Heretical proposition (opposed
to the note: de fide) is the gravest censure, involving a direct
opposition to a proposition defined by the Magisterium as de fide. Such
opposition can be either a direct contradiction (by saying, for instance: Christ
is not a man) or a simple contrariety (Christ is an angel); in both cases there
is heresy, because two contradictory, as well as two contrary propositions, cannot
be true at once. With this censure are connected three lower and intermediate
censures, which have a peculiar and undetermined opposition to faith, namely, proximate
to heresy (opposite note: proximate to faith), tasting heresy (resembling
heresy), and suspected of heresy: these last two imply only a
probability of heresy. (Emmanuel Doronzo, The Channels of Revelation [The
Science of Sacred Theology for Teachers 3; Middleburg, Va.: Notre Dame
Institute Press, 1974], 63)
The opposite note “de fide” is distinguished
by some theologians into that “of divine faith” (which would correspond to
truths as merely found in the deposit of Scripture and Tradition) and that “of
Catholic faith” (which is attributed to truths defined by the Magisterium).
But it would be better to abstain from such a distinction, since there is only
one faith and one object of faith, that which follows the definition of the
Magisterium. Hence the expression “This is a truth of divine and Catholic
faith,” occurring in some documents of the Magisterium, is a mere pleonasm
which brings forth the two elements necessary to constitute the object of
faith, namely the revelation of God and the proposition of the Magisterium. (Ibid.,
63 n. 65)
