Lionel:
Parts of the Letter of the Holy Office 1949 and the Catechism of the Catholic Church DO affirm the dogma according to Fr.Leonard Feeney. The text endorses the traditional strict interpretation.See the text in blue.
The parts in red are controversial because Cardinal Francesco Marchetti Selvaggiani assumed there was known salvation outside the Church in 1949.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 1257: The Lord himself affirms that Baptism is necessary for salvation. He also commands his disciples to proclaim the Gospel to all nations and to baptize them. Baptism is necessary for salvation for those to whom the Gospel has been proclaimed and who have had the possibility of asking for this sacrament. The Church does not know of any means other than Baptism that assures entry into eternal beatitude; this is why she takes care not to neglect the mission she has received from the Lord to see that all who can be baptized are "reborn of water and the Spirit." God has bound salvation to the sacrament of Baptism, but he himself is not bound by his sacraments.
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Catechism of the Catholic Church 846 : How are we to understand this affirmation, often repeated by the Church Fathers?335 Re-formulated positively, it means that all salvation comes from Christ the Head through the Church which is his Body:
Basing itself on Scripture and Tradition, the Council teaches that the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and Baptism, and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through Baptism as through a door. Hence they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ,...
Catechism of the Catholic Church 846 : How are we to understand this affirmation, often repeated by the Church Fathers?335 Re-formulated positively, it means that all salvation comes from Christ the Head through the Church which is his Body:
Basing itself on Scripture and Tradition, the Council teaches that the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and Baptism, and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through Baptism as through a door. Hence they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ,...
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LETTER OF THE HOLY OFFICE
We are bound by divine and Catholic faith to believe all those things which are contained in the word of God, whether it be Scripture or Tradition, and are proposed by the Church to be believed as divinely revealed, not only through solemn judgment but also through the ordinary and universal teaching office (, n. 1792).
Now, among those things which the Church has always preached and will never cease to preach is contained also that infallible statement by which we are taught that there is no salvation outside the Church.
However, this dogma must be understood in that sense in which the Church herself understands it. For, it was not to private judgments that Our Savior gave for explanation those things that are contained in the deposit of faith, but to the teaching authority of the Church.
Now, in the first place, the Church teaches that in this matter there is question of a most strict command of Jesus Christ. For He explicitly enjoined on His apostles to teach all nations to observe all things whatsoever He Himself had commanded (Matt. 28: 19-20).
Now, among the commandments of Christ, that one holds not the least place by which we are commanded to be incorporated by baptism into the Mystical Body of Christ, which is the Church, and to remain united to Christ and to His Vicar, through whom He Himself in a visible manner governs the Church on earth.
Therefore, no one will be saved who, knowing the Church to have been divinely established by Christ, nevertheless refuses to submit to the Church or withholds obedience from the Roman Pontiff, the Vicar of Christ on earth.
Not only did the Savior command that all nations should enter the Church, but He also decreed the Church to be a means of salvation without which no one can enter the kingdom of eternal glory.
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Here is the full text of the Letter.
LETTER OF THE HOLY OFFICE
From the Headquarters of the Holy Office, Aug. 8, 1949.
Your Excellency:
This Supreme Sacred Congregation has followed very attentively the rise and
the course of the grave controversy stirred up by certain associates of "St.
Benedict Center" and "Boston College" in regard to the interpretation of that
axiom: "Outside the Church there is no salvation."
After having examined all the documents that are necessary or useful in this
matter, among them information from your Chancery, as well as appeals and
reports in which the associates of "St. Benedict Center" explain their opinions
and complaints, and also many other documents pertinent to the controversy,
officially collected, the same Sacred Congregation is convinced that the
unfortunate controversy arose from the fact that the axiom, "outside the Church
there is no salvation," was not correctly understood and weighed, and that the
same controversy was rendered more bitter by serious disturbance of discipline
arising from the fact that some of the associates of the institutions mentioned
above refused reverence and obedience to legitimate authorities.
Accordingly, the Most Eminent and Most Reverend Cardinals of this Supreme
Congregation, in a plenary session held on Wednesday, July 27, 1949, decreed,
and the august Pontiff in an audience on the following Thursday, July 28, 1949,
deigned to give his approval, that the following explanations pertinent to the
doctrine, and also that invitations and exhortations relevant to discipline be
given:
We are bound by divine and Catholic faith to believe all those things which
are contained in the word of God, whether it be Scripture or Tradition, and are
proposed by the Church to be believed as divinely revealed, not only through
solemn judgment but also through the ordinary and universal teaching office
(, n. 1792).
Now, among those things which the Church has always preached and will never
cease to preach is contained also that infallible statement by which we are
taught that there is no salvation outside the Church.
However, this dogma must be understood in that sense in which the Church
herself understands it. For, it was not to private judgments that Our Savior
gave for explanation those things that are contained in the deposit of faith,
but to the teaching authority of the Church.
Now, in the first place, the Church teaches that in this matter there is
question of a most strict command of Jesus Christ. For He explicitly enjoined on
His apostles to teach all nations to observe all things whatsoever He Himself
had commanded (Matt. 28: 19-20).
Now, among the commandments of Christ, that one holds not the least place by
which we are commanded to be incorporated by baptism into the Mystical Body of
Christ, which is the Church, and to remain united to Christ and to His Vicar,
through whom He Himself in a visible manner governs the Church on earth.
