Wednesday, September 4, 2019

Lumen Gentium does not contradict EENS


Second Vatican Council II (Wikipedia)

Ecclesiology

The Dogmatic Constitution on the Church produced by the Council is entitled Lumen gentium.
In its first chapter, titled "The Mystery of the Church", is the statement that:
... the sole Church of Christ which in the Creed we profess to be one, holy, catholic and apostolic, which our Saviour, after His Resurrection, commissioned Peter to shepherd, and him and the other apostles to extend and direct with authority, which He erected for all ages as 'the pillar and mainstay of the truth.' This Church, constituted and organized as a society in the present world, subsists in the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the bishops in communion with him
— Lumen gentium, 8.
Lionel: Note, the passage above does not contradict the strict interpretation of the dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus(EENS).
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The document adds, "Nevertheless, many elements of sanctification and of truth are found outside its visible confines" (Lumen gentium, 8).

 Lionel: Note we do not know of any personal case of a non Catholic saved outside the Church.So this is areference to a hypothetical case. It does not contradict LG 8 or EENS.Neither does LG 14 and LG 16 contradict the strict interpretation of EENS.
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 The other characteristics of that period were described by Belgian Bishop Émile-Joseph De Smedt [fr] as "legalism" and "clericalism", in what has been described as "one of the most dramatic moments of Vatican II".[47]
According to Pope Paul VI, "the most characteristic and ultimate purpose of the teachings of the Council" is the universal call to holiness:[3] John Paul II calls this "an intrinsic and essential aspect of [the Council Fathers'] teaching on the Church".
all the faithful of Christ of whatever rank or status, are called to the fullness of the Christian life and to the perfection of charity; by this holiness as such a more human manner of living is promoted in this earthly society.
Lumen gentium, 40
In his plan for the new millennium, Novo millennio ineunte, John Paul II said that "all pastoral initiatives must be set in relation to holiness" as the first priority of the Church.

-Lionel Andrades

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