Is Feeneyism Catholic? - Society of St. Pius X

E XPOSITION OF THE DOCTRINE 11
Note that the inner virtue of faith will incline the soul not
only to believe the truth, but also to reject the errors opposed to it.
Thus if someone was validly baptized as a child in a Protestant
sect (at a valid baptism, God gives the true virtue of faith, i.e., the
Catholic Faith), when he grows up, this inner grace he received
will incline him to reject the errors he hears from the Protestant
minister. He may accept that minister’s words when he says:
“Jesus is Savior”; but he will have to reject them when he says:
“Nothing is commanded in the Gospel except faith, and everything
else is indifferent, neither prescribed, nor prohibited, but
free,” or “unbelief is the only sin that is mortal,” or “grace once
received can be lost by no other sin, regardless of its gravity or
enormity, except unbelief” (“once saved always saved”). 14 If he
does not correspond to this inner grace of faith, and consciously
accepts the Protestant errors in spite of that clear inner grace of
faith inclining him to reject them, he loses the virtue of faith, and
thus sanctifying grace. If he remains puzzled and hesitates, yet not
fully accepting these errors, we should not judge him, but leave all
judgment to God, “who searches the hearts” (Ps. 7:10). In all cases,
we should not judge the individual since we cannot know his
heart, but we must rather pray for him and exhort him and warn
him of the necessity of the Catholic Faith and charity and unity!
Note that the lives of the saints show that an error on a complicated
point of doctrine is not incompatible with faith: even
Doctors of the Church have erred or been unclear on some points
of doctrine such as the compatibility of the dogma of the Immaculate
Conception and of the fact that even our Lady needed to be
saved by Jesus Christ. However, these saints were rather searching
for the truth than asserting in a definite way their erroneous opinion:
there was no pertinacity in their error. How much more easily
such error can be found among people who have been less exposed
to the doctrine of the Church! Yet the inner virtue of faith
in those with baptism of desire will incline them not to be pertinacious
in these errors.
Pertinacity in an error against a dogma is incompatible with
the virtue of faith, and thus with salvation.
14 Trent, VI, Can. 19 & 27, Dz. 829, 837.