LIBERALISM IS A SIN

By Don Felix Sarda y Salvany

(¡Gratis! DESCARGUE VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL DE El Liberalismo es pecado AL FINAL)

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Liberalism Is a Sin, by the great Spanish thinker, Fr. Felix Sarda y Salvany, is a classic work every cultured person should read periodically.

Liberalism is the root of heresy, the tree of evil in whose branches all the harpies of infidelity find ample shelter; it is today the evil of all evils. (Ch. 4).
“The theater, literature, public and private morals are all saturated with obscenity and impurity. The result is inevitable; a corrupt generation necessarily begets a revolutionary generation. Liberalism is the program of naturalism. Free-thought begets free morals, or immorality. Restraint is thrown off and a free rein given to the passions. Whoever thinks what he pleases will do what he pleases. Liberalism in the intellectual order is license in the moral order. Disorder in the intellect begets disorder in the heart, and vice-versa. Thus does Liberalism propagate immorality, and immorality Liberalism.” (Ch. 26).
Liberalism “is, therefore, the radical and universal denial of all divine truth and Christian dogma, the primal type of all heresy, and the supreme rebellion against the authority of God and His Church. As with Lucifer, its maxim is, ‘I will not serve.’” (Ch. 3).
“Liberalism, whether in the doctrinal or practical order, is a sin. In the doctrinal order, it is heresy, and consequently a mortal sin against faith. In the practical order, it is a sin against the commandments of God and of the Church, for it virtually transgresses all commandments. To be more precise: in the doctrinal order, Liberalism strikes at the very foundations of faith; it is heresy radical and universal, because within it are comprehended all heresies. In the practical order it is a radical and universal infraction of the divine law, since it sanctions and authorizes all infractions of that law.” (Ch. 3).

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Contents

(Linked Chapters below are to the EWTN Web Page)
You can read all Chapters listed below on this page.
Publisher’s Preface
Foreword
Ch. 1. What Begets Liberalism
Ch. 2. What Is Liberalism?
Ch. 3. Liberalism Is a Sin
Ch. 4. The Gravity of the Sin of Liberalism
Ch. 5. The Degrees of Liberalism
Ch. 6. Catholic Liberalism or Liberal Catholicism
Ch. 7. Intrinsic Causes of Liberal Catholicism
Ch. 8. Shadow and Penumbra
Ch. 9. Two Kinds of Liberalism
Ch. 10. Liberalism of all Shades Condemned by the Church
Ch. 11. The Solemn Condemnation of Liberalism by the Syllabus
Ch. 12. Like Liberalism but Not Liberalism, Liberalism but Not Like It
Ch. 13. The Name “Liberalism”
Ch. 14. Liberalism and Free-Thought
Ch. 15. Can a Liberal Be in Good Faith?
Ch. 16. The Symptoms of Liberalism
Ch. 17. Christian Prudence and Liberalism
Ch. 18. Liberalism and Literature
Ch. 19. Charity and Liberalism
Ch. 20. Polemical Charity and Liberalism
Ch. 21. Personal Polemics and Liberalism
Ch. 22. A Liberal Objection to Ultramontane Methods
Ch. 23. The Civilta Cattolica’s Charity to Liberals
Ch. 24. A Liberal Sophism and the Church’s Diplomacy
Ch. 25. How Catholics Fall into Liberalism
Ch. 26. Permanent Causes of Liberalism
Ch. 27. How to Avoid Liberalism
Ch. 28. How to Distinguish Catholic from Liberal Works
Ch. 29. Liberalism and journalism
Ch. 30. Can Catholics and Liberals Ever Unite?
Ch. 31. An Illusion of Liberal Catholics
Ch. 32. Liberalism and Authority in Particular Cases
Ch. 33. Liberalism as It Is in This Country

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In 1886 there appeared in Spain a little work under the title El Liberalismo es Pecado, Liberalism Is a Sin, by Don Felix Sarda y Salvany, a priest of Barcelona and editor of a journal called La Revista Popular. The book excited considerable commotion. It was vigorously assailed by the Liberals. A Spanish Bishop of a Liberal turn instigated an answer to Dr. Sarda’s work by way of another Spanish priest. Both books were sent to Rome, requesting that the Sacred Congregation of the Index to put Dr. Sarda’s work under the ban.

The following letter, under date of January 10, 1887, from

the Sacred Congregation itself, explains the result of

its consideration of the two volumes:

To The Most Rev. Jacobo Catala et Alboso,
Bishop of Barcelona
Most Excellent Sir:
The Sacred Congregation of the Index has received the denunciation of the little work bearing the title El Liberalismo es Pecado by Don Felix Sarda y Salvany, a priest of your diocese; the denunciation was accompanied at the same time by another little work, entitled El Proceso del Integrismo, that is, “A refutation of the errors contained in the little work El Liberalismo es Pecado.” The author of the second work is D. de Pazos, a canon of the diocese of Vich.
Whereupon, the Sacred Congregation has carefully examined both works and decided as follows:
In the first, not only is nothing found contrary to sound doctrine, but its author, D. Felix Sarda, merits great praise for his exposition and defense of the sound doctrine therein set forth with solidity, order and lucidity, and without personal offense to anyone.
The same judgment, however, cannot be passed on the other work, that by D. de Pazos, for in matter it needs corrections. Moreover, his injurious manner of speaking cannot be approved, for he inveighs rather against the person of D. Sarda than against the latter’s supposed errors.
Therefore, the Sacred Congregation has commanded D. de Pazos, admonished by his own Bishop, to withdraw his book, as far as he can, from circulation, and in the future, if any discussion of the subject should arise, to abstain from all expressions personally injurious, according to the precept of true Christian charity; and this all the more since Our Holy Father, Leo XIII, whereas he urgently recommends castigation of error, neither desires nor approves expressions personally injurious, especially when directed against those who are eminent for their doctrine and their piety.
In communicating to you this order of the Sacred Congregation of the Index, that you may be able to make it known to the illustrious priest of your diocese, D. Sarda, for his peace of mind, I pray God to grant you all happiness and prosperity, and subscribe myself with great respect,
Your most obedient servant,
Fr. Jerome Secheri, O.P.
Secretary of the Sacred Congregation Of the Index
The following short chapters on Liberalism are mainly and substantially Dr. Sarda’s book, put into English and adapted to our American conditions. Their need and their use will be best understood and appreciated by their perusal.

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