Catholics do not accept Mohammad as a prophet, nor Islam as a path to salvation. Muslims in general, according to the teachings of Jesus Christ, need Catholic Faith and Baptism to go to Heaven. They need to be baptized in the only Church Jesus founded, to reap the benefits of His Great Sacrifice for all people, Muslims included.
This is the mercy of God the Father. He provided a way for all people, even before the time of Abraham, to go to Heaven, through the Supreme Sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ.
PONTIFICIAL COUNCIL FOR INTER RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE, VATICAN
Islam is not a path to salvation and Muslims need Catholic Faith and Baptism to go to Heaven said Father Felix Muchado, Former Secretary, Council for Inter Religious Dialogue (PCID), Vatican. He was speaking with me at the PCID office near St. Peter’s Square on Tuesday (26.02.2008) morning. He was asked if non-Catholic religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam etc) are not paths to salvation (i.e. to go to Heaven and avoid Hell).He said YES.
Do non-Catholics need Catholic Faith and Baptism in general, except for the exceptions, to go to Heaven and avoid Hell, he was asked. He answered yes. This was not mentioned in a triumphal sense or with hatred. It was a matter of fact statement.
Archbishop Angelo Amato, Secretary, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), Vatican in an interview in the Italian daily Avvenire has emphasised the importance of Catholic Mission. He quoted the text from the Council Ad Gentes 7, Lumen Gentium 14) which says:
˜All must be incorporated into Him by baptism, and into the Church which is His body. For Christ Himself explicit terms affirmed the necessity of faith and baptism (cf.Mk.16:16; Jn.3:5) and thereby affirmed also the necessity of the Church, for through baptism (cf.Mk.16:16; Jn.3:5) and thereby affirmed also the necessity of the Church, for through baptism as through a door men enter the Church.He was interviewed at the Salesian University, Rome by Gianni Cardinale (Amato: non ce Chiesa senza missione, March 8, 2008, Saturday p. 21, Catholica, Avvenire).
Archbishop Angelo Amato, CDF, Sec., Vatican was saying that Judaism without the Jewish Savior is not a path to salvation and all Jews in general, need the baptism of water and Catholic Faith.
NEW GOOD FRIDAY PRAYER IS FOR CONVERSION -CARDINAL FRANCIS ARINZE
His Eminence Cardinal Francis Arinze said (05.03.2008) that on Good Friday all Catholics will pray that Jews, Muslims and others enter the Catholic Church, in general, to go to Heaven and to avoid Hell. Cardinal Arinze, the Prefect for Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Vatican said that the new prayer for the Jews, formulated by the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI is for the conversion, of the Jews, through Catholic Faith and the baptism of water.
This is our Catholic Faith, he said and that others (non-Catholics) are free to pray as they want.
He was speaking with me outside his office at the Vatican. He pointed out that when one has the Faith, one wants to share it.
Cardinal Arinze was referring to the prayers being said on Good Friday by Catholics, in the different rites; Latin, Greek, Syro-Malabar and not just the Tridentine Rite.
The same two questions were asked (26.02.2008) of the Secretary of Cardinal Francis Arinze, Mons. Anthony Kollamparampil (Tel: 06-69884005 Fax: 06-69883499). The answer was YES.
Mons. Anthony agreed that non-Catholics can be saved in their religion through the extraordinary means of salvation. However the ordinary means of salvation, to go to Heaven is the Catholic Church (Ad Gentes 7, Lumen Gentium 14). The religions itself are not means of salvation.
We do not know finally who will be saved, it is in the hands of God, said Fr.Felix Muchado. So which Muslim will specifically go to Heaven, only God knows, we do not.
Islam is not a path to salvation and their members need Baptism and Catholic Faith to avoid Hell said Mons. Raffaello Martinelli at his residence on the Via del Corso, on the solemn feast day of the Blessed Virgin Mary the Mother of God (Jan1, 2008).
