POPE FRANCIS - A HERETIC? ON THE PUNISHMENT OF HERETICS AND ESPECIALLY OF THE POPE WHO HAS BECOME A HERETIC WILLIAM OF OCKHAM Dial. 6 CHP. XLVI

Chapter 46

Student: Since you have argued in support of the assertion which states that one must honour an appeal or a demurrer against the pope before it is established that such appeal or demurrer is not legitimate (namely, because the cause alleged has not been proved, even if it is such that would be considered legitimate if proved), I now ask you to provide some arguments in support of the contrary assertion.

Master: It appears that one may initially prove as follows that those who do not know and those who doubt that such an appeal or demurrer is legitimate have no obligation to honour it, above all if the pope does not defer to the cause knowing it to be false. It is appropriate to obey the pope's commands not only in matters which are certain, but also in matters which are doubtful, since a soldier must obey the command of a sacrilegious monarch even in doubtful matters, witness Augustine (we read this in 23 q. 1 c. Quid culpatur) who states: "a just man, even if he perhaps performs military service under a king who is a sacrilegious individual, can wage war with rectitude at the latter's command, maintaining discipline for the sake of peace, if it is certain that the order he receives is not against God's precept, or if it is not certain that this order is against God's precept, so that even if the injustice of a command would perhaps make the king guilty, the maintenance of discipline would on the other hand show the soldier to be innocent". [col. 893] We gather from these words that a soldier is obligated to obey a sacrilegious monarch in doubtful matters. Therefore all the more must one obey the supreme pontiff in doubtful matters. From which one concludes that those who doubt the legitimacy of the discussed appeal or demurrer must obey the pope if the latter does not honour it and commands others not to honour it.

The second proof is this. No clerk is permitted to withdraw from his bishop before sentence shall have been passed on the latter (8 q. 4 Nonne). [col. 599] Therefore all the more no appeal or demurrer entitles catholics to withdraw from obedience to the pope before a decision in the case. Therefore after such an appeal or demurrer one must continue to obey the pope in all things just as before. Therefore if the pope orders that such an appeal or demurrer should not be honoured, those who doubt the legitimacy of the appeal or demurrer are not obligated to honour it. Otherwise it would be appropriate for catholics who do not know that the pope is a heretic to withdraw from his obedience, which is not a tenable position.