Fr. Chad Ripperger writes, 

“The juridical concept of the deposit [of Faith] requires that it is not the property of the guardian. In other words, it is not the person who receives it that has ownership of it, but of the consigner who is handing it over to him to keep it in a safe state. The Deposit of Faith has come from God and has been entrusted to those to whom a special assistance of the Holy Spirit is assured, i.e. to those who succeed the Apostles and their Magisterium and in their ministry. Christ is the consignor and therefore has transmitted the deposit whose content cannot be subject to alteration. St. Paul refers to the Apostles as the “custodians of the Mysteries of God.” 125

Being a custodian entails two essential functions:

(1) to pass on and make available what was given, as St. Paul says, “tradidi enim vobis, in primis quod et accepi ”. 126 In this respect, the Magisterium is not permitted to block the passing on of doctrines. The very nature of the Magisterium is to pass on or to be an instrument of tradition. Yet,

(2) they are to pass on what they have received, not their own teachings or their own alterations of the teachings of Christ.

Historically, the tradition of the Church is viewed as something in complete opposition to the Hegelian dialectic which insists that change cannot help but creep in. Some labor under the idea that each successive generation receives the Deposit, modifies it and then passes that on. This is contrary to the very divine mandate or command. Sacred Tradition, unchanged and unmodified, is not only a fact of history, but it is a matter of divine law.

The divine law to pass on the tradition was given to the Apostles when Christ said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you. And behold I am with you always, even to the consummation of the world.” 127

In effect, Christ is mandating that everybody is to be proselytized, prudence being observed, of course. The Apostles and their successors are the guardians, the faithful dispensers, not the inventors, of the doctrine of Christ, conserving the doctrinal integrity of the teachings of Christ. This does not mean that he cannot give a fuller explanation of a particular doctrine but that what he has received cannot be changed.

St. Vincent of Lerins writes,

“… it is proper to Christian modesty and gravity not to pass on his own beliefs to those who come after him, but to serve that which is accepted by his ancestors. What then was the issue of the whole matter? What but the usual and customary one? Antiquity was retained, novelty was rejected. 128…

Clearly, in this passage, St. Vincent sees the remote rule as something morally binding if it is necessary to follow or if one ought to follow it. What we want or think is not the standard or principle of judgment of what is to be believed, but whatever antiquity, which is known through tradition, tells us.

St. Robert Bellarmine in his De Controversiis provides a fuller understanding of exactly how the tradition binds: “

Ecclesiastical traditions are properly called certain ancient customs, started by either prelates, or the people, which gradually by the tacit consent of the people obtained force of law. And indeed traditions have the same force as divine precepts, either divine doctrines written in the Gospels, and similarly the apostolic traditions non-written have the same force as the written apostolic traditions, as the Council of Trent in the fourth session asserts. … Moreover ecclesiastical traditions have that same force as decrees and written constitutions of the Church”. 129

This passage is loaded and contains several things of importance. (1) The use of the word “force” or “vis” in Latin indicates that one is compelled or bound to do something. (2) In the context of the use of his word “precepts”, what is indicated is that this binding force is in the forum of the conscience insofar as we are bound to accept what is passed on to us on the side of the tradition as a matter of precept or law. Essentially, refusal to accept what is passed on AS it is passed on constitutes a violation of the divine law, i.e. it is sinful. Moreover, (3) those who are entrusted, i.e. the custodians of the mysteries of Christ, are bound to pass on by precept what they have received.

If a custodian, i.e. a member of the Magisterium, refuses to pass on what he has received, then he sins. If he modifies or alters it, he sins. St. Robert also indicates that (4) there are different traditions and from this we are to understand that different traditions have a different degree of binding force based upon the source of the tradition and the nature of what is passed on. Different kinds of tradition and different objects of tradition bind in differing degrees and in different ways.

Violation of the tradition does not apply equally to all aspects of the tradition, but all of it binds under the pain of sin, either venial or mortal. What is also important to recognize is that the binding in the forum of conscience pertains not just to the Deposit of Faith, but also what was has been accrued to the tradition by means of papal teachings, the theological work of saints, etc.

Theological Notes

In effect, what becomes binding to pass on under sin is the totality of the tradition. This being said, we realize that the question of theological notes is key.

A theological note is the name given by which the certitude of the particular doctrine is known or we may say that different doctrines have different degrees of certitude based upon author, Church pronouncements, etc. and the degree of the certitude of the doctrine is known as its theological note. Ludwig Ott in his Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma gives a basic outline of the various doctrines and their theological notes 130:

“The highest degree of certainty appertains to the immediately revealed truths. The belief due to them is based on the authority of God Revealing (fides divina), and if the Church, through its teaching, vouches for the fact that a truth is contained in Revelation, one’s certainty is then also based on the authority of the Infallible Teaching Authority of the Church (fides catholica).

If Truths are defined by a solemn judgment of faith (definition of the Pope or of a General Council), they are de fide definita. Catholic truths or Church doctrines, on which the infallible Teaching Authority of the Church has finally decided, are to be accepted with a faith which is based on the sole authority of the Church (fides ecclesiastica). These truths are as infallibly certain as dogmas proper.” (emphasis added).

— from “The Binding Force of Tradition” by Fr. Chad Ripperger  (Amazon.com)

+ Credo of the People of God, Paul VI