What do you think of the statement pope Benedict xvl about the Catholic Church being the true Church?

Question

Here's what I think first of all regardless if they can trace their history to be in line with Peter or not, shouldn't they be checking to see if their roots are connected with Jesus instead? I respect the Pope but he has gone to far. What I see is a man and an organization fighting for power and position instead of being motivated by sincere love for the Church. And people by this garbage. This man doesn't have anymore authority or isn't an any more of a right standing with God than anyone else.

1 Corinthians 3:4-6
One of you says, "I follow Paul." Another says, "I follow Apollos." Aren't you acting like ordinary human beings?

6 Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that you may learn in us not to think beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up on behalf of one against the other. 7 For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive?

1 Corinthians 3
Sectarianism Is Carnal
1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; 3 for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? 4 For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal?

Ephesians 2:5-7
5 So he gave us new life because of what Christ has done. He gave us life even when we were dead in sin. God's grace has saved you.

6 God raised us up with Christ. He has seated us with him in his heavenly kingdom because we belong to Christ Jesus. 7 He has done it to show the riches of his grace for all time to come. His grace can't be compared with anything else. He has shown it by being kind to us because of what Christ Jesus has done.

Ephesians 2:19-22
19 So you are no longer strangers and outsiders. You are citizens together with God's people. You are members of God's family. 20 You are a building that is built on the apostles and prophets. They are the foundation. Christ Jesus himself is the most important stone in the building. 21 The whole building is held together by him. It rises to become a holy temple because it belongs to the Lord.
1 Corinthians 12:12-13 (New King James Version)

Unity and Diversity in One Body

12 For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into[a] one Spirit

I'm not Catholic, nor do I belong to any denomination, but I will support Catholics and Protestant denominations as long as they teach the basic stuff. God speaks to me all the time. God tugged my heart so strong regarding Unity in His Church because the Holy Spirit can not move and operate in The Church as He wants to because of this religious self righteous garbage coming from some people in different denominations. I know that in these Last Days that kind of garbage will be cut out of the Church because it has no place in it. We are people of Love united under one Head: Jesus, one focus: preaching the Gospel to every creature proclaiming Jesus is Lord. Mark my words this kind of conduct will no longer be in the Church anymore. We are all equally in right standing with Christ, and those who try to elevate themselves higher will be humbled, and those who are low now will be ehalted so that We All as a Body is on the same Level measuring up to the full stature of Jesus Christ

Answer 1

I would like to know the chapter and verse from the Bible that he is using saying that Jesus isn't good enough but the Catholic church is.

Answer 2

Alignment with Scriptural teaching, not apostolic succession, is the determining factor of the trueness of a church. What is mentioned in Scripture is the idea that the Word of God was to be the guide that the church was to follow (Acts 20:32). It is Scripture that was to be the infallible measuring stick for teaching and practice (2 Timothy 3:16-17). It is the Scriptures that teachings are to be compared with (Acts 17:10-12). Apostolic authority was passed on through the writings of the apostles, not through apostolic succession. <><

Answer 3

The Pope is wrong. Sorry about the truth here. But he's wrong.

And the blood guilt the church has and still accumulates is enormous.

The true faith would not mix pagan festivals with true worship to retain new converts.
The true faith would not attack other nations and grounds because the believed different. That happened all the time during the Dark Ages and the Middle Ages.

The true faith would not endorse a Nazi like Hitler. That occurred though with Pope Pius.
The list is forever long. so I'll stop.

Answer 4

What Pope Benedict said is nothing new and should not be a surprise. The Catholic Church has always taught that it is the true Church of Christ. That is not only based on tracing roots to Saint Peter but through Peter and the Apostles to Jesus Himself. Jesus said to Peter, "You are 'rock" and on this rock I will build my church." Peter is the foundation of the unity of the true Church.
But the true Church must also have other elements: it must be universal (catholic), apostolic (its roots in the apostles), the priesthood, sacraments and the truth of Jesus..
Come on, some of you believe very strongly that the Catholic Church is not the true Church. Well, the Church believes the opposite.

Answer 5

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 6

nicely it quite is , without the catholic church there may well be no bible , " the coaching of religion and morals is left to the church, and why no longer , what different denomination is able , some trust abortion, others don;t some have different baptismal regulations some supply the homosexuals the appropriate to stay their way of existence , others do no longer perplexed already. then visit 1cor.14:33 'god isn't the author of bewilderment. ephesians 4:4-5 a million tim.3:15 and finally state your connection together with his fact

Answer 7

The pope is controlled by the devil. Jesus made it clear to call no man "Father". The pride, pomp and bowing to the pope is so anti Christ it is unbelieveable the number of people who think the pope is Godly. The pope has made himself like unto God which makes he completely controlled by the devil. One true test of any religion is the ministry. If it is not according to Jesus's teachings, going two by two, leaving all they have, not getting paid as he said, "freely you receive, freely you give". There is a belief today that does exactly that. If you are truly interested in finding it, pray to God that he lead you to those who follow Jesus's teachings.