Mons. Raffaello has since 1980 been working with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), Vatican. For the last 23 years he has assisted Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI. Mons. Raffaello was also a coordinator in the preparation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.The Archpriest (Primicerio) of the exquisite Basilica dei Ambrogio e Carlo al Corso in Rome he said that the Catholic Church teaches that Islam is not a path to salvation but Muslims can be saved, who are in invincible ignorance and those who die in good faith.
“Are they saved through their religion?” he was asked to clarify. He answered no. Their religion does not save them.
“Do they need to enter the Catholic Church to go to Heaven and avoid Hell?”
He answered yes.
All Muslims, he said, are called (by God) to enter the Catholic Church.
He was asked if they are simply just called (optional) to enter the Catholic Church, through the baptism of water, or, are they called to enter the Catholic Church to avoid Hell. He answered that they are called to enter the Catholic Church to avoid Hell.
The Catholic Church is the Body of Christ he said. The Church is the general, normal way to be saved.
He made the distinction between the ordinary and extraordinary means of salvation.
The Church, the Body of Christ is the ordinary means of salvation. So the Baptism of water is needed for all people in general. However through the extraordinary means of salvation Muslims can be saved within Islam. They too are saved by Jesus Christ.
“Who are these exceptions, saved implicitly through the extraordinary means of salvation?” he said, we do not know. We cannot judge. Only Jesus knows. We cannot say that a particular person is in invincible ignorance, has good faith etc. We humans cannot judge.
AMERICAN BISHOPS
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Doctrine Committee in issued a media statement (USCCB Doctrine Committee faults book by Father Peter Phan Dec.10, 2007) on the book by Father Peter C. Phan Being Religious Intereligiously: Asian Perspectives on Interfaith Dialogue. The USCCB indicates that Islam and other religions are not paths to salvation. The great religions have good things but are not paths to avoid Hell, for their followers. Their followers need Catholic Faith. The statement was signed by Bishop William E. Lori of Bridgeport, Conn., chairman of the Committee on Doctrine, and the six other committee member-bishops.
(See full text www.usccb.org/dpp/StatementonBeingReligiousInterreligiously.pdf. )
LETTER HOLY OFFICE (1949): BAPTISM OF WATER NEEDED FOR ALL IN GENERALThe Letter of the Holy Office to Cardinal Richard Cushing (1949) relative to Fr. Leonard Feeney said that baptism was needed for all people in general for salvation. There were exceptions. There were exceptions to the rule that Catholic Faith and the baptism of water are needed for all people. The exceptions include martyrdom, a perfect desire, invincible ignorance etc. We cannot say which Muslim is specifically going to be saved through the baptism of desire and other exceptions- only Jesus knows who will be saved.
NON CATHOLICS GOING TO HELL DEFINITELY-VATICAN COUNCIL II
Yet Lumen Gentium N.14 is clear that those non-Catholics who know they should be in the Catholic Church and who have had the Gospel preached to them, and yet do not do so, will go to Hell.
The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and Vatican Council II refer to these non-Catholics going to Hell, definitely.
We do not know who is in partial communion or full communion, we do not know who is in invincible ignorance or has perfect contrition or has a good conscience-only Jesus does.
When we meet a Hindu, Buddhist or Muslim we assume that he or she is not saved, not because we know personally but because the Church inspired by the Holy Spirit tells us so.
So would Mohammad come under the category of exceptions? No. Since he knew. He knew about the Catholic Faith.bThis is seen in the Koran. He chose not to enter the Catholic Church and formed a new religion. Interestingly, Muslims still pray that he may have peace.
Jesus however is saying that those Muslims who believe will be saved, those who do not will be condemned (Mk.16: 15-16, Jn.3:5)
The condemnation is to Hell. It was Dante who described the Inferno he saw.
Mohammad was among the many people whom the Italian poet Dante Alighieri saw in Hell.
