St. Thomas More Burning Heretics

[Ziggamafu]

[quote name='Winchester' post='1731907' date='Dec 19 2008, 11:08 AM']I don't know. I believe I said something about people not having the authority. One can point out a belief as heresy, but judging a person to be a heretic is much more complex.[/quote]

If a belief is heretical and a Catholic publicly renounces the Church position in favor of the heretical belief then that Catholic is now a heretic. Factually; formally. Whether or not the heretic committed a mortal sin is another matter.

[Winchester]

[quote name='Ziggamafu' post='1731944' date='Dec 19 2008, 11:08 AM']If a belief is heretical and a Catholic publicly renounces the Church position in favor of the heretical belief then that Catholic is now a heretic. Factually; formally. Whether or not the heretic committed a mortal sin is another matter.[/quote]
Proclaiming someone a heretic is a complicated matter, though, and I'm not going to pretend I have the authority in such a case. I might slip up as regards public figures, but I'm on my guard right now.

[Ziggamafu]

I don't see what is so complicated. Proclaiming a person to be a heretic is not the same as proclaiming a person to be in mortal sin. A person is a heretic through objective actions.

Was the person a Catholic?
Did the person renounce Church teaching in favor of a proclaimed heresy?
Then the person is a heretic. Case closed.

[Winchester]

[quote name='Ziggamafu' post='1731947' date='Dec 19 2008, 11:15 AM']I don't see what is so complicated. Proclaiming a person to be a heretic is not the same as proclaiming a person to be in mortal sin. A person is a heretic through objective actions.

Was the person a Catholic?
Did the person renounce Church teaching in favor of a proclaimed heresy?
Then the person is a heretic. Case closed.[/quote]
Public judgement of a person is the issue. You don't have the authority and you haven't gone through any process. The reason the Inquisitional courts existed was to follow a process. You are safest in proclaiming the idea heretical and explaining the correct teaching. Leave judgement of the person to someone else.

[DemonSlayer]

So basically, would Henry VIII have been the person to order the excecutions rather than Thomas More or is it likely to have been collaborative?

[Justified Saint]

[quote name='Lil Red' post='1730582' date='Dec 17 2008, 02:17 PM']today, it seems that the 'modus operandi' is excommunication after repeated dialogue with obstinate heretics (i would point to the letter written by Bishop Olmstead about Msgr. Fushek, as an example).[/quote]

That has actually always been the "modus operandi" of the church since excommunication is the gravest form of punishment it can dish out. Obstinate heretics would be excommunicated and depending on the gravity of the case could be handed over to the secular arm for execution, in which case you were basically double-damned.

[Justified Saint]

[quote name='DemonSlayer' post='1853017' date='Apr 30 2009, 01:49 AM']So basically, would Henry VIII have been the person to order the excecutions rather than Thomas More or is it likely to have been collaborative?[/quote]

More would have actually initiated trials against suspected heretics, which would have been in keeping with Henry's regime, that is until he started to move away from Rome and actually frustrated some of More's attempts to prosecute heretics.