Tuesday, March 27, 2012

The International Theological Commission's position paper Christianity and the World Religions 1997 has an objective factual error and is approved by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger : invincible ignorance is not an exception to the dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus

A Catholic religious community of Fr.Leonard Feeney in Los Angeles,USA affirms the literal interpretation of the dogma outside the church no salvation. The hierarchy there assumes there are visible cases of the baptism of desire which are exceptions.This is similar to the International Theological Commission (ITC).So the community in Los Angeles is not recognized.The religious communities in Worcester,USA have been granted canonical status.They hold the literal interpretation of the dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus.They know there are no known exceptions.The community in Manchester,USA also know that there are no known exceptions to the dogma.This is common sense.
Why cannot Catholic religious communities in general affirm the dogma and also implicit baptism of desire known to only God ?
The cardinals and bishops like the ITC assume you can telephone or meet these exceptional cases.So they say like the ITC that there is salvation outside the Church.

The International Theological Commission's position paper Christianity and the World Religions 1997 has an objective, factual error. Approved by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (1) it assumed  those saved with the baptism of desire are visible to us on earth. It also assumed that those saved in invincible ignorance and now in Heaven , are also known to us and they are defacto exceptions to the centuries old interpretation of the dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus. They would have to be visible and known to us for them to be explicit exceptions.

Magisterial documents mention those saved in invincible ignorance and the baptism of desire. No document claims that these cases are explicitly known to us or that they are explicit exceptions to the dogma outside the Church there is no salvation.Even the Letter of the Holy Office 1949 does not directly make this claim. One has to assume, wrongly, that there are explicit exceptions to the dogma.

This was the error of the Archbishop of Boston Cardinal Richard Cushing to whom the Letter of the Holy Office 1949 was addressed. The Letter has many technical irregularities and so could also have been a bishop-to-bishop document.However the Letter mentions 'the dogma', the infallible teaching'. The text of the dogma is in agreement with the interpretation of Fr.Leonard Feeney.
International Theological Commission (ITC)
It is not possible to develop a theology of the religions without taking into account the universal salvific mission of the Church, attested to by Holy Scripture and by the tradition of faith of the Church. A theological evaluation of the religions was impeded over a long time because of the principle extra ecclesiam nulla salus, understood in an exclusivist sense.

Lionel: It was not just a principle it was a dogma, thrice defined. Historically it was always understood that there is exclusive salvation in only the Catholic Church. There are numerous popes and saints who testify to this.

ITC
With the doctrine about the Church as the universal sacrament of salvation or the sacrament of the kingdom of God, theology seeks to respond to the new way of posing the problem.

Lionel: That the Church is the universal sacrament of salvation or the sacrament of the kingdom of God does not conflict with the traditional exclusivist interpretation of the dogma.There can be those saved  in invincible ignorance etc and it would be known only to God.


ITC
This teaching, which was also welcomed by Vatican Council II, is linked to the sacramental vision of the Church in the New Testament.

Lionel: The sacramental vision of the Church has always been extra ecclesiam nulla salus.


ITC
63. The primary question today is not whether men can attain salvation even if they do not belong to the visible Catholic Church; this possibility is considered theologically certain.

Lionel: Yes and it does not conflict with the literal interpretation of the dogma since we do not know who are these exceptional cases, they are known only to God.


ITC
The plurality of religions, something increasingly evident to Christians, better knowledge of these religions and the necessary dialogue with them, without leaving until the end the clearer awareness of the spatial and temporal frontiers of the Church—all these considerations make us ask whether one can nonetheless speak about the necessity of the Church for salvation and about the compatibility of this principle with the universal salvific will of God.

Lionel: In the year 2000, three years after this document was issued, Dominues Iesus 20 would say that the Church is necessary for salvation and though salvation is open to all, all need to respond, for salvation  by entering the Church.

So the universal salvation in potential, is not in conflict with the literal interpretation of extra ecclesiam nulla salus.

ITC
A. "Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus"

64. Jesus linked the proclamation of the kingdom of God with his Church. After Jesus' death and resurrection, the reunion of the people of God, now in the name of Jesus Christ, took place. The Church of Jews and gentiles was understood as a work of God and as the community in which one experienced the action of the Lord exalted in the heavens and his Spirit. With faith in Jesus Christ, the universal mediator of salvation, was joined baptism in his name; this mediated participation in his redemptive death, pardon of sins and entrance into the community of salvation (cf. Mk 16:16; Jn 3:5). For this reason baptism is compared with the ark of salvation (1 Pet 3:20ff.). According to the New Testament, the necessity of the Church for salvation is based on the unique salvific mediation of Jesus.

Lionel: The unique salvific mediation of Jesus was in the Catholic Church, the Early Church, the Early Catholic Church.It still is only in the Catholic Church. There is no new Revelation to indicate otherwise.There is no text in Vatican Council II which says otherwise.


