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JMJ
Theoretical Models are pretty when written down in a research paper. Their real worth is whether or not they function in the real world.
As it turns out Pope Francis has providentially provided an opportunity to apply the model to a fresh real-life example.
So what did Pope Francis say?
Abortion is not the lesser of two evils. It is a crime. It is to throw someone out in order to save another. That’s what the Mafia does. It is a crime, an absolute evil. On the ‘lesser evil,’ avoiding pregnancy, we are speaking in terms of the conflict between the fifth and sixth commandment. Paul VI, a great man, in a difficult situation in Africa, permitted nuns to use contraceptives in cases of rape. ... On the other hand, avoiding pregnancy is not an absolute evil. In certain cases, as in this one, such as the one I mentioned of Blessed Paul VI, it was clear. I would also urge doctors to do their utmost to find vaccines against these two mosquitoes that carry this disease. This needs to be worked on. (Source)And what do we have from 1997:
The Church has always taught the intrinsic evil of contraception, that is, of every marital act intentionally rendered unfruitful. This teaching is to be held as definitive and irreformable. Contraception is gravely opposed to marital chastity, it is contrary to the good of the transmission of life (the procreative aspect of matrimony), and to the reciprocal self-giving of the spouses (the unitive aspect of matrimony); it harms true love and denies the sovereign role of God in the transmission of human life" (Vademecum for Confessors, 2:4, Feb. 12, 1997).(Source)I could go on with Humani Vitae and its footnotes - but that isn't really necessary. Suffice to grant from this point that 'every marital act intentionally rendered unfruitful' is intrinsically evil, mortally sinful and that this is 'definitive and irreformable'.
Let's apply this to the kill chain.
Baptism
At this point, I believe it is safe to assume that Pope Francis was baptized as this is one of the documents that needs to be produced for entry into the seminary.External Denial or Doubt of Catholic Doctrine
Obviously, what the Pope said publicly contradicts Church Doctrine.Doctrine In Question is a Catholic Dogma
Here we face the first serious difficulty, is the doctrine that the Pope contradicted at the De Fide doctrinal level?This is a critical link in the chain, if this be broken, the argument stops at this point.
A little research, I found a short and good article on the levels of Doctrine on EWTN's website. The following line is of particular interest:
SENTENTIA COMMUNIA (common teaching) like the Church's prohibition & proscription of artificial contraception.So the link is broken and any further argument is baseless.
Conclusion
While definitely against common teaching and worthy of condemnation, the Pope's words do not constitute heresy. The reason being that the teaching of contradiction is not a De Fide teaching of the Church.No De Fide, no heresy is possible.
Lord Protect us from rash judges!
P^3
For further reading:
The SSPX's first response was to simply place the Pope's words in the context of the Teaching of the Church. Their second response went somewhat deeper.
Further, Dr. Joseph Shaw has also written an excellent article on this topic which I have linked here.
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