The Catholic Church teaches that heresy is “the obstinate post-baptismal denial of some truth which must be believed with divine and Catholic faith, or it is likewise an obstinate doubt concerning the same.” (CCC 2089). Heresy differs from apostasy in that apostasy is the total repudiation of the Christian faith. The Catholic Church has had to deal with heretical teachings since Her very inception. Some of the major heresies in the Church’s history include Gnosticism, Arianism, Pelagianism , Nestorianism and Jansenism.
In today’s Church, we are seeing a resurgence in confusion and false teachings. Examples include Modernism, communion for the divorced and remarried, women clergy, the existence of Hell, the divinity of Jesus Christ and that God willed a plurality of religions. Several of these heresies have become evident in discussions surrounding the Amazon Synod.
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