Separated brethren is a term sometimes used by the Catholic Church and its clergy and members to refer to baptized members of other Christian traditions. The phrase is a translation of the Latin phrase fratres seiuncti. It is largely used as a polite euphemism in contexts where the terms "formal heretics" or "material heretics" might cause offense.
Since the Council of Trent, which formally condemned Protestant doctrines as heretical, the Catholic Church officially deems Protestants as material or formal "heretics" and has always taught that "outside the Church there is no salvation". However, Biblical passages like Romans 2:12-16 point to the importance of conscience in Catholic soteriology, which the Roman Catholic Church states it has always recognized. In preparation work for draft texts of Second Vatican Council documents, a "report urged respectful use of the terms dissidents or separated brethren, in place of heretics and schismatics." After the Second Vatican Council, however, "that habit of unthinkingly hurling accusations of heresy at Protestants pretty much died out" in some contexts to avoid offense. Since at least the mid-1990s, the term has often been replaced by Catholic officials with phrases such as "other Christians".
A similar move to avoid causing offense occurred with some other religious groups as well. During a period of lessening tensions with Jewish groups, Pope John Paul II once referred to Jews as "elder brothers in the faith of Abraham", prior to a 1987 visit to the United States.
History
The concept and wording was published as early as 1793, in a discourse which examined two papal briefs to the Bishop of Chiusi-Pienza. Frank Flinn wrote, in Encyclopedia of Catholicism, that in 1959 Pope John XXIII "addressed Protestants as separated brethren," in Ad Petri cathedram (APC), which Flinn saw as "an important step toward recognizing Protestants as legitimate partners in a future dialogue." But Pope Leo XIII "was the first to speak of 'separated brothers according to John Norman Davidson Kelly's A Dictionary of Popes. Edward Farrugia, in Gregorianum, describes the development from Pope Leo XIII's Orientalium dignitas (OD) to Orientalium Ecclesiarum (OE) to Unitatis Redintegratio (UR). "Yet if builds on , differences remain. Whereas " 186 "speaks of 'dissident bretheren' (), 28 speaks of 'separated bretheren' (), although it does not go as far as 14, where there is an inchoative use of the language of 'sister Churches' () in regards to the sisterhood of Eastern Churches." It does not refer to a sisterhood between Catholic and Orthodox Churches, nor between Catholic and Protestant Churches. Farrugia noted Austin Flannery's translations in Vatican Council II, " 29 speaks of the 'separated Churches' and 25 of 'any separated Eastern Christians', and 29 of 'Eastern separated brethren'." J. M. R. Tillard goes into detail, in New Catholic Encyclopedia, about "the development of a carefully nuanced vocabulary, consistent with Vatican II Ecclesiology," which evolved from "the idea of membership in favor of that of incorporation" and has its categorization found in the dogmatic constitution (LG) which Tillard describes: Catholics are defined as being incorporated' (), qualifying the term with the adverb 'fully' () and emphasizing that full incorporation requires the presence of the Holy Spirit." Non-Catholics and catechumens are defined as being linked' () to the Church, again carefully stressing the role of the Holy Spirit in each case." Non-Christians are defined as being related' (), a term that suggests a dynamic relationship, an orientation toward the Church." "Every shade of difference in meaning among these terms is important," emphasizes Tillard. "But the terms acquire their full force only in the light of the most authoritative commentaries on them," and Nostra aetate (NA). "Then, supposing the nuances indicated, the richness of such expressions as the following becomes clear: 'Churches and ecclesial communities'; 'separated brethren'; 'separated Churches and ecclesial communities'; 'full communion'—'imperfect communion'."