Briefly, when the Pope declares that XYZ must be believed, I take this to be an ecclesial law. The tone of such ecclesial laws, however, does not merely seem to be “XYZ must be believed to be a Catholic,” but the stronger claim that “XYZ must be believed in order to be a Christian.” This I find confusing since I take the latter claim to be outside the Pope’s sphere of authority.
Consider some statements by the Church Fathers. Lactantius (240-320) wrote:
[I]t is the Catholic Church alone which retains true worship. This is the fountain of truth, this is the abode of the faith, this is the temple of God; into which if any one shall not enter, or from which if any shall go out, he is estranged from the hope of life and eternal salvation. No one ought to flatter himself with persevering strife. For the contest is respecting life and salvation, which, unless it is carefully and diligently kept in view, will be lost and extinguished. But, however, because all the separate assemblies of heretics call themselves Christians in preference to others, and think that theirs is the Catholic Church, it must be known that the true Catholic Church is that in which there is confession and repentance, which treats in a wholesome manner the sins and wounds to which the weakness of the flesh is liable. (The Divine Institutes, IV.30,) [my emphasis]
St. Augustine writes:
We believe also in the Holy Church, [intending thereby] assuredly the Catholic. For both heretics and schismatics style their congregations churches. (On Faith and the Creed, 10)One cannot have [salvation] except in the Catholic Church. Outside of the Catholic Church one can have everything except salvation. One can have honor, one can have the sacraments, one can sing the alleluia, one can answer Amen, one can have the Gospel, one can have faith in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and preach, but never can one find salvation except in the Catholic Church. (Sermon to the People of the Church of Caesarea, 6)
St. Cyril of Jerusalem writes:
And if ever you are sojourning in cities, inquire not simply where the Lord’s House is (for the other sects of the profane also attempt to call their own dens houses of the Lord), nor merely where the Church is, but where is the Catholic Church. For this is the peculiar name of this Holy Church, the mother of us all. (Catechesis 17:14)
As I studied the Church Fathers, it became clear to me that any heretic could call himself a Christian, as the quotation from Lactantius shows. What mattered most, therefore, was not calling oneself a Christian, but being a Catholic, i.e. in the Church or in the process of being received by the Church. Among Catholics, the term ‘Christian’ was used to refer to baptized Catholics, and to Catechumens (i.e. unbaptized persons seeking entry into the Church). St. Augustine says, “Ask a man: are you a Christian? If he be a pagan or a Jew, he will reply: I am not a Christian. But if he say: I am a Christian, ask him again: are you a catechumen, or one of the faithful?” (Tract. in Joannem, xliv, 2) So, if one speaks of being “a Christian” in the way that the heretics call themselves being a Christian, then nothing “must be believed in order to be a Christian,” because the individual himself can use the term in any way he wishes. (E.g. a ‘Christian’ is anyone who has “prayed a sinner’s prayer”, or ‘asked Jesus into his heart’, or ‘trusted Christ’ or ‘tries to follow the teachings of Christ,’ or whatever he wants it to be). In that sense of the word ‘Christian,’ there are no requirements for calling oneself a Christian, apart from the limitations due to the ordinary use of the term, such that it would be a contradiction to say that one is a Christian, and say that one hates Christ.
But, there is another sense of the word ‘Christian.’ Christ entrusted the Apostles with the gospel, and authorized them to speak as His representatives to the world, with the authority to define what is orthodox and what is heterodox. He authorized them to set the conditions for what it means to follow Christ, and in that sense, to determine authoritatively what must be believed in order truly to be a follower of Christ, and (in that sense) a ‘Christian.’ The successors of the Apostles retain that authority. And Peter in particular, as the one to whom Christ gave the keys, has a special role here. So when the successor of Peter (or the bishops in union with the Pope, including the Pope) define something as necessary to be believed by all the faithful, they do so with the authority of the apostles. The sphere of that authority extends over the whole earth, because Christ’s authority extends over the whole authority. All those who seek to follow Christ should submit to the successors of the Apostles, and to what those successors teach concerning Christ and what to believe about Christ. In any diocese, the local Catholic bishop is the rightful authority to which all those who seek to follow Christ should be subject. But no one who is not a Catholic is subject to canon law, because canon law governs the supernatural society that is the Church. Those who are not members of that society are not under the authority of canon law, because they have not yet come under the authority of the Church. This is why Protestants are not under canon law. So, in sum, the doctrinal definitions determined by the Church are authoritative for all those who seek to follow Christ, but only Catholics are subject to canon law.
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