ECUMENISM WITHOUT THE NEED FOR JESUS IN THE EUCHARIST

The bishops in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland do not deny that there is no visible baptism of desire. So the baptism of desire they know cannot be an exception to the dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus. However neither do they affirm in public that there can only be , the ‘rigorist interpretation’ of the dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus.

The issue is linked to the Eucharist. Is Jesus in the Eucharist  necessary for the salvation of all people ? In Ecumenism in England the focus is on Jesus without the Church.  Even though Vatican Council II and the dogma tell us that  all non Catholics need to enter the Church; they need to believe in Jesus in the Eucharist for salvation.

The website of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of England and Wales indicates falsely that the Church teaches that Protestants and others in England who do not believe in the Eucharist are also on the way to Heaven.

Jesus in the Eucharist is at the centre of the world’s salvation, all need Catholic Faith and the Baptism of water (AG 7, LG 14) to be saved from the fires, screams and suffering of Hell.

In general, defacto everyone needs the Eucharist to be saved. There could be people saved who did not have the means to receive the Eucharist. They could have received the other Sacraments and have died without mortal sin on their soul. They could be in Heaven worshiping and adoring Jesus in the Trinity just as we do now on earth.

The Church teaches that every non Catholic throughout the world needs to accept Jesus in the Eucharist to go to Heaven. (‘the dogma’. Letter of the Holy Office 1949). There are no defacto known exceptions.

The Church accepts dejure, in principle that there could be  non Catholics saved with implicit baptism of desire but knows that there are no known defacto cases.(Letter of the Holy Office 1949).So everyone on earth needs the Sacraments, they need to believe in the Eucharist for salvation.

In principle, dejure, as a possibility there could be non Catholics who do not know about Jesus and the Eucharist these persons could be saved. However they are known and judged only by God and so we cannot consider them as exceptions to Vatican Council II and the dogmatic teaching which says all need Catholic Faith and the baptism of water for salvation. Jesus and the Church, the Sacraments including the Eucharist, is the ordinary means of salvation. It is the ordinary means of salvation for pagans, for those living in the forests and remote areas of the world. In general they all need Catholic Faith and the baptism of water to remove the stain of Original Sin and to use the Sacraments to live the Gospel and have their sins forgiven through the Sacrament of Confession.

This is the general, norm the ordinary way that God the Father chose  to save all people through His Son who founded only one Church, the Catholic Church.

The Archbishop of Westminster England Vince Nicols  is not denying that there is no visible baptism of desire and so those saved with the baptism of desire or in invincible ignorance are not exceptions to the dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus. Neither is he saying that this is the teaching of the Catholic Magisterium. http://eucharistandmission.blogspot.com/2011/12/will-archbishop-vince-nicols-reply.html

Since those saved in invincible ignorance are unknown to us there cannot be two interpretations of the dogma, ‘rigorist interpretation’ and non-rigorist interpretation. The Conference of Catholic Bishops of England and Wales (CBCEW) is back to the centuries old interpretation of the dogma; the only interpretation. The secular media refer to the 'rigorist interpretation' of the dogma assuming there is a second interpretation. They assume that the baptism of desire and those saved in invincible ignorance are defacto known to us and so it contradict the original interpretation of the dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus. This was the error of the Archbishop of Boston Cardinal Richard Cushing.

The issue is not just the dogma but also the Eucharist.

-Lionel Andrades