ITC
65. One speaks of the necessity of the Church for salvation in two senses: the necessity of belonging to the Church for those who believe in Jesus and the necessity for salvation of the ministry of the Church which, on mission from God, must be at the service of the coming of the kingdom of God.

Lionel: There is the necessity of belonging to the Church for all with no exception on earth. Since we do not know who is in invincible ignorance or those who do not. Only God can judge. 
It is not enough to just have faith in Jesus Christ one also has to live the faith and moral teachings of the Catholic Church. A Catholic knows that if he dies in mortal sin he is oriented to Hell even if he had faith in Jesus Christ.

According to the dogma Cantate Domino, Council of Florence, Protestants and Orthodox Christians need to convert to avoid the fires of Hell.(2)


ITC
66. In his encyclical Mystici Corporis, Pius XII addresses the question, How are those who attain salvation outside visible communion with the Church related to her? He says that they are oriented to the mystical body of Christ by a yearning and desire of which they are not aware (DS 3821).

Lionel: Yes they can be saved and we do not know who are these cases specifically. So one cannot imply that those saved with the baptism of desire are exceptions to the dogma. They are not.


ITC
The opposition of the American Jesuit Leonard Feeney, who insisted on the exclusivist interpretation of the expression extra ecclesiam nulla solus, afforded the occasion for the letter of the Holy Office, dated 8 August ,1949, to the archbishop of Boston, which rejected Feeney s interpretation and clarified the teaching of Pius XII.

Lionel: The Letter of the Holy Office 1949 affirmed Fr.Leonard Feeney’s interpretation when it referred to ‘the dogma’, the ‘infallible teaching’. The infallible dogma indicates all non Catholics in Boston and the rest of the world need to convert into the Catholic Church to avoid the fires of Hell.(Cantate Domino, Council of Florence 1441).

The text of the thrice defined holds the exclusivist interpretation of the dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus. It was not just an expression or phrase but a defined dogma.

The dogma did not mention those saved in invincible ignorance or the baptism of desire since they are not defacto, explicit exceptions. This was the interpretation of Fr.Leonard Feeney.The Letter of the Holy Office 1949 does not state that Fr.Leonard Feeney was excommunicated for heresy but for disobedience.

If it was assumed that those saved with the baptism of desire etc are explicit exceptions to the traditional interpretation of the dogma then it was an objective, common sense error.We do not know personally those saved in Heaven. It is only known to God.

ITC
The letter distinguishes between the necessity of belonging to the Church for salvation (necessitas praecepti) and the necessity of the indispensable means of salvation (intrinseca necessitas); in relationship to the latter, the Church is a general help for salvation (DS 3867—69).In the case of invincible ignorance the implicit desire of belonging to the Church suffices; this desire will always be present when a man aspires to conform his will to that of God (DS 3870). But faith, in the sense of Hebrews 11:6, and love are always necessary with intrinsic necessity (DS 3872).

Lionel: In principle this is accepted and is not in conflict with the dogma. De jure, in principle there can be these exceptions and they would be known to only God. Defacto, in reality every one with no exception needs to enter the Church for salvation.



ITC
67. Vatican Council II makes its own the expression extra ecclesiam nulla salus. But in using it the council explicitly directs itself to Catholics and limits its validity to those who know the necessity of the Church for salvation. The council holds that the affirmation is based on the necessity of faith and of baptism affirmed by Christ (LG 14). In this way the council aligned itself in continuity with the teaching of Pius XII, but emphasized more clearly the original parenthentical character of this expression.


Lionel: Yes and no magisterial document says that implicit desire is an explicit exception to the dogmatic teaching or that we know these implicit cases explicitly.

The ITC does not mention Ad Gentes 7 but refers to LG 14 which has the same message which is  all need Catholic Faith and the baptism of water for salvation (to avoid Hell). This is an affirmation of the literal interpretation of the dogma and that of Fr:Leonard Feeney.

ITC
In this way the council aligned itself in continuity with the teaching of Pius XII, but emphasized more clearly the original parenthentical character of this expression.
Lionel: Pope Pius XII affirmed the literal, rigorist interpretation of the dogma. The baptism of desire etc are not exception to the ‘infallible dogma’.The ITC seems to suggst it in the earlier paragraph.


68. In contrast to Pius XII, the council refused to speak of a votum implicitum (implicit desire) and applied the concept of the votum only to the explicit desire of catechumens to belong to the Church (LG 14). With regard to non-Christians, it said that they are ordered in diverse ways to the people of God. In accord with the different ways with which the salvific will of God embraces non-Christians, the council distinguished four groups: first, Jews; second, Muslims; third, those who without fault are ignorant of the Gospel of Christ and do not know the Church but who search for God with a sincere heart and try to fulfill his will as known through conscience; fourth, those who without fault have not yet reached an express knowledge of God but who nonetheless try to lead a good life (LG 16).

