Did Pius XII Change a Dogma in 1947?
The Apostolic Constitution Sacramentum ordinis and its Underestimated Potential
Abstract
In 1947, Pius XII issued the Apostolic Constitution Sacramentum ordinis, which reformed the matter and form of ordaining Deacons, Priests and Bishops, thus changing a doctrine that had been valid for 500 years. Whereas the Council of Florence, in its 1439 Decree for the Armenians, had established the presentation of instruments as the matter of the sacrament, the laying on of hands was now sufficient. For the first time, it is possible to reconstruct the genesis of this papal document, thus providing an insight into the writing workshop of the Magisterium and the Holy Office. The Consultor Franz Hürth SJ was the main actor in this sacramental-theologically sensitive issue. Did Pius XII thereby change a dogma?
Submitted: Feb. 5, 2024 | Accepted: Feb. 29, 2024 | Published April 23, 2024 | Language: en
Keywords Pius XII • Holy Office • Papal Magisterium • Franz Hürth SJ • Sacramental theology
Copyright © 2024 Matthias Daufratshofer. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/JoMaCC/2785-6046/2024/01/009