1. There is no way that we can know of a particular person saved in invincible ignorance or the baptism of desire because of its very nature. It is known only to God.
2. There is no text in Vatican Council II or the Catechism which claims we know of any such case.
3. So Vatican Council II and the Catechism do not contradict the ex cathedra dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus.-The Three Common Sense Points
1. Wikipedia
Now apply these principles to the leftist propaganda on Wikipedia (access: extra ecclesiam nulla salus in English).
Wikipedia states :
Wikipedia states :
The Roman Catholic Church also teaches that the doctrine does not mean that everyone who is not visibly within the Church is necessarily damned.
The Church's understanding of the significance of the phrase: "Outside the Church there is no salvation" is expressed in its Catechism of the Catholic Church, 846-848, 851
This affirmation is not aimed at those who, through no fault of their own, do not know Christ and His Church:
"Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience — those too may achieve eternal salvation" (Second Vatican Council, Lumen Gentium, 16).
-Wikipedia, extra ecclesiam nulla salus
Apply the three common sense points.
1. There is no way that we can know of a particular person saved in invincible ignorance or the baptism of desire because of its very nature. It is known only to God.
2. There is no text in Vatican Council II or the Catechism (including those cited by Wikipedia) which claims we know of any such case.
3. So Vatican Council II and the Catechism do not contradict the ex cathedra dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus.
The baptism of desire is a gift of God. We cannot claim that someone has received the Baptism of Desire this month. We cannot claim to know the Mind of God.
So when Wikipedia writes :' The Roman Catholic Church also teaches that the doctrine does not mean that everyone who is not visibly within the Church is necessarily damned', it is ambigous.This statment lends itself to error. Since we do not know of a single case of someone being saved in the present times, there is no Church text which says so and the Magisterium teaching, the infallible dogma says every one needs to be a formal member of the Church.
Here are the External Links provided by Wikipedia.
• Without the Church There Is No Salvation Catholic Education Resource Center (denies the dogma and cites Vatican Council II ).
• Church Fathers on Salvation Outside the Church (affirms the dogma and does not quote Vatican Council II and the Catechism)
• Can Non-Christians Be Saved? by Kenneth J. Howell. - Catholic Answers (written in an ambiguous style)
• Declaration of the Holy See under Pope Pius XII on the meaning of the teaching, 8 August 1949 (affirms the dogma and calls it the 'infallible' teaching)
• Pope John Paul II, General Audience, 31 May 1995 (affirms the necessity of the Church but is written in an ambiguous style).
2. Fr.William Most
Now analyse the report placed on the Internet, The Tragic Errors of Fr. Leonard Feeney by the late Fr. William Most.The Church Fathers and Vatican Council II are quoted to cite cases of invincible ignorance and the baptism of desire.
Apply the three common sense points.
1. There is no way that we can know of a particular person saved in invincible ignorance or the baptism of desire because of its very nature. It is known only to God.
2. There is no text in Vatican Council II or the Catechism of the Catholic Church (or the Church Fathers including those cited by Fr. William Most) which claims we know of any such case.
3. So Vatican Council II and the Catechism do not contradict the ex cathedra dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus.
Observe the common error.They postulate that since it is possible to be saved in invincible ignorance we know of such cases in real life. Then they assume this contradicts the dogma which says everyone needs to enter the Church for salvation.
Certainly, the condition "inculpably ignorant" cannot be verified nor weighed by human evaluation, but must be left to the divine judgment alone.- Pope John Paul II,All Salvation Comes through Christ,General Audience May 31, 1995
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1.
1. “There is but one universal Church of the faithful, outside which no one at all is saved.” (Pope Innocent III, Fourth Lateran Council, 1215). Ex cathedra.
2.“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, the Bull Unam Sanctam, 1302.).Ex cathedra.
3.“The most Holy Roman Church firmly believes, professes and preaches that none of those existing outside the Catholic Church, not only pagans, but also Jews and heretics and schismatics, can have a share in life eternal; but that they will go into the eternal fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels, unless before death they are joined with Her; and that so important is the unity of this ecclesiastical body that only those remaining within this unity can profit by the sacraments of the Church unto salvation, and they alone can receive an eternal recompense for their fasts, their almsgivings, their other works of Christian piety and the duties of a Christian soldier. 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 he remain within the bosom and the unity of the Catholic Church.” (Pope Eugene IV, the Bull Cantate Domino, 1441.) Ex cathedra – from the website Catholicism.org and “No Salvation outside the Church”: Link List, the Three Dogmatic Statements Regarding EENS
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