Bishop Strickland: Salvation is only mediated through the Church established by Christ
https://www.lifesitenews.com/episodes/bishop-strickland-salvation-is-only-mediated-through-the-church-established-by-christ/?utm_source=featured_video&utm_campaign=usa
Sep 24, 2023
(LifeSiteNews) — On this week’s episode of
the Bishop Strickland Show, Bishop Joseph Strickland continues his commentary on his second pastoral letter, explaining that salvation
comes through the ministration of the Catholic Church alone.
Lionel: This is
vague and not precise. Is the good bishop, whom I admire, saying that 1) there are
known cases of non Catholics saved outside the Catholic Church with the baptism
of desire (LG 14) , invincible ignorance(LG 16) etc?. 2) Is he saying that he
knows of particular non Catholics saved outside the Catholic Church without
Catholic faith and the baptism of water ? 3) Is he saying that all non Catholics
in general are oriented to Hell without faith and baptism (AG 7)? There are so
many questions which are not answered. 4) Is he saying that he rejects the dogma
extra ecclesiam nulla salus of the Fourth Lateran Council (1215) and the
Council of Florence (1442)? 5) Does he accept the 1949 Letter of the Holy Office
to the Archbishop of Boston relative to Fr. Leonard Feeney which tells us that
invisible cases of the baptism of desire and being saved in invincible
ignorance, are visible examples of salvation outside the Church ? May be Terry
Barber could ask Bishop Strickland these questions on the Virgin Most Powerful Radio.
_______________
Continuing his commentary,
Strickland says that from the perspective of the Catholic Church, once one is
baptized, he is incorporated into the Mystical Body of Christ. The
incorporation, however, cannot attain its fullness outside of the Catholic
Church, as the Catholic Church alone has the fulness of truth and the means of
grace. Every unbaptized person, further, is invited to partake of the fulness
of Christ through baptism.
Lionel: Yes. Pope
Honourious III in the Fourth Lateran Council explained this, as saying, that all
must seek the truth in the Catholic Church outside of which there is no
salvation. This is also the message of the Athanasius Creed. Does Bishop Joseph Strickland affirm the Athanasius Creed ?
I tried to interact
with Bishop Joseph Strickland on this issue on Twitter but there was no respose from
him. The USCCB rejects the dogma EENS of the Fourth Lateran Council. The USCCB
also accepts the irrational and non Magisterial 1949 Letter of the Holy Office
which has brought a new theology into the Catholic Church. It says outside the
Church there is salvation.It implies that there are known people in the present
times saved outside the Catholic Church.So not everyone needs to enter the
Church. I call this Cushingism. Dominus Iesus
and Redemptoris Missio were Cushingite as was Pope Benedict XVI. Bishop Joseph Strickland seems to be repeating the liberal theology of Pope Benedict XVI. He would be interpreting Vatican Council II ( LG 8, 14, 15,16 etc) and the Catechism of the Catholic Church ( 847-848 etc), irrationally.
__________________
While explaining this infallible teaching of the Church,
however, Strickland offers a caveat: God asks people to freely accept baptism
and grace. “It’s not some automatic thing,” he says. “‘Oh, you’re baptized, so
you’re just going to be … living faithfully the way of Jesus Christ.’ It gives
you grace, it gives you the opportunity, but all of us have to continue to
cooperate [with grace].”
Lionel: In this
interview Bishop Jospeh Strickland does not affirm the dogma EENS according to the
Fourth Lateran Council, the Council of Florence and the Athanasius Creed. Why ?
Has the teachings of the Catholic Church changed for him?
__________________
Strickland also addresses a
corollary to this dogma of the Catholic faith, addressing the fate of those
who die outside of the Catholic Church. Strickland, referring to the Catechism of the Catholic
Church, explains that God can work outside of the Catholic
Church, though only through her mediation.
Lionel: The dogma EENS says
all need to be members of the Catholic Church for salvation. The Church
Councils which defined this dogma did not mention any exceptions. At the human
level we cannot know of any exceptions. If any one is saved outside the
Catholic Church it can only be known to God.
So when the the Catechism of the Catholic Church mentions being saved in invincible ignorance and the baptism of desire (847-848 etc) - it does not contradict the dogma EENS, for me. Since hypothetical and invisible cases of the baptism of desire and being saved in invincible ignorance are not exceptions for the dogma EENS or Ad Gentes 7, for me. Ad Gentes 7 says all need faith and baptism for salvation. So yes- God can work outside the Church since God is God but God can also choose to restrict salvation to only membership in the Catholic Church.Theoretically, it works both ways. In both cases it is hypothetical here. But the dogma EENS tells us that the Holy Spirit teaches us that there is exclusive salvation in only the Catholic Church. This means that when I meet a non Christian, I know that he or she is oriented to Hell since this is the teaching of the dogma EENS which is not contradicted by Vatican Council II.It is supported by Ad Gentes 7 in Vatican Council II.
It also means that there must only be an ecumenism of return to the Church. Since the dogma EENS is no more contradicted by Unitatis Redintigratio , Decree on Ecumenism, Vatican Council II.
_________________
“When we’re not evangelizing
well, God can still bring the light of truth to His people,” Strickland
maintains. “God’s not bound [by the sacraments] … but … the language the Church
uses, the sacraments are the ordinary instruments that God has given us of
bringing us into a life of grace, forgiving our sins, strengthening us in that
grace.”
Lionel: Yes the Sacraments are
the ordinary means of salvation and we humans do not know of any extra ordinary
means of salvation. Since if any one was saved outside the Church it could only
be known to God. So we only have the ordinary means of salvation.Every one needs to accept Jesus in the Catholic Church to avoid Hell.This is why we call Jesus the Saviour. He saves all people from Hell who believe in Him and live his teachings in the Catholic Church, His Mystical Body.
___________________
Addressing the mediation of
the Catholic Church in the salvation of those outside Her, Strickland states
that such is because the Catholic Church is the Mystical Body of Christ, and
that anyone who comes to Christ must come to Him through the Church.
Lionel: Yes but this would also mean affirming
the strict Feeneyite interpretation of the dogma EENS like in the Council of
Florence and the Fourth Lateran Council. The USCCB does not do this and neither
Bishop Joseph Strickland or the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Vatican. This means that the teaching in the Bible has been changed. The Bible says outside the Church there is no salvation (John 3:5, Mark 16:16). It does not mention any exceptions.
___________________
Even so, God can work outside
the Church to affect the salvation of those known but to Him. “God is always
calling His people to Himself through His Son and the power of His Spirit,”
Strickland explains. “God can reach out directly to someone, or His Mother can,
and bring them close to Him, using the same grace, using the same life of the
Body of His Son.”
Lionel: In the fifth century the saints did not interpret invisible cases of the baptism of desire as being visible exceptions for the dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus. For the saints and the Magisterium of the Church, from the fifth to the 16 century, for example, those who were outside the Church were on the way to Hell. We do not know any one who will be saved outside the Church through no fault of his own. We do not know any one in particular who will be saved outside the Church in ignorance, through no fault of his own. So we cannot posit any exception for the centuries old strict interpretation of the dogma EENS. There are no exceptions, mentioned in Vatican Council II, when LG 16 etc refer to invisible cases in our reality.
This interview is disappointing since Terri Barber and Bishop Joseph Strickland are still choosing the politically correct approach. They are choosing to interpret Vatican Council II, the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the baptism of desire etc, irrationally and not rationally.
-Lionel Andrades
No comments:
Post a Comment