Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 4.djvu/397

 CONVERSION

347

CONVERSION

K\nLEN in Kirchcnlex., s. v. For the large share of these c nersi, or lay brothers, in the development of medieval tLrrirulttire, monastic administration, etc. see Hoffmann, !>'!^ konverseninstUiU des Cisterzienserordens (Freiburg. .^w)tzerland, 1903).

Stephen M. Donovan.

Conversion (from the classical Latin converto, ai jHiii. convertor, whence conversio, change, etc.), in t hi- Latin Vulgate (Acts, xv, .3), in patristic (St. Augus- tinr. Civ. Dei, VIII, xxiv), and in later ecclesiastical Litin, a moral change, a turning or returning to God, to (ho true religion, in which sense it has passed into n ir modern languages: the conversion of St. Paul, of I iistantine the Great, of St. Augustine. In the Mid- Ages the word conversion was often used in the -!• of forsaking the v.'orld to enter the religious • '. Thus St. Bernard speaks of his conversion, return of the sinner to a life of virtue is also called uversion. More commonly do we speak of the \ ersion of an infidel to the true religion, and most n iiimonly of the conversion of a schismatic or heretic ii tlie Catholic Church.

1 ",\cry man is bound by the natural law to seek the mil' religion, embrace it when found, and conform his life to its principles and precepts. And it is a dogma

I if till' Churcli defined by the Vatican Coimcil that man

lilc by the natural light of reason to arrive at the I in knowledge of the existence of the one true

I, our Creator and Lord. The same council i( M lies that faith is a gift of God necessary for salva- tiMii, that it is an act of the intellect commanded by til'' will, and that it is a supernatural act. The act of filth then is an act of the understanding, whereby we 111 : Illy hold as true whatever God has revealed, not li I luse of its intrinsic truth perceived by the natural liuht of reason, but because God, who can neither de- ctt\L- nor be deceived, has revealed it. It is in itself ciii' ' of the will which moves the intellect to assent. Ini- many of the truths of revelation, being mysteries, air to some extent obscure. Yet, it is not a blind act, -ill.' the fact that God has spoken is not merely prob-
 * iii act of the understanding, but it requires the influ-

II li' but certain. The evidences for the fact of revela- iiMi are not, however, the motive of faith; they are il ■ grounds which render revelation credible, that is til -ay, they make it certain that God has spoken. A 1 since faith is necessary for salvation, that we • ■ comply with the duty of embracing the true

'h and persevering in it, God by His only-be- ti Son has instituted the Church and has adorned ith obvious marks so that it may be known by all as the guardian and teacher of revealed truth. !■ marks (or notes) of credibility belong to the 'lolic Church alone. Nay, the Church itself by its irable propagation, sublime sanctity, and inex- ■tible fecundity, by its Catholic unity and invin- stability, is a great and perpetual motive of iliility and irrefragable testimony of its Divine ion (see Cone. Vatic, De Fide, cap. .3). M' first step, therefore, in the normal process of version is the investigation and examination of the • iitials of the Church, which often is a painful la- 1 lasting for years. The external grace which A -i a man's attention to the Church and causes him uin his inquiry is as various and manifold as there .1.1 individual inquirers. It may even be something to one's temporal advantage, which was the case with Henry IV of France. It may be the interest aroused in a great historical personage, such as Innocent III, in the case of Friedrich von Hurter. ^\'hatever may have been the initial motive, if the study be pursued with an open mind, we hold that it will lead to the knowledge of the true Church, i. e. to this certain con- clusion: The Catholic Church is the true Church. This intellectual conviction, however, is not yet the act of faith. One may hesitate, or refuse to take the next step, which is the "good will to believe" (pius

creduUtatis affectus). And this leads to the third and final act, the act of faith itself: I believe what the Church teaches because God has revealed it. These three acts, es]3ecially the last, are, in accordance with Catholic teaching, supernatural acts. Then follows baptism by which the believer is formally received into the body of the Church. (See Baptism, VII, VIII.)

Since the duty of embracing the true religion is of natural and positive Divine right, it is evident that no civil law can forbid the fulfilling of this duty, nor should any temporal considerations be allowed to in- terfere with a duty on which depends the soul's salva- tion. And because all are bound to enter the Church, it follows that the Church has a right to receive all who apply for reception, of whatever age, sex, or con- dition they may be. Nay, in virtue of the Divine command to preach the Gospel to every creature, the Church is strictly bound to receive them, and no earthly authority can forbid the exercise of this duty. To the Church alone it belongs to lay down the condi- tions for reception and to inquire into the interior dis- positions of him who presents himself for admission into her bosom. The conditions are, knowledge and profession of the Catholic Faith and the resolve to live in accordance with it. The right to admit converts into the Church belongs strictly speaking to the bish- op. L%ually all priests exercising the sacred ministry receive faculties for reconciling heretics. When con- chtional baptism is administered, sacramental confes- sion is also required from the convert. It is the law clearly laid down in the Acts of the Second Plenary Council of Baltimore. The order of proceedings is as follows: first, abjuration of heresy or profession of faith; second, conditional baptism; third, sacra- mental confession and conditional absolution. (Tit. V, Cap. II, n. 240.)

Force, violence, or fraud may not be employed to bring about the conversion of an imbeliever. Such means would be sinful. The natural law, the law of Christ, the nature of faith, the teaching and practice of the Church forbid such means. Credere voluntatis est, to believe depends upon the free will, says St. Thomas (II-II, Q. x, a. 8), and the minister of baptism, before administering the sacrament, is obliged to ask the question, "Wilt thou be baptized"? And only after having received the answer, "I will", may he proceed with the sacred rite. The Church also forbids the baptism of children of imbaptized parents without the consent of the latter, imless the children have been cast away by their parents, or are in imminent danger of death. For the Church has no jurisdiction over the unbaptized, nor does the State possess the power of using temporal means in spiritual things. The pimish- ments formerly decreed against apostates were not intended to coerce men to accept outwardly what they did not believe in their hearts, but to atone for a crime (see the article of St. Thomas, loc. cit.). Tlie medieval legislation, both ecclesiastical and secular, clearly distinguished between the punishment to be inflicted for the crime of apostasy and the means of instruction to be used in order to bring about the resipiscence of the apostate. .\s Bishop von Ketteler says, "The pimishment inflicted by the Church upon heretics in comparatively few cases was not based upon the false principle that conviction could be forced upon the mind l)y external means, but upon the truth that by baptism the Christian has a.ssinned obli- gations the fulfilment of which could be insisted upon. This punishment w.as only inflicted in particular cases and upon ptiblic and formal heretics." Convert par- ents like other Catholics are obliged to have their children baptized and edticated in the Catholic religion.

The Constitution of the United States of ,\merica proclaims coni[)Iefe .sejiaration of Church and State and guarantees full liberty of conscience. In conse- quence the laws of these States place no hindrance whatever in the way of conversions. It may also be