Lionel: None of these groups of non Catholics are exceptions to the dogma. Since the Letter of the Holy Office 1949 mentions that ‘in certain circumstances’ it is possible for a non Catholic to be saved. This is not the general, ordinary means. The general, ordinary means of salvation is Catholic Faith and the baptism of water (AG 7). In principle a non Catholic can be saved in certain circumstances. Defacto, in general all need to enter the Church and there are no defacto known exceptions on earth.

ITC
69. The gifts which God offers all men for directing themselves to salvation are rooted, according to the council, in his universal salvific will (LG 2, 3, 26; AG 7). The fact that even non-Christians are ordered to the people of God is rooted in the fact that the universal call to salvation includes the vocation of all men to the catholic unity of the people of God (LG 13). The council holds that the close relationship of both vocations is rooted in the unique mediation of Christ, who in his body that is the Church makes himself present in our midst (LG 14).
Lionel: ‘The gifts which God offers all men for directing themselves to salvation are rooted, according to the council, in his universal salvific will’ which is the Catholic Church Jesus Mystical Body.(AG 7,LG 14)

ITC
70. Thus the original meaning is restored to the expression extra ecclesiam nulla salus, namely, that of exhorting the members of the Church to be faithful. Once this expression is integrated into the more universal extra Christum nulla salus, it is no longer in contradiction to the universal call of all men to salvation.
Lionel: The universal call to salvation is not in contradiction with the centuries old teaching that the Church is necessary for salvation and all need to convert into the Church with Catholic Faith and the baptism of water (AG 7).

Vatican Council II and the Catechism of the Catholic Church mentions those saved in invincible ignorance and this is acceptable. It was known to the Church Fathers, popes and Councils. There is no magisterial document including the Letter of the Holy Office 1949 which says that those saved in invincible ignorance are known to us or that they are explcit exceptions to the thrice defined dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus.

The ITC, may be innocently, has wrongly assumed that these cases are known to us and so they are an exception to the dogmatic teaching on outside the church there is no salvation.

This was the error of the Archbishop of Boston Richard Cushing and the Jesuits there.They assumed outside the church there was salvation since a non Catholic could be saved in invincible ignorance. They did not state that this was accepted iin principle and defacto we could not know any such case.
-Lionel Andrades
________________________________________


1.
The study of the theme "Christianity and the World Religions" was adopted for study by a large majority of the members of the International Theological Commission. To prepare this study a subcommission was established composed of Bishop Norbert Strotmann Hoppe, M.S.C.; Rev. Barthelemy Adoukonou; Rev. Jean Corbon; Rev. Mario de Franca Miranda, S.J.; Rev. Ivan Golub; Rev. Tadahiko Iwashima, S.J.; Rev. Luis F. Ladaria, S.J. (president); Rev. Hermann J. Pottmeyer; and Rev. Andrzej Szostek, M.I.C. General discussion on this theme took place during several meetings of the subcommission and in the plenary sessions of the International Theological Commission held at Rome in 1993, 1994 and 1995. The present text was approved "in forma specifica" by vote of the commission on 30 September 1996 and was submitted to its president, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, who has given his approval for its publication.



THRICE  DEFINED DOGMA EXTRA ECCLESIAM NULLA SALUS

◦“There is but one universal Church of the faithful, outside which no one at all is saved.” (Pope Innocent III, Fourth Lateran Council, 1215.)

◦“We declare, say, define, and pronounce that it is absolutely necessary for the salvation of every human creature to be subject to the Roman Pontiff.” (Pope Boniface VIII, the Bull Unam Sanctam, 1302.)

◦“The most Holy Roman Church firmly believes, professes and preaches that none of those existing outside the Catholic Church, not only pagans, but also Jews and heretics and schismatics, can have a share in life eternal; but that they will go into the eternal fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels, unless before death they are joined with Her; and that so important is the unity of this ecclesiastical body that only those remaining within this unity can profit by the sacraments of the Church unto salvation, and they alone can receive an eternal recompense for their fasts, their almsgivings, their other works of Christian piety and the duties of a Christian soldier. No one, let his almsgiving be as great as it may, no one, even if he pour out his blood for the Name of Christ, can be saved, unless he remain within the bosom and the unity of the Catholic Church.” (Pope Eugene IV, the Bull Cantate Domino, 1441.) - Catholicism.org

Monday, March 26, 2012
INTERNATIONAL THEOLOGICAL COMMISSION ASSUMES ‘SEEDS OF THE WORD’ (VATICAN COUNCIL II ) IN OTHER RELIGIONS ARE KNOWN TO US AND THIS IS AN EXPLICIT EXCEPTION TO THE DOGMA EXTRA ECCLESIAM NULLA SALUS
http://eucharistandmission.blogspot.it/2012/03/international-theological-commission.html#links

VATICAN'S INTERNATIONAL THEOLOGICAL COMMISSION MAKES AN ERROR IN ITS POSITION PAPER CHRISTIANITY AND THE WORLD RELIGIONS
http://eucharistandmission.blogspot.it/2012/03/vaticans-international-theological.html#links