Benedictus Deus

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Coat of arms of Benedict XII.

After their initial words Benedictus Deus (Latin God the Praised) is the name of a bull by Pope Benedict XII. of 1336, in which the definition of the Catholic doctrine , which is still essentially valid today , was defined as the visio beatifica , the divine vision of souls after death.

The bull is considered to be issued ex cathedra , hence an irreversible teaching (cf. infallibility ). The Pope explained this decision a teaching uncertainty that his predecessor John XXII. triggered by the fact that he expressed an older (and obsolete by the bull) idea in some sermons. On the other hand, according to the testimony of his successor, this Pope withdrew on his deathbed. John XXII. preferred the interpretation that the souls of the deceased rested "under the altar" (the human nature of Jesus) until the return of Christ. Benedictus Deus, on the other hand, stipulated that the souls of people who died in the grace of Christ immediately partook of the blissful view of God. If purgatory had to be measured to cleanse the temporal consequences of sins , this previously meant a kind of suffering. Only the outside of the grace of Christ, for example by not regret mortal sin of are, persevering souls condemnation betrayed.

See also

swell