DANTES EXPERIENCE OF HELL SIMILAR TO CATHOLIC SAINTS
Dante saw Hell with caves and special tortures for different people. There was fire and water, demons and the presence of Satan. He saw suffering which would never ever end in time. The Catholic saints Teresa of Avila and Maria Faustina Kowalski also describe Hell similarly. Dante’s experience of Hell can also be compared with Sr. Josepha Menendez. It is similar to Hell shown by Our Lady to Sr. Lucia at Fatima.
The Catholic saints were permitted by God to see Hell while they were alive and were allowed to tell the world about it.
Dante’s vision was contemplation, said Mons.Marco Frisina, during a series of talks on the Divine Comedy of Dante, given at the Basilica dei Ambrogio e Carlo al Corso, Rome.
After one of the talks, I spoke to him about the visions of the Catholic saints and how they were similar to that of Dante.
I asked him, “Was it just contemplation or did Dante really go to Hell?”
He replied, “Non lo so” (I don’t know)
Unlike Dante the Catholic saints do not name names. St. Maria Faustina Kowalski recognized in Hell, people whom she knew. So did Sr.Josepha Menendez.
Most of them in Hell said St. Faustina were really surprised to be there. Surprised! They expected to be in Heaven, once past the Particular Judgment. Were there were those who thought it was enough to be a Jew or Muslim?
St. Faustina Kowalski and Dante saw demons in Hell and Satan being present to torment the people sent there. St. Teresa of Avila noted the dirty water with reptiles, so did Dante. They both observed there were special places and caves for the demons to torture people forever. Josepha Menendez saw people tortured in a special way in the parts of the body, which they used to sin. So did the Polish saint Maria Kowalska. This was what Dante saw and described.
Sr. Lucia saw people amidst fire. Dante described many realms with fire. The Bible and the sacred books of other religions also list fire in Hell. However Dante is more explicit and covers a large range of the specific suffering in Hell. Sr. Lucia seemed to be shown, by Our Lady, just one area.
Today (2009) there are people alive who have seen Hell and can tell us about it. Their descriptions correspond with that of Dante and the Catholic saints. The Archives of the website Spirit Daily has testimonies of people who have been to Hell and returned to tell us about it. They have also changed their lifestyle after the experience.
Those alive today include visionaries at apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The children at Medugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina who are adults now. They were shown Hell. They all agree that the pains of Hell are eternal. The belief in Hell is popular in Italy as is Dante Alighieri, who made a singular contribution, in the change of the Italian language to its present form, from Latin versions.
The Catholic Church tells us that a category of non Christians will go to Hell. That non Christians can go to Hell is clearly said in Vatican Council II and the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Jesus cautions us about Hell in the New Testament. The road to Hell is wide and many take it He said. This warning was His love for us. The Old Testament and the Psalms have many references to Hell. Isaiah (33) asks who can withstand a devouring fire for eternity. The Quran refers often to Hell.
The message of Vatican Council II and the Catechism of the Catholic Church is that those non Catholics who have had the Gospel preached to them and who know that the Catholic Church is the one, true Church of God, founded by His Son Jesus Christ, and who yet do not enter through baptism and Catholic Faith will go to Hell (they cannot be saved).
Whosoever, therefore, knowing that the Catholic Church was made necessary by God through Jesus Christ would refuse to enter her or to remain in her could not be saved. - Decree on the Missionary activity of the Church, Ad Gentes # 7, Vatican Council IIMohammad knew about Jesus Christ and the Church Jesus founded. This is clear in the Quran. Yet he refused to enter it. He had the Gospel preached to him. His soul, Catholic teaching indicates is oriented towards Hell.
Many Muslims who have had the Gospel preached to them, who know that God the Father founded his only Church through his Son Jesus Christ. They know that they need to join this saving-Church because this is what God wants of them. Yet they do not do so. They are oriented towards the Inferno at the time of their death.
The Bible and the Catechism say that just one mortal sin at the time of death, is enough for a soul to go to eternal death. Muslims, do not have the help of the Catholic Sacraments.
