recognize the pope’s authority as given to him as a successor of the office of Peter. They believe that Peter was chosen as head of the Apostles, but that this authority was not passed down, only the honorary title – In the East, bishops are called patriarchs, so instead of a pope, they have a chief patriarch

Protestant Reformation Series of schisms that begin in : Begin with two priests, Martin Luther in Germany, and Huldrych Zwingli in Switzerland who were troubled by some of the corrupt practices of the Church at the time, including the selling of indulgences. – Both led campaigns to correct the corruption in the Church; however, this soon led to misunderstanding in theology, and dismissing the authority of the Church itself, therefore creating their own groups that changed the teachings, worship, and structure of the Church. While this ‘reformation’ had to do with eliminating the corruption in the Church at the time, many protestant communities were formed for political means, to obtain land previously owned by the Church, and gain more control and political power

Protestant Reformation Once separated from the Church, with no central authority, protestant communities began disagreeing with each other as well. Today there are more than 30,000 different protestant denominations world wide. Protestant = protesting (the Catholic Church) The original “reformers” are considered schismatic, but today, those in protestant faiths are known as separated brethren