Sunday, May 12, 2013

What a Walk! -March for Life Rome 2013

Christians had to shed their blood there at the Colloseum said Virginia Coda Nunziante.Speaking  along side the Colloseum and facing the Arch of Constantine the Italian spokesperson for the March for Life, said  Christians  had to shed their blood for their faith and it  was after the battle of Saxa Ruba that the persecutions ended.Then began the time of Constantine, to whom the Arch was dedicated.
 Photo Ansa
 
Speaking before thousands of pro lifers before the start of the Marcia per La Vita at the Colloseum, today morning,Virginia Loda said once again there is a dictatorship and a persecution being faced in which the the blood of  innocent is being lost through abortion.This is the dictatorship of relativism which we are all familiar with.
 
Virginia was then translating in three languages, as participating leaders of different organisations spoke ,presenting inspiring  testimonies of a  battle being fought all over the world in defense of the culture of life.
 
Ten a.m and that mass crowd of people began moving in an extraordinary walk. It was not just a simple walk of pro lifers but there was a diversity of programs which made it seem like a Day for Life, extending Beyond the walk.
 
Cardinal Raymond Burke was there and the Mayor of Rome briefly spoke.
 
 A Roma sfila la ‘Marcia per la vita’, il Papa: “Garantire protezione giuridica embrione”
Fatto Quotidiano
 

It was a good  chance for me to remain alone and pray and walk at a comfortable pace,usually at the rear end of the walk.
 
I was praying the rosary and meditating on the Mysteries, when we were about a hundred meter's from St.Peter's  Square.Was I early or late for the Angelus.I didn't hear the bells.
 
Most of the participants were already at St.Peter's Square when I noticed the groups before me were releasing colourful balloons into the sky and I was wondering why the rest of them were not doing the same,since they probably saw Pope Francis at the window. So I thought.
 
I heard a seminarian rush ahead of me and say excitedly in Italian that this is incredible. I thought to myself,  yes, there was a huge gathering in front of us waiting in the square with colourful banners,flags and posters.I assumed the seminarian was referring to that sea of people.
 
And then I couldn't believe it!
 
Pope Francis was about 20 feet in a jeep in front of where I was .He was waving to the poeple and blessing us.
He remained there as if he had all the time in the world for us or so it seemed but it must have been about half a minute.The pope had come down to the rear end of the March where the people began  chanting "Francesco, Francesco".
 
For someone used to walking and praying- wow! what a walk this was !
-Lionel Andrades
 

Richard Cushing Error in Ad Gentes 7 and Nostra Aetate

Cardinal Richard Cushing was active at Vatican Council II. The excommunication of Fr.Leonard Feeney was still being maintained and the Boston newspapers were saying that the Jesuit priest was excommunicated for denying the possibility of non Catholics being saved in invincible ignorance etc which were exceptions to the dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus. The Archbishop of Bishop did not issue a clarification. Instead he was letting the world believe that these cases saved, were visible to us and so exceptions to the traditional centuries- old- interpretation of the dogma.


He then brought this error to Vatican Council II- helped by the Jesuits there. Till today there is so much confusion in the texts of Ad Gentes, especially AG 7.


Ad Gentes 7 says all need faith and baptism for salvation.It also says those who know about the Church and do not enter are on the way to Hell.Then  non Catholics in invincible ignorance can be saved it states.Superficially this all seems contrary to the Principle of Non Contradiction. How can every one need to enter the Church for salvation and also some people do not need to do so ?

The key to solving the puzzle in Ad Gentes 7 is to know that those saved in Heaven are not physically visible to us.We cannot meet them personally. So they cannot be an exception to the traditional teaching on other religions, ecumenism and salvation.

Defacto we do not know any such case saved in 2013. However de jure  (in principle) we accept the possibility of a non Catholic being saved as such. So explictly ,yes. Implicitly,no- we cannot see any such case. In practise we cannot meet any one now in Heaven. In theory we can accept that a person can be saved in invincible ignorance, seeds of the word (AG 11), imperfect communion with the church (UR), a good conscience (LG 16) etc.

So lets analyse AG 7.

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."(17) 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 -Ad Gentes 7,Vatican Council II.

This is the traditional teaching.
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.

This too is the traditional teaching. Extra ecclesiam nulla salus.
Therefore, all must be converted to Him,...and all must be incorporated into Him by baptism and into the Church which is His body.

This too is traditional but it is referring to invisible to us cases. It was here where Cardinal Richard Cushing made an error.
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

Those who know about Jesus and the Church and do not enter cannot be saved. Again it is important to remember that these cases are known only to God.These cases are invisible for us.
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."

Since these cases are invisible for us they do not contradict the traditional teaching cited above. They are irrelevant.

There is confusion now.
made known by the Church's preaching  
Yes made known by the Church's preaching  as distinguished from those who are in invincible ignorance.Both cases would be judged by God.We do not know any such case saved. Since they are invisible for us-They are possibilities only and not exceptions to the dogma or Ad Gentes 7 saying all need faith and baptism for salvation.
 
The Church teaches that all non Catholics defacto need to convert in the present times for salvation and that de facto we do not know any case  who knows, is made known by the Church's preaching and is saved, who is  inculpably ignorant of the Gospel and savedso,  '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.'
 
 So' 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.' and there are no known exceptions.
 
Ad Gentes 7 becomes simple and clear.It is traditional without any confusion.Similarly when Ad Gentes 11 mentions 'seeds of the word' we know AG 11 does not contradict AG 7 since we do not know any case saved with the 'seeds of the word'.
 
The same confusion can be prevented in Nostra Aetate.
Lionel Andrades