Our Profession of the Catholic Faith A Summary of the Catholic Faith,
Sworn by Old Roman Catholic Priests before Ordination to Major Orders,
and by those appointed pastors, confessors, preachers, superiors,
and professors of philosophy or theology.I, (Name), believe and profess with firm faith each and every truth which is contained in the symbol of the Faith of which the Holy Roman Church makes use, namely: I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God. Begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father: by whom all things were made. Who for us men and our salvation came down from heaven. And was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary: and was made man. He was crucified also for us: suffered under Pontius Pilate, died, and was buried. And the third day He rose again according to the scriptures. And He ascended into heaven; He sitteth at the right hand of the Father. He shall come again in glory to judge both the living and the dead: of whose kingdom there shall be no end. And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and giver of life: who proceedeth from the Father and the Son. Who together with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified: who spoke by the prophets. And in One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. I confess one baptism for the remission of sins. And I look for the resurrection of the dead. And the life of the world to come. Amen.
I resolutely accept and embrace the traditions of the Apostles and all other traditions of the Church and all its observances and regulations. Likewise I accept the Sacred Scriptures in that very sense in which Holy Mother Church, whose right it is to declare their true sense and meaning, has held them and holds them now; nor will I ever accept or interpret them in a way contrary to the unanimous agreement of the Fathers of the Church. Further I profess that there are seven true and proper Sacraments of the New Law, each instituted by Jesus Christ our Lord for the salvation of the human race (although not all of them are necessary for everyone), namely, Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Holy Orders, and Matrimony; that these confer grace, and that of these, Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Orders cannot be received a second time without sacrilege. Also, I accept and adhere to the rites of the solemn administration of the aforementioned Sacraments according as they have been accepted and approved by the Catholic Church. I embrace and accept each and every tenet concerning Original Sin and Justification which was defined and declared by the Council of Trent. I likewise affirm that in the Mass there is offered to God a true, worthy, and expiatory sacrifice for the living and the dead; and that the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, together with His Soul and Divinity, are really and substantially present in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist, and that there occurs a change in the total substance of the bread into His Body and of the total substance of the wine into His Blood, which change the Catholic Church calls Transubstantiation. I confess also that Christ, whole and entire, and the true Sacrament are received under either species. I firmly hold that there is a Purgatory, and that the souls detained there are helped through the prayers of the faithful; similarly, that the saints who reign with Christ are to be venerated and invoked, and that they offer prayers to God for us, and that their relics should be venerated. I firmly assert that images of Christ, and of the Mother of God ever Virgin, as well as the images of the other saints, should be possessed and retained, and that they should be shown due honor and veneration.
Also I affirm that Christ left the power to grant indulgences to the Church, and that these are most useful for the salvation of the Christian people. I acknowledge the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Roman Church to be the Mother and Teacher of all Churches, and I vow and swear true obedience to the Roman Pontiff, the Vicar of Jesus Christ, and the Successor of Blessed Peter, the Prince of the Apostles. Moreover, I maintain and profess, without doubting, all the other teachings handed down, defined, and declared in the sacred canons by the Ecumenical Councils, especially by the Most Holy Council of Trent, and by the First Vatican Council, particularly that of the Primacy and the Infallible Magisterium of the Roman Pontiff; and at the same time I condemn, reject and anathematize all opinions to the contrary, and all heresies whatever which the Church condemns, rejects and anathematizes.
I, (Name), promise, vow, and swear that, with God's help, I shall most constantly hold and profess this true Catholic Faith, outside of which no one can be saved, and which I now freely profess and truly hold. With the help of God I shall possess it whole and unblemished until my dying breath; and to the best of my ability, I shall see to it that my subjects and those entrusted to me by virtue of my office hold it, teach it, and preach it. So help me God, and His holy Gospels.
Pope St. Pius X - Oath Against Modernism Declared on 1 September 1910 by His Holiness Pope Saint Pius X, to be required of all to be ordained to major orders, pastors, confessors, preachers, superiors, and professors of philosophy or theology.
I, (Name) 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 principle truths which are directly opposed to the errors of this day.
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 Romans 1:20), that is from the visible works of creation, as a cause from its effects, and that, therefore, his existence can also be demonstrated.
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.
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.
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 human conscience that has gradually been developed by human effort and will continue to develop indefinitely.
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.
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 degree Lamentabili, especially those concerning what is known as the history of dogmas. 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. 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 an historian; as if it were permissible for an 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.
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. Furthermore, I reject the opinion of those who hold that a professor lecturing or writing on an 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 to the investigation of all ordinary historical documents.
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. I firmly hold, then, and shall hold to my dying breath the belief of the Fathers in the charism of truth, which certainly is, was, and always will be in the succession of the episcopacy from the apostles. The purpose of this is, then, not that dogma may be tailored according to what seems better and more suited to the culture of each age; rather, that the absolute and immutable truth preached by the apostles from the beginning may never be believed to be different, may never be understood in any other way. I promise that I shall keep all of 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, thus I swear, so help me God.
