PUBLIC SINNERS. — These are those who seriously and publicly offend against the moral order; or, more precisely, those who, by an act known to the community, have seriously violated a rule of conduct and have not publicly amended their ways or repented.
The concrete content of this concept has varied greatly throughout history. The Rituale romano (tit. IV, chap. 1, De sanctissimo Eucharistiae Sacramento, no. 11), for example, also includes the blasphemi among public sinners, whereas today there is fairly general agreement in excluding them; on the other hand, today those who knowingly and freely have enrolled in the Communist Party must undoubtedly also be included among public sinners, a group of which the Rituale evidently says nothing. In classifying them, therefore, it will be necessary to look above all to the judgment of the most authoritative theologians and to the understanding of the faithful. Today the significant groups of public sinners consist of those living in concubinage (consider, for example, countries in which divorce exists), and of adherents to associations or parties condemned by the Church (Freemasonry, the Communist Party, etc.).
I. PUBLIC SINNERS AND THE DISCIPLINE OF THE CHURCH
The subject is of interest to historians, moral theologians, and pastors of souls alike. For the former, it falls within the complex question of public and private penances in the first centuries of the Church and, generally, within the broader treatment of the various forms in which the Penance (v.) has historically been presented. For the latter, it is relevant to the question of reparation for sin and the removal of scandal. The sinner must in fact strive to erase all the consequences of his evil conduct, seeking, insofar as possible, to restore the world around him to the condition in which it would be had his sin not intervened. If the sin has been public, reparation must therefore be public in some way (v. SCANDALO). For pastors of souls, the matter is relevant to the conduct to be adopted toward such persons and, above all, to the effects of the administration of the Sacraments. It is well known, in fact, that can. 693 § 1 of the CIC prohibits admitting public sinners to associations erected or approved by the Church; can. 855 prescribes that they be kept away from the Eucharist until they have given manifest signs of amendment; can. 1240 requires that they be deprived of ecclesiastical burial unless, before death, they have given signs of repentance.II. PRACTICAL NORMS FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE SACRAMENTS
It is well known that the condition of sin may be only objective or only subjective, or both at the same time; it is only objective when the infringement of the rule of conduct is involuntary; only subjective when, through error, conscience has presented as sinful an action that in fact is not; objective and subjective at the same time when opposition to the moral order truly exists and is free.Now, as regards the administration of the Sacraments, there is no difficulty when the person is subjectively and objectively sinful (always a p. p., naturally). In that case, in fact, the subject entirely lacks the conditions required to approach the Sacraments, and in addition the common good is seriously offended. The priest is not the “master” of the Sacraments; he is merely their minister and may administer them only under certain conditions: if these are lacking, he cannot admit anyone to the Sacraments at all. The difficulty, however, arises immediately when the person is a p. p. only in the objective sense. If the Sacraments are administered publicly, the community may easily be tempted to think that such conduct is not truly, or at least not seriously, sinful, or that the Sacraments may be approached even in a state of sin. On the other hand, if the Sacraments are refused even privately, a person is deprived of the ordinary means of Grace, and moreover at a time when he particularly needs it, because of the situation in which he finds himself, the persons with whom he must come into contact, and the difficulties he must overcome. It therefore seems indispensable, in the case of p. p. always understood in the merely objective sense, to distinguish between public and private administration: in the former manner the Sacraments cannot be administered even to them, because of all the repercussions on the Christian community mentioned above; in the latter manner, no reasons for refusing them are apparent;
thus provision is made for the good of individuals particularly in need of the help of the Sacraments, without harming the members of the community in any way. In any case, the distinction is not new. At least with regard to occult sins (cf., for example, can. 855).
The observations made thus far also make it possible to find a line of conduct for the ordinary faithful. More than once they ask how they should behave toward persons living in an irregular situation (concubines, etc.), whether they may receive them, whether they may remain in contact with them, and so forth. They may receive them and remain in contact with them in whatever forms and to whatever extent provision is made for their good without spiritually harming the other members of the community. If they decide to receive them, they should do so in such a way as to help them emerge from the painful situation in which they find themselves, and with such precautions that no one will be scandalized or find encouragement to follow their evil examples. If they decide not to receive them, they should do so in such a way as not to jeopardize the possibility of conversion. As can be seen, these are indications that are simple only in theory. Even the most modest contact with reality and life demonstrates their difficulty with painful clarity. More than once it will not be easy to see which line to follow; still more difficult will be to follow it in practice. For this reason, it will be of the utmost importance to cultivate sentiments of humility and love: the effort to love one’s neighbor must be constant; the forms in which it may be embodied will vary. The p. p. himself must also accept with loving resignation the limitations indicated above: by approaching and respecting them, he too will contribute to his conversion and to the edification of his brethren.
Giovan Battista Guzzetti