Do you think the Catholic Church is the only true church as the Pope said?

Question

Pope Benedict XVI has reasserted the universal primacy of the Roman Catholic Church, approving a document released Tuesday that says Orthodox churches were defective and that other Christian denominations were not true churches.

It restates key sections of a 2000 document the pope wrote when he was prefect of the congregation, “Dominus Iesus,” which set off a firestorm of criticism among Protestant and other Christian denominations because it said they were not true churches but merely ecclesial communities and therefore did not have the “means of salvation.”

This seems a good example of the need for separation of church and state.

Any religion is dangerous when it gains too much power.

Five of the nine Supreme Court Justices are Catholic.

I'm not Catholic but was raised as a moderate Presbyterian. And, yes, everyone believes theirs is the "best" church but the "only church" is claimed only by the Catholic church, fundamentalists and evangelicals.

Answer 1

It had seemed to me that the roman catholic church had, in my lifetime anyway, sought to retire from squabbling with others and had sought to merely try to spread christ's message without getting into fights.
This feels more like a political leader sticking his thumb in the eye of those he feels to be adversaries. kinda sad.
But to actually answer your question; no, the catholic church is not the one and only.

Answer 2

The Pope's recent proclamation has nothing to do with Church and state. The purpose was to reiterate a Doctrinal belief as old as the Church itself - that it is the One True Church.

Too many people believe in syncritism; a heresy that proclaims all religions and Churches equal. Well, they're not all equal.

There is only One True Church, and we know it to be the Catholic Church because it is the only one that bears the Four Marks of the True Church:

The Church Is One (Rom. 12:5, 1 Cor. 10:17, 12:13, CCC 813–822)
Jesus established only one Church, not a collection of differing churches (Lutheran, Baptist, Anglican, and so on). The Bible says the Church is the bride of Christ (Eph. 5:23–32). Jesus can have but one spouse, and his spouse is the Catholic Church.

His Church also teaches just one set of doctrines, which must be the same as those taught by the apostles (Jude 3). This is the unity of belief to which Scripture calls us (Phil. 1:27, 2:2).

Although some Catholics dissent from officially-taught doctrines, the Church’s official teachers—the pope and the bishops united with him—have never changed any doctrine. Over the centuries, as doctrines are examined more fully, the Church comes to understand them more deeply (John 16:12–13), but it never understands them to mean the opposite of what they once meant.

The Church Is Holy (Eph. 5:25–27, Rev. 19:7–8, CCC 823–829)
By his grace Jesus makes the Church holy, just as he is holy. This doesn’t mean that each member is always holy. Jesus said there would be both good and bad members in the Church (John 6:70), and not all the members would go to heaven (Matt. 7:21–23).

But the Church itself is holy because it is the source of holiness and is the guardian of the special means of grace Jesus established, the sacraments (cf. Eph. 5:26).

The Church Is Catholic (Matt. 28:19–20, Rev. 5:9–10, CCC 830–856)
Jesus’ Church is called catholic ("universal" in Greek) because it is his gift to all people. He told his apostles to go throughout the world and make disciples of "all nations" (Matt. 28:19–20).

For 2,000 years the Catholic Church has carried out this mission, preaching the good news that Christ died for all men and that he wants all of us to be members of his universal family (Gal. 3:28).

Nowadays the Catholic Church is found in every country of the world and is still sending out missionaries to "make disciples of all nations" (Matt. 28:19).

The Church Jesus established was known by its most common title, "the Catholic Church," at least as early as the year 107, when Ignatius of Antioch used that title to describe the one Church Jesus founded. The title apparently was old in Ignatius’s time, which means it probably went all the way back to the time of the apostles.

The Church Is Apostolic (Eph. 2:19–20, CCC 857–865)
The Church Jesus founded is apostolic because he appointed the apostles to be the first leaders of the Church, and their successors were to be its future leaders. The apostles were the first bishops, and, since the first century, there has been an unbroken line of Catholic bishops faithfully handing on what the apostles taught the first Christians in Scripture and oral Tradition (2 Tim. 2:2).

These beliefs include the bodily Resurrection of Jesus, the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, the sacrificial nature of the Mass, the forgiveness of sins through a priest, baptismal regeneration, the existence of purgatory, Mary’s special role, and much more —even the doctrine of apostolic succession itself.

