Council of Trent on Perseverance & eternal security
Yes — real apostasy is possible
the received grace of Justification is lost, not only by infidelity whereby even faith itself is lost, but also by any other mortal sin whatever
THE POSITION
The grace of justification is lost not only by unbelief but by any mortal sin, and can be recovered through the sacrament of penance. Canon 23 condemns the view that a person once justified can no longer sin or lose grace.
7 OTHERS HOLD THIS
ABOUT THIS FIGURE
Met in twenty-five sessions over three periods, at Trento in northern Italy except for two sessions held at Bologna in 1547. Called by Paul III and closed under Pius IV. It answered the Reformation point by point: Scripture and tradition, the canon, original sin, justification and the seven sacraments. From the Sixth Session on, each subject is set out in chapters and then in canons ending "let him be anathema." The Catholic Church counts it the nineteenth ecumenical council; the Orthodox and Protestant churches do not count it as ecumenical. Read here in J. Waterworth's 1848 translation.
Cite this page
"Council of Trent on Perseverance & eternal security", Examined Doctrine, July 2026 edition, https://examineddoctrine.com/position/trent/perseverance (archived at https://examineddoctrine.com/editions/2026-07/position/trent/perseverance).