A question for our Catholic brothers and sisters in Christ?

Question

I am trying to understand the shift in Catholic docterine with regard to "one true church".

John Paul understood this term. Do you agree with him? Do you miss Pope John Paul?

Answer 1

Here is the full text of the new document that states nothing new: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20070629_responsa-quaestiones_en.html

Most Christian denominations believe that each of them is the fullest version of the Church of Christ.

While the Catholic Church also believes that she is "the highest exemplar" of the mystery that is the Church of Christ, she does not claim that non-Catholic Churches are not truly Christian. The Catholic Church teaches:

Furthermore, many elements of sanctification and of truth are found outside the visible confines of the Catholic Church: the written Word of God; the life of grace; faith, hope, and charity, with the other interior gifts of the Holy Spirit, as well as visible elements.

Christ's Spirit uses these Churches and ecclesial communities as means of salvation, whose power derives from the fullness of grace and truth that Christ has entrusted to the Catholic Church.

All these blessings come from Christ and lead to him.

For more information, see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, section 819: http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt1sect2chpt3art9p3.htm#819

With love in Christ.

Answer 2

It is not a shift, the reason Catholics do not have open communion is that the Protestants do not believe in the Real Presence in the Eucharist.

But, yes, I miss John Paul, even though I was only Catholic for a short time before he passed.

However, if people would read what the Pope REALLY said instead of what some "news" people have reported that he said, there would not be this big deal about it.

Peace and God Bless.

Answer 3

Oh, I do miss dear John Paul II very much. But I also love Benedict XVI.

This is not a shift in doctrine, but reiteration of something the Church has always taught -- which means that JPII also held it to be true. I trust that our Pope felt that this was the right time to re-emphasize it and was led by the Spirit to do so. I am sad that some of our brothers and sisters have been hurt by it, mostly because they take it personally as a slight, but if something is true it's true -- just as a loving parent shouldn't bend or minimize the truth just to spare a child's feelings.

[Edit] Did you know that when someone converts to the Catholic faith, he or she is greeted by Catholics afterward with "welcome home"? That's the message behind this I think everyone is missing -- it was not a statement that Catholics have an exclusive club, but that they greatly desire to welcome everyone home.

Answer 4

Perhaps some may be bitter about it, but consider it the bitterness of the elder brother that stayed home while the younger one roamed about being silly for a bit. (I guess we all do this to some extent, I've never really met a good elder brother) But on a much larger scale. The teaching of the Catholic church is not to condemn the children of those who separated themselves protestingly. So that's a LOT of protestants the church is benevolent toward. (After all, you cannot help in which family you were born any more than I, unless you believe in pre-destination.) JPII was a great supporter of the traditional Latin mass, and I would venture to say that he started the return to it. (It never really left. Most RC's wanted the mass said in their own language, and chose that option.) I miss that old gentleman terribly, but he is with God for sure, and without the pain of aging, so I am very happy for him and I hope he watches over all of us diligently. The Holy Spirit is greatly with him. I am sure that if we pray to him to ask for help in understanding this new tack of the Church, he will explain it with respect and a smile.

Peace of Christ be with you.

Answer 5

i'm a Roman Catholic. The papal declare is real that if the holy spirit speaks by using him it truly is unquestionably infallible. this could be a count that persons ought to parent. a lot of those disagreements have not something to do with salvation and are very stupid. The Orthodox Church is in many situations suggested to be a sister church to the Catholic Church. I keep in mind some year in the past or extra the pope sayng the Catholic Church became the only real church. He became then asked...is the Orthodox Church component of the Catholic Church and he spoke back particular! and walked away.

Answer 6

Yes, I miss JPII very much but I am faithful to Benedict now. This is not a change in doctrine as far as other Christian Beliefs. It has been around for 2000 years and periodically people get upset over it.

The change in Church doctrine was concerning the return of the Latin Mass to the people. No longer does a Bishop have to approve the Mass, a priest can say it if his parish wishes it to be said.

Answer 7

I miss Pope JPll too. But what Pope Benedict has reasserted is Catholic dogma and cannot be changed by anyone, even a Pope at the risk of being heretical. There has never been a shift in doctrine. Pope JPll , Im sure believed in this dogma. He just didnt speak about it openly as Pope Benedict has.

The Popes of old and the saints have always confirmed the fact that the Roman Catholic Church is the one and only true Church and there is no salvation outside the RC Church. So Pope Benedict XVl speaks the truth whether people think that is popular or not.

The Catholic Church has solemnly defined three times by infallible declarations that outside the Catholic Church there is no salvation.

The most explicit and forceful of the three came from Pope Eugene IV, in the Bull Cantate Domino, 1441, who proclaimed ex cathedra: "The Most Holy Roman Church firmly believes, professes and preaches that none of those existing outside the Catholic Church, not only pagans, also Jews, heretics, and schismatics can ever be partakers of eternal life, but that they are to go into the eternal fire 'which was prepared for the devil and his angels' (Mt. 25:41) unless before death they are joined with Her... No one, let his almsgiving be as great as it may, no one, even if he pour out his blood for the Name of Christ can be saved unless they abide within the bosom and unity of the Catholic Church."
The other two infallible declarations are as follows: 'There is one universal Church of the faithful, outside of which no one at all can be saved.' Pope Innocent III, ex cathedra, (Fourth Lateran Council, 1215).
'We declare, say , define, and pronounce that it is absolutely necessary for the salvation of every human creature to be subject to the Roman Pontiff.' Pope Boniface VIII, (Unam Sanctam, 1302).
This means, and has always meant, that salvation and unity exist only within the Catholic Church, and that members of heretical groups cannot be considered as "part" of the Church of Christ. This doctrine has been the consistent teaching of the Popes throughout the centuries.

St. Augustine (354-430), Bishop and Doctor of the Church: "No man can find salvation except in the Catholic Church. Outside the Catholic Church one can have everything except salvation. One can have honor, one can have sacraments, one can sing alleluia, one can answer amen, one can have faith in the Name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Ghost, and preach it too, but never can one find salvation except in the Catholic Church."

St. Fulgentius (468-533), Bishop: "Most firmly hold and never doubt that not only pagans, but also Jews, all heretics, and all schismatics who finish this life outside of the Catholic Church, will go into eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels."

Pope St. Gregory the Great (590-604): "The holy universal Church teaches that it is not possible to worship God truly except in Her and asserts that all who are outside of Her will not be saved."

St. Francis of Assisi (1182-1226): "All who have not believed that Jesus Christ was really the Son of God are doomed. Also, all who see the Sacrament of the Body of Christ and do not believe it is really the most holy Body and Blood of the Lord . . . these also are doomed!"

St. Thomas Aquinas (1226-1274), the Angelic Doctor: There is no entering into salvation outside the Catholic Church, just as in the time of the Flood there was not salvation outside the Ark, which denotes the Church."

St. Louis Marie de Montfort (1673-1716): "There is no salvation outside the Catholic Church. Anyone who resists this truth perishes."

Answer 8

No shift-the Catholic Church has always taught that it is the one true Church,but that does not mean that non Catholic Churches do not participate in a "ral but imperfect communion" for they are "instruments of salvation"

Answer 9

I am not Catholic, but want to keep track of what the Catholics have to say about Protestants who they are being reminded are not of the Body of Christ.

Answer 10

There is no shift in the stance of the Catholic Church that it alone is the "one true Church". Pope Benedict XVI is just more "marketing oriented" than his predecessor and he is clothing his
messages in a "marketing expert" doublespeak.