DOGMATIC DEFINITION. — It is a doctrinal judgment by which the Church solemnly declares that a truth is contained in the sources of divine revelation (Scripture and Tradition) and obliges all the faithful to believe it by the authority of God, who has revealed II.
It is equivalent to a public profession of faith by the supreme authority, which establishes in the most rigorous sense the formal dogma or divine-catholic truth of faith (v. DOGMA), to which all the faithful are obliged to adhere, under pain of falling into heresy and separating from the unity of the Church. Being an infallible manifestation of the ecclesiastical magisterium, it enjoys the highest authority, that is, it is in itself (ex sese) irreformable.
Such a dogmatic definition can be issued by the Roman Pontiff when he speaks ex cathedra (v. INFALLIBILITY), by ecumenical councils, by particular councils whose decrees have received solemn approval from the supreme pontiffs, or are universally accepted by the Church; the symbols or professions of faith issued or solemnly approved by the supreme ecclesiastical magisterium are also called dogmatic definitions (v. APOSTLES' CREED).
In addition to being issued through solemn judgment, as in the cases indicated, the Church also proposes revealed truth through the ordinary and universal magisterium (the unanimous consent of the Fathers and theologians, the unanimous preaching of the bishops, the consent of the faithful, liturgical practice), to which the assent of divine-catholic faith is likewise due, as the Vatican Council explicitly teaches (Denz.-U., 1792).
The object of a dogmatic definition comprises solely the truth that the Church proposes as revealed by God and to be believed by all the faithful. In the bull or decree, therefore, one must distinguish the object of the dogmatic definition from the motives or arguments on which it is based: only the former is, generally speaking, to be considered an object of faith. Likewise, historical reasons, incidental propositions, occasional sayings, and similar things do not constitute the object of a dogmatic definition.
Generally speaking, the canons that condemn those who affirm or deny a particular doctrine contain a dogmatic definition, provided that the matter is not merely disciplinary in nature.
When the Church issues a dogmatic definition, it does not introduce any novelty, strictly speaking, into the deposit of faith, but only into the teaching of revealed doctrine; it discerns a truth definitively recognized from truths that are still obscure and controversial. Thus the number of dogmas increases in relation to us, without the divine revelation itself increasing, and without the Catholic faith changing. The development of truth derives from the light that the dogmas, revealed in an obscure or implicit manner, receive from the traditional teaching of the Church and from the interior prompting of the Holy Spirit. The more or less luminous state in which revealed truths successively stand in relation to us, the degrees of clarity that they acquire, perfectly explain the continuous progress of Catholic doctrine, which grows without innovation, which develops without change.
The necessity of issuing dogmatic definitions arises from the very manner in which God has communicated to the Church the treasure of Revelation. For within it there are truths revealed in clear and incontestable propositions, others in obscure terms, others in principles that contain or presuppose them, and still others of which Holy Scripture makes no mention, but which living or written Tradition teaches explicitly or implicitly.
Whatever the form in which these truths come to the explicit knowledge of the Church, it can, with the help of the Holy Spirit (Jn 14:16; 16:13) and the assistance of its divine Founder (Mt 28:20), define them as dogmas of faith and oblige all the faithful to believe them.
According to the most common doctrine, the containment of such truths in the deposit of Revelation must be formal, for only formally, that is, essentially, revealed truth is divine, and carries with it the full weight of the authority of God, the supreme and infallible truth; whereas truth revealed only virtually, that is, deduced by reasoning from a revealed principle, cannot be imposed on the believer’s conscience in the name of God, since it results from a divine element and a human element (v. THEOLOGICAL CONCLUSIONS).
More often than not, the Church is moved to issue a dogmatic definition by the necessity of rejecting heretical theories or innovations contrary to revealed doctrine. In such a case, its silence would be tantamount to a denial of the truth, and then it is obliged to pronounce itself, condemning the error with all possible clarity and energy, and opposing to it the Catholic doctrine. Thus are explained, for example, the dogmatic definitions of the Council of Trent on the number of the Sacraments, their efficacy, their divine institution, and their sacramental character, in opposition to the innovations of the Protestants.
On rare occasions, the Church has in view only the benefit deriving to the piety of the faithful and the growth of faith. This occurs when some truth, once controversial but now fully elucidated and universally accepted, is elevated to the dignity of a Catholic dogma. Such is the case of the dogmatic definition concerning the Immaculate Conception of Mary.
It belongs to the Church, and to the Church alone, to discern the reasons that may move it to issue a dogmatic judgment and to choose the opportune moment to do so.