SÁNCHEZ (Sanctius), JUAN. - One of the most typical representatives of laxism in the seventeenth century, born at Avila, in Spain, and died about 1624.
A man of wide learning, he wrote, among other works, two monographs:
De seimio and De dubia impotentia circa matrimonium (Madrid 1624, Lyons 1636). But his most noteworthy work is the Selectae et practicae disputationes de rebus in administratione Sacramentorum (Madrid 1624), a fine synthesis of the practical questions involved in the administration of the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist and Penance. After the author's death the work was placed on the Index (decree of 3–18 Dec. 1642) donec corrigatur, because of the numerous laxist opinions maintained therein.
The fourth proposition condemned by Innocent XI is S.'s: « Ab infidelitate excusabitur infidelia non credens, ductus opinione minus probabili ». Along with Caramuel and others, S. maintained that every opinion which is speculatively probable is also practically probable; that all probable opinions are likewise equally safe (tutae), since whoever acts according to one or another probable opinion is certain not to sin.