Early Christian writings prove the first Christians were thoroughly Catholic in belief and practice and looked to the successors of the apostles as their leaders. What these first Christians believed is still believed by the Catholic Church. No other Church can make that claim.

Answer 3

What Benedict did was clarify what Protestant and Catholic leaders have accepted for centuries. It isn't anything new, and no Vatican 2 never eliminated the old position, misinterpretation of Vatican 2 led to some things that the council never intened.

"This seems a good example of the need for separation of church and state."

I'm not sure what that is about, unless you are using it as a reference to religious wars and the possibility of such. Even then I don't know how that applies since if the US of A chosen a state church it would have been Epsicipalian or Lutheran. The Germans were the first large wave of Catholic immigrants, and were follwed closely by the Irish.

Answer 4

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 5

No. The Catholic Church happened out of many theological errors. What the Pope said is a sign that Jesus is coming soon. A lot of the Pagan converts caused the problem. They brought their heathen customs with them and blended them with their new Christian customs. These practices, such as baptizing babies and worshiping idols, became accepted simply because they were being done. They also used to use idols and stuff like that for teaching tools, but eventually they just started having them in their churches. I don't know if they really worship the idols though. During times of persecution, small groups of Christians gathered around the graves of martyrs to pray and encourage one another. Some Christians began praying to the martyrs even though they knew the martyrs were dead. In time, people came to believe that martyrs were not really dead. They thought God took them to heaven right away. The church kept two days: Sabbath in honor of Creation and Sunday in honor of the resurrection. The church placed more and more emphasis on Sunday worship during the next two hundred years. Sunday acceptance accelerated because pagan converts were more comfortable keeping their old day of sun worship. Eventually the seventh-day Sabbath was dropped. I believe that the Seventh Day Adventist church is the true church.

Answer 6

Yes. My late wife carried that belief from childhood and died with it in her heart. I have always held that same belief. There is only one true church. I don't see the Pope's reassertment as an example of a need for separation of church and state. That separation exists now and forever in the United States Consitution. The Pope just reiterates that many people have established host of churches and "religions" that serve only their purpose. The Catholic Church serves God and man. "On this rock I will build My Church."

Answer 7

My religion on my passport is Greek Orthodox
I am sad to say that I am generally not happy with any of the religions and their representatives of God on this earth as I grow older
But as far as the Vatican is concerned I think they do come first in the order of distance from the word of The Lord.
May your God forgive you (i.e. if God exists) Mr Pope

You actually have people in your ranks that actually believe through your encouragement that Jesus said
"on this rock I will build my church" to the
ha!!!!!!!ha!!!!!!ha!!!!
Catholic church pvt ltd in Rome
and not the "CHURCH " that eventually the catholic church split from
OR according to a polite version
the original church was split into the orthodox and catholic splinters

Give us a break
No wonder so many denominations later splintered off from the Catholic faith
You are embarrassing honest descent Catholic Christians

Answer 8

No I don't believe that, and the Catholic church is one of the most morally bankrupt businesses in the world. They were Nazi sympathizers, led wars in the Crusades after the death of Pope Urban II,

England regularly tortured and killed Protestants under the name of, and with the blessing of the Pope until Elizabeth, a Protestant, came up with the Church of England!

Now they are full of pedophiles!

I think they are probably a poorly run business! I don't think I need a church to get to heaven! And if I do, I think I will be able to convert!

Answer 9

This pope is there to make his religion collapse, and he knows it! Everything he does, is to create division, and when you create division, you cannot become stronger, you get weaker... So now we are witnessing live, to a planned attempt at destroying the catholic church...
Well done... If it falls I want some artworks from the St-Pierre... A little like, when the Berlin wall has fallen, everyones were looking for a bricks...

Answer 10

The Pope did NOT say that Protestant and other Christian denominations did not have the “means of salvation.”

In fact, what the document says is:

“It follows that these separated churches and Communities, though we believe they suffer from defects, are deprived neither of significance nor importance in the mystery of salvation. In fact the Spirit of Christ has not refrained from using them as instruments of salvation,

The full document can be read at http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20070629_responsa-quaestiones_en.html