Symbolon Quicumque

Posted on 2 May 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I penned this for the Catholic Herald, the UK’s best Catholic weekly.

The mighty foe of Arians, St Athanasius of Alexandria (d 373), Bishop and Doctor of the Church, is celebrated on 2 May in both the newer and the traditional Roman calendars. In his struggles to defend Catholic Truth, Athanasius took on gangs of heretics, bishops and emperors. For his efforts he was rewarded with exile five times.

Confusion reigns in many spheres of the Church right now about what the Church truly holds to be true about faith and morals.

Lionel: Fr.John Zuhlsdorf affirms the Athanasian Creed which says 'Whoever wants to be saved should above all cling to the Catholic faith. Whoever does not guard it whole and inviolable will doubtless perish eternally'. In March 2016 Pope Benedict XVI said in an interview in the daily Avvenire that the dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus (EENS) is no more like it was for the 16th century missionaries. He said that there was a development of the dogma with Vatican Council II.

So the faith has been changed on salvation.The dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus is no more like was known during the time of St.Athanasius.This is now official.There is a hermeutic of rupture with Vatican Council II for Pope Benedict, Cardinal Gerhard Muller, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and also for Pope Francis.

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Some well-placed pundits ignore the fact of the Church’s perennial interpretations and now imply that we can’t know for sure what the Lord taught. Others respond that the doctrinal and practical controversies of these our own days bear a strong resemblance to the era when Holy Church was torn asunder by Arian heresy.

When controversies arose in the past, the Church issued Creeds, dense bullet points, which we could recite and, thereby, avoid error and maintain unity. We all know the common Creeds, such as the Apostles Creed and the Nicean-Constantinopolitan Creed recited at Mass.

Lionel: Since the dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus has been changed the Nicene Creed has also been changed.The Church's ecclesiology is not that of the past.So when we pray,'I believe in one baptism for the forgiveness of sins' I refer to one known baptism, the baptism of water.It is physically visible and repeatable.Other Catholics refer to three or more known baptisms.They exclude the baptism of water in the Catholic Church.
So for them there is salvation outside the Church while for me there is no salvation outside the Church.
For them the Athanasius Creed has been changed for me there is no change.Their theology I call Cushingism. Mine I call Feeneyism.We are all in the same Catholic Church and attend the same Mass but with different theologies and doctrines.

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But there are other Creeds. For example, in 1968 Paul VI issued the comprehensive, non-liturgical “Credo of the People of God”.

Speaking of Athanasius, we also have the magnificent “Athanasian” Creed (Symbolon Quicumque), commonly attributed to the saintly doctor.

Lionel: Fr.Zuhlsdorf contradicts the Athanasius Creed which states outside the Church there is no salvation.He contradicts the teaching on all needing to be members of the Catholic Church for salvation.Since he assumes invisible for baptism of desire and blood and being saved in invincible ignorance( all without the baptism of water in the Catholic Church) refer to physically known cases.1Theoretical and hypothetical cases are objective for him.Since there is salvation outside the Church for him inter-faith marriages are not adultery, all Protestants do not need to be members of the Church to avoid Hell, there is no need for a Catholic political party and the non separation of Church and State...
He infers that these 'visible cases' ( invisible for me) are 'explicit' ' exceptions to the dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus as it was known in the time of St. Athanasius. For him there are objective exceptions to the dogma as it was taught by the 1th century magisterium of the Church. So he interprets the dogma on salvation with Cushingism. I do not do so.He is in line with Pope Benedict.

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A mediaeval legend holds that Athanasius, during one of his exiles, gave the text to Pope Julius I. J.N.D. Kelly, who wrote a book on this Creed, (USA HERE – UK HERE) suggests that St Vincent of Lérin (d c 435) might have been the author. Authorship aside, it contains precise Trinitarian and Christological statements and ends with the less-than-ambiguous: “This is the Catholic Faith; which except a man believe truly and firmly, he cannot be saved.”

The “Athanasian Creed”, against Arianism, Sabellianism, Nestorianism, and Eutychianism, could be a wonderful starting point for study, prayer and meditation.

Lionel:'This is the Catholic Faith; which except a man believe truly and firmly, he cannot be saved'.Some interpretations are 'This is the Catholic faith outside of which there is no salvation'.This was the interpretation of the Athanasius Creed which Fr. Leonard Feeney of Boston recited and the bishops ended the restrictions on him. He was affirming the dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus according to the 16th century missionaries and not like Pope Benedict XVI and Fr.Zuhlsdorf.So the Catholic faith has been changed!

-Lionel Andrades

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2017/05/symbolon-quicumque/

February 11, 2017