The Fifth Manner of
Sentence, in the Case of one under Strong Suspicion
THE
fifth method of concluding a process on behalf of the
faith is used when she who is accused of heresy, after a
careful examination of the merits of the process in
consultation with learned lawyers, is found to be
strongly suspected of heresy. And this is when the
accused is not legally taken in heresy, nor has been
convicted by her own confession or by the evidence of
the facts or by the legitimate production of witnesses;
but strong and weighty indications have been proved
against her by reason of which she is held to be under
strong suspicion of heresy.
The procedure
in such a case is as follows. For such a person should
abjure that heresy as one strongly suspected of it, in
such a manner that, if she should afterwards relapse,
she must be delivered to the secular Court to suffer the
extreme penalty. And she shall make her abjuration
publicly or secretly according to whether she is
publicly or secretly suspected, or by more or less, high
or low, as was just said in the case of one under a
light suspicion; and she must abjure that specific
heresy.
And the
preparations for such an abjuration should be as
follows: - When the Sunday comes which has been fixed
for the abjuration and the hearing of the sentence or
the imposition of the penance, the preacher shall
deliver a general sermon. After this, the Notary or
clerk shall publicly read out the crimes of which the
accused has been convicted, and those of which she is
strongly suspected as a heretic.
Then the
Judge or his deputy shall say to her: Behold! according
to that which has been read you are strongly suspected
by us of such heresy; wherefore it behoves you to purge
yourself and abjure the aforesaid heresy. And then the
Book of the Gospels shall be placed before her, and she
shall set her hand upon it; and if she can read
competently, she shall be given the following written
abjuration, and shall read it in the presence of the
whole congregation.
But if she
cannot read competently, the Notary shall read it phrase
by phrase, and the accused shall repeat it in a loud and
audible voice in the following manner. The Notary or
clerk shall say: I, N., of such a place, and the accused
person shall repeat after him the same words, but always
in the vulgar tongue. And so on up to the end of the
abjuration. And she shall abjure in the following
manner.
I, N., of
such a place in such a Diocese, standing my trial in
person in presence of you reverend Lords the Bishop of
such city and the Judge of the territory subject to the
rule of such a Lord, upon the Holy Gospels set before me
and touched by my hands, I swear that I believe in my
heart and profess with my lips that Holy Catholic and
Apostolic Faith which the Holy Roman Church teaches,
professes, preaches, and holds. Also I swear that I
believe in my heart and profess with my lips that, etc.
And let her pronounce the Catholic article of the faith
against that heresy of which she is strongly suspected.
For example,
if the heresy of witchcraft is in question, let her say
as follows:
I swear that
I believe that not only will simple heretics and
schismatics be tortured in fire everlasting, but that
those above all will be so punished who are infected
with the heresy of witches, who deny before the devil
that faith which they received in Holy Baptism at the
font, and practise demoniac lewdness for the fulfilment
of their evil desires, inflicting all sorts of injuries
upon men and animals and the fruits of the earth. And
consequently I abjure, renounce, and revoke that heresy,
or rather infidelity, which falsely and mendaciously
maintains that there are no witches in the world, and
that no one ought to believe that those injuries can be
caused with the help of devils; for such infidelity is,
as I now recognize, expressly contrary to the decision
of our Holy Mother the Church and of all the Catholic
Doctors, as also against the Imperial laws which have
decreed that witches are to be burned.
Also I swear
that I have never persistently believed in the aforesaid
heresy, neither do I believe nor adhere to it at the
present, nor have I taught it, not intend to teach it,
nor shall teach it. Also I swear and promise that I will
never do or cause to be done such and such (naming them)
of which you hold me strongly suspected as a heretic.
And if hereafter (which God forbid) I should do any of
the aforesaid, I am ready the undergo the punishment
provided by law for backsliders; and I am ready to
submit myself to any penance which you decide to impose
upon me for those deeds and words of mine for which you
hold me strongly suspected of the said heresy. And I
swear and promise that I will perform it to the best of
my strength, and will omit no part of it, so God and
this Holy Gospel help me.
And the said
abjuration shall be made in the vulgar tongue so that it
may be understood by all, unless it be made only in the
presence of Clerics with a competent knowledge of the
Latin tongue. But if the abjuration be made secretly in
the Bishop's palace or chamber, when it is not a public
matter, it shall be made in a similar manner. And
afterwards the Bishop shall admonish her as above to
beware lest she relapse and incur the penalty of a
backslider. And let the Notary take care that he set it
down how such abjuration was made by such a person as
one strongly suspected of heresy, so that, if she should
relapse, she may be punished as is proper for a
backslider.
And when this
has been done, let the sentence or penance be pronounced
in the following manner:
We, N.,
Bishop of such city, and Brother N. (if he is present),
Inquisitor of the sin of heresy in the domains subject
to the rule of such a Prince, especially deputed by the
Holy Apostolic See: having in mind that you, N., of such
a place in such a Diocese, have done such and such
(naming them), as lawfully appears from the carefully
examined merits of the process, wherefore we reasonably
hold you strongly suspected of such heresy, and have
caused you to abjure it as one so suspected, being
persuaded to that course by considerations of justice
and the advice of men skilled in the law. But that you
may be more careful in the future nor become more prone
to the like practices, and that your crimes may not
remain unpunished, and that you may be an example to
other sinners; having consulted with many eminent and
learned lawyers and Masters or Doctors of the faculty of
Theology, having carefully digested the whole matter,
and having before our eyes only God and the truth of the
Catholic Apostolic Faith, having set before us the Holy
Gospel that our judgement may proceed as from God's
countenance and our eyes see with equity, and sitting in
tribunal as Judges, we condemn, or rather impose penance
in the following manner upon you, N., standing here in
person before us: namely, that you shall never hereafter
presume to do, say, or teach such and such things. And
let there be set down those things of which she has been
convicted, and by reason of which she was strongly
suspected of the aforesaid heresy, as well as certain
others which, if she were to commit them, would make her
guilty of a slight relapse into heresy; but this must be
as the particular nature of the case demands and
requires. As, for example, that she should never
wittingly follow such practices, nor receive those whom
she knows to have denied the faith, etc. This sentence
was given, etc.
But it must
be noted that those who are suspected, but not taken in
heresy, whether they be strongly or lightly suspected,
must not be imprisoned or confined for life. For this is
the punishment of those who have been heretics and
afterwards repented. But they may, because of their
deeds for which they have come under suspicion, be sent
to prison for a time, and afterwards, as will be seen,
released.
Neither are
they to be branded with the sign of the Cross, for such
is the sign of a penitent heretic; and they are not
convicted heretics, but only suspected, therefore they
are not to be marked in this way. But they can be
ordered either to stand on certain solemn days within
the doors of a church, or near the altar, while Holy
Mass is being celebrated, bearing in their hands a
lighted candle of a certain weight; or else to go on
some pilgrimage, or something of the kind, according to
the nature and requirements of the case.
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