{"id":10112,"date":"2025-08-15T18:02:54","date_gmt":"2025-08-16T00:02:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thelatinright\/?p=10112"},"modified":"2025-08-15T18:02:54","modified_gmt":"2025-08-16T00:02:54","slug":"would-you-sign-this","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thelatinright\/2025\/08\/would-you-sign-this\/","title":{"rendered":"Would You Sign This?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

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AI image created by author.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

In July 2025, three respected traditionalist\/conservative theologians lost their longstanding professorships at Detroit\u2019s Sacred Heart Major Seminary. Archbishop Edward Weisenburger (installed in March) dismissed Ralph Martin, Ed Peters, and Eduardo Echeverria for what some claim<\/a> was their disloyalty in questioning the previous pope\u2019s pastoral writings, specifically Amoris Laetitia<\/em><\/a> and Fiducia Supplicans<\/em><\/a>. Others, including me<\/a>, see their dismissal as evidence of a progressive double standard, since institutions rarely discipline progressive-leaning theologians and clergy who openly dissent from Church teaching.<\/p>\n

I will not rehash that debate here. Instead, I want to ask a new question\u2014what should serve as grounds for discipline or termination in Catholic institutions and schools? The Church already provides guidance in the Oath of Fidelity on Assuming an Office to be Exercised in the Name of the Church<\/em> (1989)<\/a>. Canon Law 833<\/a> requires bishops, pastors, seminary professors, and others who teach or govern in the name of the Catholic Church to take this oath.<\/p>\n

The oath states its demands clearly, makes the commitment public, and imposes serious consequences for breaking it.<\/p>\n

If asked, would you sign this oath?<\/p>\n

Oath of Fidelity<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I, N., in assuming the office of \u2026\u2026\u2026, promise that in my words and in my actions I shall always preserve communion with the Catholic Church.<\/p>\n

With great care and fidelity I shall carry out the duties that bind me toward the Church, both universal and particular, in which, according to the provisions of the law, I have been called to exercise my service.<\/p>\n

In fulfilling the charge entrusted to me in the name of the Church, I shall hold fast to the deposit of faith in its entirety; I shall faithfully hand it on and explain it, and I shall avoid any teachings contrary to it.<\/p>\n

I shall foster the common discipline of the entire Church and insist on the observance of all ecclesiastical laws, especially those contained in the Code of Canon Law.<\/p>\n

With Christian obedience I shall follow what the Bishops, as authentic doctors and teachers of the faith, declare, or what they, as those who govern the Church, establish. I shall also\u2014with due regard for the character and purpose of my institute\u2014faithfully assist the diocesan Bishops, so that the apostolic activity, exercised in the name and by mandate of the Church, occurs in communion with the Church.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Consequences for Breaking the Oath<\/strong><\/h3>\n