1. Unlike Fr. Leonard Feeney whom he criticizes Jeffrey Mirus is unable to affirm the Athanasius Creed which says outside the church there is no salvation. Mirus refuses to endorse Cantate Domino, Council of Florence which was one of three ex cathedra dogmas on outside the Church there is no salvation.This has been refused in correspondence with him.
2. He also refuses to accept Vatican Council II (LG 14,AG 7) which indicates that Catholic Faith and the baptism of water is the ordinary means of salvation. Instead he believes invincible ignorance (LG 16) is the ordinary means of salvation and so the Native Americans were also saved before the Catholic missionaries went there.(See Tragic Errors of Fr.Leonard Feeney. It is placed on the internet by Mirus’ Trinity Communications ).
What the disobedient Feeney said amounted to this: he insisted that all who did not formally enter the Church would go to hell…Further, all adults who did not formally enter the Church - get their names on a parish register - would also go to hell, even if they never had a chance to hear there was a Church, e.g., those in the western hemisphere during the long centuries before Columbus. Therefore Feeney consigned literally millions upon millions to hell, even though He gave them no chance.- TRAGIC ERRORS OF LEONARD FEENEY by Fr. William Most -Trinity Communications 1994 and EWTN.(emphasis added)
3. The President of CatholicCulture.org Jeffrey Mirus refutes the Nicene Creed in which we affirm the belief that there is one baptism for the remission of sin. He assumes that the unbaptized in the Western hemisphere before the arrival of Columbus were all saved in general in invincible ignorance (Tragic Errors of Fr.Leonard Feeney).
The President of Catholic Culture rejects the Nicene Creed with his interpretation Vatican Council II. With the baptism of water Original Sin is removed from the soul. Catholic Faith and the baptism of water are needed for all (LG14, AG7) this is expressed in the dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus. (1)
The Church does not say that those saved with the Word of God or in invincible ignorance are explicitly known to us or that this is the ordinary way of salvation as indicated by Mirus. Vatican Council II mentions that non Catholics can be saved implicitly and we accept this implicit salvation. Since salvation through the baptism of desire or in invincible ignorance is always implicit.So the 'explicit-implicit' interpretation of Mirus is a personal one and is contrary to the Creed. Mirus does not know of any person on earth who does not need Catholic Faith and the baptism of water for salvation. Yet he considers those saved implicitly and known only to God as exceptions to the dogma
4.Redemptoris Missio n.55 says it must be remembered in inter religious dialogue that the Catholic Church is the 'ordinary means' of salvation. So it is not paganism and non Catholic religions as Catholic Culture would affirm. This is a denial of a basic Catholic teaching in Redemptoris Missio.(See Tragic Errors of Fr.Leonard Feeney)
5. The dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus, the Church Councils, popes and saints agree with Fr.Leonard Feeney. Yet Trinity Communications implies invincible ignorance and the baptism of desire are explicitly known and so exceptions to the dogma.The the report Tragic Errors of Fr.Leonard Feeney falsely claims that the priest Leonard Feeney was in error for denying a teaching of the Catholic Church.
6. The Letter of the Holy Office 1949 referred to 'the dogma', the infallible teaching'. The dogma Cantate Domino, Council of Florence tells us that every one needs to be a visible member of the Church. The dogma does not mention explicit baptism of desire or invincible ignorance. So how could Fr. Feeney be in error as Trinity Communications alleges? (Tragic Errors of Fr.Leonard Feeney)
7. There is no Church document which says invincible ignorance and the baptism of desire are defacto known to us in personal cases. Neither does any Magisterial text claim that these are ‘exceptions’ to the dogma.Yet this is suggested by Trinity Communications.
8. The Letter of the Holy Office 1949 mentions those who can be saved ‘in certain circumstances’ with the baptism of desire. It does not say that this contradicts ‘the dogma’ or ‘the infallible teaching’ to which the Letter also refers. Trinity Communications interprets the popes and Church Fathers as referring to those saved in general with the baptism of desire or in invincible ignorance.
9. If the baptism of desire was not dejure, accepted only in principle, and if it was de facto and known to us, in personal cases, then the Letter of the Holy Office would contradict itself.This is what Trinity Communications implies.
10. De facto every non Catholic needs to enter the Church for salvation and there are no exceptions.( LG 14, AG 7, Cantate Domino, Dominus Iesus 20, CCC 845, 846 etc).
Since invincible ignorance is implicit, we accept it only in principle (de jure). It is not an exception to the dogma.It is a possibility known to God but not an exception to the dogma. For Trinity Communications these are exceptions.
11. Here is Ad Gentes 7,Vatican Council II.
7. This missionary activity derives its reason from the will of God, "who wishes all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, Himself a man, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself as a ransom for all" (1 Tim. 2:45), "neither is there salvation in any other" (Acts 4:12). Therefore, all must be converted to Him, made known by the Church's preaching, and all must be incorporated into Him by baptism and into the Church which is His body. For Christ Himself "by stressing in express language the necessity of faith and baptism (cf. Mark 16:16; John 3:5), at the same time confirmed the necessity of the Church, into which men enter by baptism, as by a door. Therefore those men cannot be saved, who though aware that God, through Jesus Christ founded the Church as something necessary, still do not wish to enter into it, or to persevere in it." Therefore though God in ways known to Himself can lead those inculpably ignorant of the Gospel to find that faith without which it is impossible to please Him (Heb. 11:6), yet a necessity lies upon the Church (1 Cor. 9:16), and at the same time a sacred duty, to preach the Gospel. And hence missionary activity today as always retains its power and necessity…The passage emphasized in yellow tells us that Catholic faith and the baptism of water are the ordinary means of salvation for all. The passage in red mentions those who are lost and are known only to God. The passage in green mentions those who can be saved and are known only to God and this passage does not claim that these non Catholics are de facto known to us or that they are exceptions to the passage in yellow or the dogma.
