"Also, an opinion is frequently heard which questions the intrinsic and unbreakable bond between faith and morality [(intrinseco atque indissolubili vinculo copulatae cohaerentiae fidem inter et rem moralem, the intrinsic and indissoluble bond of conjoined coherence between faith and morality)], as if membership in the Church and her internal unity were to be decided on the basis of faith alone, while in the sphere of morality a pluralism of opinions and of kinds of behaviour could be tolerated, these being left to the judgment of the individual subjective conscience or to the diversity of social and cultural contexts."
St. John Paul II, Veritatis splendor 4. Sec. 26:
"From the Church's beginnings, the Apostles, by virtue of their pastoral responsibility to preach the Gospel, were vigilant over the right conduct of Christians [(prospexerunt probitatis morum christianorum)], just as they were vigilant for the purity of the faith and the handing down of the divine gifts in the sacraments [(consuluerunt fidei integritati atque supernorum munerum traditioni per sacramenta)]. The first Christians, coming both from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, differed from the pagans not only in their faith and their liturgy but also in the witness of their moral conduct [(non solum propter suam fidem suamque liturgiam, verum etiam ob testimonium moralis rationis agendi)], which was inspired by the New Law. The Church is in fact a communion both of faith and of life [(fidei simulque vitae communio)]; her rule of life is 'faith working through love' (Gal 5:6).
"No damage must be done to the harmony between faith and life: the unity of the Church is damaged [(Nulla laceratio debet insidiari concordiae inter fidem et vitam: Ecclesiae unitati vulnus infligitur)] not only by Christians who reject or distort the truths of faith [(fidei veritatem respuentibus vel evertentibus)] but also by those who disregard the moral obligations [(moralia neglegunt officia)] to which they are called by the Gospel (cf. 1 Cor 5:9-13). The Apostles decisively rejected any separation between the commitment of the heart and the actions which express or prove it [(inter curam cordis dis[c]idium et actus eam enuntiantes et comprobantes)] (cf. 1 Jn 2:3-6). And ever since Apostolic times the Church's Pastors have unambiguously condemned the behaviour of those who fostered division by their teaching or by their actions [(doctrina sua suisque moribus)]."
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