And whosoever shall keep the whole law but offend in one point is become guilty of all. For he that said: Thou shalt not commit adultery, said also: Thou shalt not kill. Now if thou do not commit adultery, but shalt kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. (James 2:10-11). (Douay-Rheims Bible)So there are not only Mortal sins of Faith, which is relevant to Mohammad, but there are also Mortal Sins of morals. The Church specifies which are the mortal sins e.g. committing or encouraging murder-abortion, euthanasia, fornication, homosexuality, fornication.
There are many Muslims who believe that they are doing good and have a good conscience. With mortal sins of faith and morals they are oriented to Hell, while living as Muslims. This is not what God wants of them.
The Catholic Church teaches us that the religion Muhammad founded has good things but it is not a path to heaven. It also has errors and deficiencies (Dominus Iesus). It carries the fourth century Arian heresy which denies Jesus is God. It denies the Trinity and the Crucifixion of Jesus.
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH DOES NOT CONDEMN ANY PROPHET OR RELIGION
The Catholic Church, however, does not officially name any particular person in Hell. It does not even say that Judas is in Hell (or Heaven) even though Scripture indicates that Judas’ soul is cursefreesite in Hell.
One can appreciate many good and holy things in the religion Muhammad founded.
This report here hence is not a condemnation of Muhammad and Islam. Neither does the Catholic Church condemn either.
The sin of heresy however is a Mortal Sin.
‘…those who do not believe will be condemned’ says Jesus (Mk.16:15-16).They have chosen their condemnation. They have chosen eternal death. Muhammad, like Gandhi knew about the Catholic Faith. They chose otherwise.
Muhammad, like Gandhi, was born with Original Sin. Muhammad carried the image of Adam (1 Cor.15:45-49).Through Baptism ‘we bear the image of the heavenly one’- Jesus. Muhammad died with the stain of Original Sin. He could not say that Jesus is Lord. He who cannot say that Jesus is Lord is the Antichrist the Bible says.
Muhammad’s concept of Heaven is not that of Christians. St. Faustina Marie Kowalski describes her vision of Heaven which is Trinitarian. (N.777Diary). She described Paradise where Catholics are in happiness, amidst great beauty and give praise and glory to the One Triune God. It is a place of pure love for God without the presence of evil. (Whatever ones religion or lack of it, if one is saved it is through Jesus and the Catholic Church, one is a Catholic in Heaven).
VATICAN COUNCIL SAYS ISLAM NOT PATH TO SALVATION
Vatican Council II actually says that Judaism, Islam and the other religions are not paths to salvation. (Ad Gentes 7) Their followers need Catholic Faith and Baptism in general, to avoid Hell (Lumen Gentium 14).
The Council asks us to have “a high regard” for the precepts and doctrines of these religions “which often reflect a ray of that truth which enlightens all men” (Nostra Aetate, N.2), but does not anywhere say that these elements are sufficient for salvation.’-Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus, Christ to the World (1981)OBLIGATORY CATHOLIC TEACHING LINKED TO THE EUCHARIST
Missionaries of Charity Sisters, during their Perpetual Vows, promise publicly to be faithful to the teaching Authority of the Catholic Church; the Magisterium, believe in one baptism for the forgiveness of sins (Nicene Creed).They believe that the Church is holy and guided by the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Holy Trinity (Nicene Creed).They believe that the One God wants to be worshipped as the Holy Trinity, within the Sacraments of the Catholic Church, the only Church founded by Jesus Christ, the Son of God (CCC845).This teaching is obligatory for all Catholics.
Not to believe in the one God as in Catholic Revelation is idol worship. It is contrary to the First Commandment. Idol worship is to make ones ego a god. It is to make ones badly-formed conscience god (CCC 2104, 2105, 2113, and 2114).It is choosing to worship as one wants to, personally, and not as God wants to be worshipped. We can choose to make television, or the editorial in a particular newspaper are idol, our god. Muslims can choose to stay within their religion, and circle the stone Kaaba, in a religious pilgrimage, in Saudi Arabia.