Answer 8

This is an article from the Catholic Exchange website:


July 30, 2007
"I guess Catholics just think they're better than anybody else." The Catholic woman was quoting a non-Catholic friend's reaction to the new Vatican document affirming the uniqueness of the Catholic Church. Clearly, she sympathized with her friend's sarcastic comment.
Many Catholics — to say nothing of non-Catholics — were rattled by "Responses to Some Questions Regarding Certain Aspects of the Doctrine of the Church" (or, more likely, by secular media coverage of it). Yet nobody should really be surprised by this document, which was issued in early July by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
To begin with, "Responses" covers the same ground, in much the same way, as Dominus Iesus (The Lord Jesus), a widely discussed document published in 2000 by the same Vatican agency, which then was headed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. Cardinal Ratzinger is now Pope Benedict XVI. You were expecting him to change his mind?
Dominus Iesus was said to have been prompted by speculations of some Asian theologians that seemed to place Eastern religions like Buddhism and Hinduism on a par with Christianity. But the issues treated there and in the new CDF document undoubtedly exist in Europe and North America as well.
Practically speaking, the root of the problem is that too many Catholics naively take for granted the truth of the misinformation about the Catholic Church and ecumenism that they've been fed for many years. The Second Vatican Council (1962-65) embraced ecumenism, didn't it? So how can we claim Catholics have a lock on truth?
The confusion here is profound. In trying to untangle it, let's begin with a statement by Vatican II in its dogmatic constitution on the Church, no. 8: "This Church [i.e., the Church of Christ], constituted and organized as a society in the present world, subsists in the Catholic Church."
People have been arguing for four decades about those words "subsists in." Years ago, chatting with a prominent theologian, I hazarded the opinion that subsists in means to be fully present in. The theologian hemmed and hawed, then gave me to understand I was missing the point. Now it seems I was right.
Here's what the doctrinal congregation says: "'Subsistence' means...perduring, historical continuity and the permanence of all the elements instituted by Christ in the Catholic Church, in which the Church of Christ is concretely found on this earth."
This doesn't say Catholics are better than other Christians. That is a claim we simply can't make if "better" means more pleasing to God. And about that, who knows? God reads hearts, we don't.
Nor is it a putdown of other religious bodies. The CDF document, repeating Vatican II, readily acknowledges that "numerous elements of sanctification and of truth" exist in these.
No, the point of it is this: Jesus bestowed many gifts — theological and moral truths, sacraments, graces, charisms, offices — on the community he established. He willed that these gifts remain intact until he comes again. If Jesus' intention has come to naught — if what he gave his followers has been dissipated and lost — his great enterprise has turned out a failure. But faith rejects that possibility. Rather, the Catholic Church, by no merit of its members, remains the repository of Jesus' gifts in their fullness because it is the community in which, as we now say, Christ's Church subsists.
The starting-point of useful ecumenical dialogue is for dialogue partners to say honestly and accurately what they believe. The Vatican's new document performs an important service to ecumenism by reaffirming what the Catholic Church believes about itself.

Answer 9

This has always been the teaching of the Catholic Church. He is just re-iterating it. There is also other teachings regarding our fallen away brethren. I think he had guts to say this out loud. I think it causes us all to re-evaluate our beliefs and not be complacent.

If the Catholic Church was a ship, and he the pilot of it, I imagine that he sees on the horizon a storm and took steps to steer clear of it. He has a vision, a destination, and we are all part of that vision. This reminds me so much of the vision that St John of Bosco had that it's quite scary.

Answer 10

Church leaders are committed to the proposition that their church is the one and only true church. This is true for all other religious denominations. This is why true interfaith dialogue is not possible among the leadership group of any religion. It can only be possible if done by lay members of the religious organization.

Answer 11

Well, Ace of Spades, maybe you can share? That's a pretty closed statement. There are a lot of religions that proclaim the truth. It's what I hate when they say that every one else is going to hell. Whatever! Truth speaks clearly to the soul. That is God's gift to us, to be able to discern good from evil. There is truth in many many things, it's difficult to say that you have the only right there is.