Magicsilence:
Yes, but if we are [to] condemn heretics where was the condemnation from JPII? I.e. yes he had some good qualities but he was still a heretic.
The two points you cite in your opening post seem to turn on the definition of a heretic. A true heretic is one who had a well-formed understanding and faith in Catholic teaching and then turned against it. The more proper term for this is
formal heresy. For example, let’s just say for the sake of argument that Aquinas before his death repudiated the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. Knowing from his writing that he possessed a well-formed understanding of Trinitarian doctrine, his hypothetical rejection of it would have made him a formal heretic and he would have placed his salvation in jeopardy had he died in his unbelief.
It has been suggested by Catholic historians and scholars that Luther might not have been a formal heretic because it seems from his writings that he did not have a proper understanding and faith in actual Church doctrine at the time of the Reformation. Instead, he argued against what he presumed was authentic Church teaching and developed his own doctrines from there. His lack of faith in Catholic teaching would have made him a
material heretic instead and immune from Church anathema.
As for modern-day Anglicans with whom JPII prayed, they also can’t be faulted as formal heretics given that their Anglican beliefs are not predicated on a formal rejection of faith in Catholic teaching. If they were Anglicans through no fault of their own, then they can not be condemned for it. If some of them were converts from Catholicism, then they too might not have had a well-formed faith in Catholic truth and therefore only rejected what they presumed to be Catholic doctrine. As such, they are still not guilty of formal heresy.
The anathemas against heresy, when understood in their proper context as to the kind of heresy they actually condemn, still hold true today, but only against formal heresy. Material heresy has since been identified as separate from formal heresy, given its lack of personal culpability, thus being forgivable by the Church, and therefore, by heaven. Those who wish to discredit JPII for his charity towards Protestants would be wise to learn more about Catholic teaching lest they wind up discrediting only themselves.
Mike