REFUSAL OF THE EUCHARIST FOR FIRST CLASS HERESY
Muslims who know the truth about the Catholic Church and yet choose to remain in the religion Mohammad founded are in heresy. Heresy is a grave sin (CCC#2088).Persistent grave sin; with full knowledge is a Mortal Sin.
A Catholic in persistent Mortal sin, known to many people, can be refused the Eucharist. It means the loss of Sanctifying Grace. Heresy on this issue, means giving up the right to receive the Eucharist. For a Catholic religious it is giving up the right to celebrate Holy Mass or to canonically hold an office as a Catholic.
Muslims cannot receive the Holy Eucharist.
When the first class heresy is known to many it is also a scandal, another grave sin. If one dies in the state of Mortal Sin, the sinner is moving in the direction of Hell-fires. In Hell one will see relatives, friends and colleagues and hate them and despair. One would be willing to offer 10,000 years just for 30 minutes on earth, to ask for Sacramental Confession to a Catholic priest who represented Jesus and whom God’s Mercy has given the power, to forgive sins. This is a privilege that Muslims do not have.
Heresy (#2087, 2088, and 2089) is a sin against faith and the First Commandment. The, church guided by charity asks persons in Mortal Sin; persons in heresy, not to commit a sacrilege and receive the Eucharist or celebrate Holy Mass without going for Confession and making public amends through a clarification, apology and/ or restitution .
It is heresy not to believe in the dogma Outside the Catholic Church there is no salvation. This dogma was approved by two Church Councils and included in Vatican Council II.
NOT TO WITNESS TO CREED AND COMMANDMENTS IS FIRST CLASS HERESY
Not to witness to the Creed and Commandments is a first class heresy. The person is not in communion with Jesus’ Mystical Body, the Catholic Church. He is not in communion with God. He could lose his right to be an heir of Heaven a child of God if he would die immediately.
Canonically he is not a Catholic...
A priest may say that he believes that alcohol-abuse is a grave sin as mentioned in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. If that priest has an alcohol-abuse problem however and it is well known, the Bishop can ask him to stop celebrating Holy Mass. Alcohol abuse when continued with full knowledge is a Mortal Sin. It is not enough to say that one believes in the teachings of the Catholic Church. One has to live it. Otherwise he has no right to receive the Eucharist.
One can say that he believes that homosexuality is extrinsically evil but if he is a practising homosexual...One can say that he believes in the Creed and Commandments but if he cannot proclaim aloud and in writing that non Catholic religions are not paths to salvation and that Catholic Faith and baptism are needed for all in general, then in practise he does not believe in the Nicene and Apostles Creed and the First Commandment. He has no right to receive the Eucharist. Neither is a dissenter on Church teaching on salvation and non-Catholics.
PRIEST IN MORTAL SIN NEEDS CONFESSION BEFORE OFFERING HOLY MASS
A priest in Mortal Sin must receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation before celebrating Mass. Absolution in the Sacrament of Confession is the only way to have a Mortal Sin forgiven (CCC) .A simple act of contrition is not enough. We can never be sure that our contrition is perfect.
St. Alphonsus Ligouri writes that one commits a grave sin by receiving the Eucharist from a priest (or Eucharistic Minister) who is in manifest Mortal Sin, (Teologia Moralis Bk.3, N.47). Unless of course there was no other priest to give you the Sacraments. The Eucharist is always the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, His Great Miracle to be with us always. It is so even when a priest is in Mortal Sin. So it is important for a Catholic to know this teaching of the Church.
Islam is a religion we respect. We appreciate all the good and holy things in it. God loves Muslims.
The Holy Spirit is also present among Muslims. Muslims of goodwill who live righteously can go to Heaven through the implicit graces that come from Jesus and the Catholic Church. This is a possibility though not the general rule.
E-mail: lionelandrades10@gmail.com
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