The passage in yellow is defacto and that in green is de jure. When we read magisterial texts like the one above we have to use the defacto-dejure distinction otherwise there will be confusion. If you consider the passage in green as defacto it would contradict the passage in yellow.
Catholics seminarians who study Philosophy for two years are taught the Principle of Non Contradiction and are familiar with the defacto-dejure logic. If the passage in green is defacto and explicitly known to us as Trinity Communications and EWTN suggests, it would contradict the Principle of Non Contradiction. Even a Catholic layman would know that it is irrational.
12. The Trinity Communications report says Fr.Leonard Feeney was old so out of pity the excommunication was lifted. This is false. It can be seen from the report by Peter Vere Canon Lawyer who spoke to the priest who initiated the lifting of the excommunication without Fr. Feeney having to recant.(2)
13.Trinity Communications fails to mention that Fr.Leonard Feeney was not in heresy and yet the Archbishop of Boston Richard Cushing issued a decree against him and St. Benedict Center .He indicates that Vatican Council II contradicts the dogma as Fr.Leonard Feeney understood it and as expressed by the communites of Fr. Leonard Feeney today who are recognized by the Catholic Church.
14. Just as Archbishop Richard Cushing was in heresy for denying that everyone needs to be a visible member of the Church for salvation the local bishop denies the same through EWTN, so does Jeffrey Mirus of Trinity Communications..
14. Just as Archbishop Richard Cushing was in heresy for denying that everyone needs to be a visible member of the Church for salvation the local bishop denies the same through EWTN, so does Jeffrey Mirus of Trinity Communications..
15. Trinity Communications does not affirm the teaching of the Magisterium as it alleges.
The mission of CatholicCulture.org is to give faithful Catholics the information, encouragement, and perspective they need to become an active force for renewal in the Church and in society, working to shape an authentically Christian culture in a secular world.
Who We Are
CatholicCulture.org is run by a non-profit (501 c 3) corporation, Trinity Communications. The board and officers of Trinity Communications are Catholic laymen faithful to the Magisterium of the Church, who seek to enrich faith, strengthen the Church and form Catholic culture according to the mind of the Church.
Trinity Communications draws special inspiration from the outstanding Catholic vision and wisdom of Pope Benedict XVI.-from the website Catholic Culture.
-Lionel Andrades
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Salvation for Non-Catholics : Not a New Idea :-By Dr. Jeff Mirus August 05, 2010 Catholic Culture
The Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation (Dei Verbum) cites St. Paul’s letter to the Romans when it asserts the possibility for salvation for non-Catholics and even for non-Christians...
Now, from the quoted passage in this Dogmatic Constitution, we see the Church asserting again that even non-Christians can be saved...- Catholic Culture
2.
1
Salvation for Non-Catholics : Not a New Idea :-By Dr. Jeff Mirus August 05, 2010 Catholic Culture
The Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation (Dei Verbum) cites St. Paul’s letter to the Romans when it asserts the possibility for salvation for non-Catholics and even for non-Christians...
Now, from the quoted passage in this Dogmatic Constitution, we see the Church asserting again that even non-Christians can be saved...- Catholic Culture
2.
The actual lifting of Father’s excommunication was executed by Fr. Richard Shmaruk, a priest of the Boston Archdiocese, on behalf of Bishop Bernard Flanagan of Worcester Boston
On pages 259 to 262 of his book They Fought the Good Fight, Brother Thomas Mary Sennott diligently chronicles the reconciliation of Fr. Feeney, as well as the subsequent reconciliation of several of Father’s spiritual descendants. Brother Sennott quotes from two respectable Catholic news sources (The Advocate and the Catholic Free Press). I have independently confirmed the quotations and context of the primary sources.
Brother Sennottt also notes that Father’s memorial mass was celebrated by Bishop Bernard Flanagan in the Cathedral of St. Paul, Worcester. This would have given rise to scandal had Father not been fully reconciled with the Church. Br. Sennott’s book received an imprimi potest from Bishop Timothy Harrington of the Diocese of Worcester, meaning the book is free from doctrinal or moral error. Thus unless one is willing to declare oneself sedevacantist or sedeprivationist, the evidence is overwhelming that Fr. Feeney died in full communion with the Church without recanting his position.- Peter Vere Canon Lawyer on the Status of those who hold Fr.Leonard Feeney’s Doctrinal Position
On pages 259 to 262 of his book They Fought the Good Fight, Brother Thomas Mary Sennott diligently chronicles the reconciliation of Fr. Feeney, as well as the subsequent reconciliation of several of Father’s spiritual descendants. Brother Sennott quotes from two respectable Catholic news sources (The Advocate and the Catholic Free Press). I have independently confirmed the quotations and context of the primary sources.
Brother Sennottt also notes that Father’s memorial mass was celebrated by Bishop Bernard Flanagan in the Cathedral of St. Paul, Worcester. This would have given rise to scandal had Father not been fully reconciled with the Church. Br. Sennott’s book received an imprimi potest from Bishop Timothy Harrington of the Diocese of Worcester, meaning the book is free from doctrinal or moral error. Thus unless one is willing to declare oneself sedevacantist or sedeprivationist, the evidence is overwhelming that Fr. Feeney died in full communion with the Church without recanting his position.- Peter Vere Canon Lawyer on the Status of those who hold Fr.Leonard Feeney’s Doctrinal Position
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