Therefore, no one will be saved who, knowing the Church to have been divinely
established by Christ, nevertheless refuses to submit to the Church or withholds
obedience from the Roman Pontiff, the Vicar of Christ on earth.
Not only did the Savior command that all nations should enter the Church, but
He also decreed the Church to be a means of salvation without which no one can
enter the kingdom of eternal glory.
In His infinite mercy God has willed that the effects, necessary for one to
be saved, of those helps to salvation which are directed toward man's final end,
not by intrinsic necessity, but only by divine institution, can also be obtained
in certain circumstances when those helps are used only in desire and longing.
This we see clearly stated in the Sacred Council of Trent, both in reference to
the sacrament of regeneration and in reference to the sacrament of penance
(, nn. 797, 807).
The same in its own degree must be asserted of the Church, in as far as she
is the general help to salvation. Therefore, that one may obtain eternal
salvation, it is not always required that he be incorporated into the Church
actually as a member, but it is necessary that at least he be united to her by
desire and longing.
However, this desire need not always be explicit, as it is in catechumens;
but when a person is involved in invincible ignorance God accepts also an
implicit desire, so called because it is included in that good disposition of
soul whereby a person wishes his will to be conformed to the will of God.
These things are clearly taught in that dogmatic letter which was issued by
the Sovereign Pontiff, Pope Pius XII, on June 29, 1943, (AAS, Vol. 35, an. 1943, p. 193 ff.). For in this letter the
Sovereign Pontiff clearly distinguishes between those who are actually
incorporated into the Church as members, and those who are united to the Church
only by desire.
Toward the end of this same encyclical letter, when most affectionately
inviting to unity those who do not belong to the body of the Catholic Church, he
mentions those who "are related to the Mystical Body of the Redeemer by a
certain unconscious yearning and desire," and these he by no means excludes from
eternal salvation, but on the other hand states that they are in a condition "in
which they cannot be sure of their salvation" since "they still remain deprived
of those many heavenly gifts and helps which can only be enjoyed in the Catholic
Church" (AAS, 1. c., p. 243). With these wise words he reproves both those who
exclude from eternal salvation all united to the Church only by implicit desire,
and those who falsely assert that men can be saved equally well in every
religion (cf. Pope Pius IX, Allocution, , in
, n. 1641 ff.; also Pope Pius IX in the encyclical letter,
, in , n. 1677).
But it must not be thought that any kind of desire of entering the Church
suffices that one may be saved. It is necessary that the desire by which one is
related to the Church be animated by perfect charity. Nor can an implicit desire
produce its effect, unless a person has supernatural faith: "For he who comes to
God must believe that God exists and is a rewarder of those who seek Him" (Heb.
11:6). The Council of Trent declares (Session VI, chap. 8): "Faith is the
beginning of man's salvation, the foundation and root of all justification,
without which it is impossible to please God and attain to the fellowship of His
children" (Denzinger, n. 801).
From what has been said it is evident that those things which are proposed in
the periodical , fascicle 3, as the genuine teaching
of the Catholic Church are far from being such and are very harmful both to
those within the Church and those without.
From these declarations which pertain to doctrine, certain conclusions follow
which regard discipline and conduct, and which cannot be unknown to those who
vigorously defend the necessity by which all are bound' of belonging to the true
Church and of submitting to the authority of the Roman Pontiff and of the
Bishops "whom the Holy Ghost has placed . . . to rule the Church" (Acts
20:28).
Hence, one cannot understand how the St. Benedict Center can consistently
claim to be a Catholic school and wish to be accounted such, and yet not conform
to the prescriptions of canons 1381 and 1382 of the Code of Canon Law, and
continue to exist as a source of discord and rebellion against ecclesiastical
authority and as a source of the disturbance of many consciences.
Furthermore, it is beyond understanding how a member of a religious
Institute, namely Father Feeney, presents himself as a "Defender of the Faith,"
and at the same time does not hesitate to attack the catechetical instruction
proposed by lawful authorities, and has not even feared to incur grave sanctions
threatened by the sacred canons because of his serious violations of his duties
as a religious, a priest, and an ordinary member of the Church.
Finally, it is in no wise to be tolerated that certain Catholics shall claim
for themselves the right to publish a periodical, for the purpose of spreading
theological doctrines, without the permission of competent Church authority,
called the "" which is prescribed by the sacred canons.
Therefore, let them who in grave peril are ranged against the Church
seriously bear in mind that after "Rome has spoken" they cannot be excused even
by reasons of good faith. Certainly, their bond and duty of obedience toward the
Church is much graver than that of those who as yet are related to the Church
"only by an unconscious desire." Let them realize that they are children of the
Church, lovingly nourished by her with the milk of doctrine and the sacraments,
and hence, having heard the clear voice of their Mother, they cannot be excused
from culpable ignorance, and therefore to them apply without any restriction
that principle: submission to the Catholic Church and to the Sovereign Pontiff
is required as necessary for salvation.
In sending this letter, I declare my profound esteem, and remain,
Your Excellency's most devoted,
F. Cardinal Marchetti-Selvaggiani.
A. Ottaviani, Assessor.
(Private); Holy Office, 8 Aug., 1949.
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-Lionel Andrades
Did Pope Pius XII make a mistake ? : implicit desire, invincible ignorance have nothing to do with extra ecclesiam nulla salus http://eucharistandmission.blogspot.it/2014/06/did-pope-pius-xii-make-mistake-implicit.html
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