NEW AMERICAN ENCYCLOPEDIA MAKES AN OBJECTIVE MISTAKE

Vatican Council II does not contradict  St.Robert Bellarmine since implicit desire is never explicit.

Mystici Corporis is in agreement with Vatican Council II and Fr. Leonard Feeney.

If the Encylopedia assumes that in the Leonard Feeney case the classical understanding of extra ecclesiam nulla salus was changed then it has made an objective mistake.

The baptism of desire and being saved in invincible ignorance are not exceptions to the dogma on salvation.

In the New American encylopedia report (1)  Vatican Council II is interpreted as a break from Tradition;  a break from the dogma and the Syllabus of Errors.

If the baptism of desire etc is not known to us and is not an exception then Vatican Council II is in accord with the Bellarmine understanding of the dogma.

The Letter of the Holy Office is in accord with the text of the dogma when it refers to 'the dogma' the 'infallible teaching'.

If it assumes that Fr.Leonard Feeney made a mistake in rejecting 'exceptions' then the Letter of the Holy Office made an objective mistake. We do not know the dead saved in invincible ignorance and the baptism of desire.

This is not theology or an opinion. This is commonsense.

'the break with Bellarmine's viewpoint, repeated in Mystici Corporis Christi'... -New Catholic Encylopedia.

Mystici Corporis mentioned that there were non Catholics who could be saved with implicit desire(N.103) etc.

The New Catholic Encylopedia  assumes that these cases are known to us and so are explicit exceptions to the Bellarmine viewpoint. This is false. These cases are known only to God so they do not contradict Bellarmine.

With implicit baptism of desire and being saved in invincible ignorance, a good conscience etc etc we have Vatican Council II in agreement with the Bellarmine viewpoint.

Mystici Corporis does not contradict extra ecclesiam nulla salus or Vatican Council II .

-Lionel Andrades

_____________________________________

: Incorporation into the Church (Membership)

: New Catholic Encyclopedia

:  January 1, 2003

: INCORPORATION INTO THE CHURCH (MEMBERSHIP)

: In any contemporary discussion on : "belonging to the Church" the : first point to be stressed is that vatican

: council II's Dogmatic Constitution on the : Church (Lumen gentium ) advisedly dropped : the terms "member" and : "membership." The first schema of : the Constitutio de Ecclesia had, in keeping : with Pius XII's 1943 encyclical, Mystici : Corporis Christi, employed the terms. But in : its final form Lumen gentium used instead : "incorporation," a notion at once : more precise and more flexible. The

: deliberate substitution is clear from a : comparison of Lumen gentium, art. 14 with : the 1962 schema, art. 9, and the 1963 : schema, art. 8. Likewise, the idea of votum : Ecclesiae (intention of the Church— Abbott)

: did not keep the meaning given to it (in : line with the thought of St. Robert  Bellarmine) during the discussions of  Vatican Cncil I (J. D. Mansi, Sacrorum : Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, 31

: v. [Florence-Venice 1757–98] reprinted and : continued by L. Petit and J. B. Martin, 53

: v. in 60 [Paris 1889–1927; repr. Graz 1960– : ] 53:311–312), in Mystici Corporis Christi, : and in the Holy Office's letter to the : archbishop of Boston regarding the : "Feeney Case" (H. Denzinger, : Enchiridion symbolorum, ed. A. Schönmetzer  [32d ed. Freiburg 1963]3870). The expression : votum Ecclesiae retained that : "classical" meaning only in the  passage on catechumens (Lumen gentium 14.3).

: The application of votum Ecclesiae to : non-Catholics reflects an entirely different : viewpoint (Lumen gentium 15.2; 8.2—ad : unitatem catholicam impellunt, "these : elements or gifts properly belonging to the

: Church of Christ possess an inner dynamism : toward Catholic unity"[Abbott]).

: The setting aside of the idea of membership in favor of that of incorporation has called : for the development of a carefully nuanced : vocabulary, consistent with Vatican II : ecclesiology. With regard to Catholics, : Lumen gentium uses "being  incorporated" (incorporatio ),  qualifying the term with the adverb

: "fully" (plene ) and emphasizing : that full incorporation requires the : presence of the Holy Spirit (Lumen gentium : 14.2). For non-Catholics and catechumens, : the constitution speaks of their being : linked (conjunctio ) to the Church, again : carefully stressing the role of the Holy : Spirit in each case (Lumen gentium 14.3; : 15.2). As for non-Christians the : constitution uses "being related" : (ordinantur ), a term that suggests a : dynamic relationship, an orientation toward : the Church (Lumen gentium 16). Every shade : of difference in meaning among these terms : is important. But the terms acquire their : full force only in the light of the most : authoritative commentaries on them, the : Decree on Ecumenism and the Declaration on : the Relationship of the Church to : Non-Christian Religions. Then, supposing the  nuances indicated, the richness of such : expressions as the following becomes clear:  "Churches and ecclesial : communities" (Unitatis redintegratio : 3.3; cf. Lumen gentium 15.1); : "separated brethren" (brothers  divided; Unitatis redintegratio 3.4); : "separated Churches and ecclesial  communities" (Unitatis redintegratio : 3.4); "full communion"—

: "imperfect communion" (ibid. 3.1).

: The Force of "Incorporation."

: Commentators on the conciliar texts have : perhaps not paid enough attention to the : fact that, although tightly linked, the : terms "incorporation" (Lumen : gentium ) and communio (Unitatis : redintegratio ) are not synonymous. The main : focus of "incorporation" is on : individuals as such and although Lumen : gentium (15) does make passing reference to : the ecclesial standing of groups as such, : that is not its primary emphasis. The main : bearing of "communion," on the : contrary, is on groups as such, in their : relation to the Catholic Church and to each : other. It is of some interest to point out : that Lumen gentium (14.2; 14.1) uses the : term communio to indicate union ("unity : of communion"— Abbott) with the  successor of St. Peter, but that in Unitatis : redintegratio the term "communion" : takes on the traditional sense of the : koinonia, the fellowship, of the Churches  (Unitatis redintegratio 3.4). In this : respect, the Decree on Ecumenism is richer : than the Constitution on the Church: it : acknowledges a genuine salvific value in : Churches and ecclesial communities as such : (i.e., not merely in the ecclesial elements : or vestiges existing in them).

: Every ecclesial tradition affirms that : incorporation in Christ involves a core : element, known only by God, which consists : in the presence within a person of the love : of God poured forth by the Holy Spirit (Rom : 5.5). This element is so important that : without it there exists no full and complete : incorporation, possessing every guarantee of : authenticity (see Lumen gentium 14.2, a : capital text on the point). This spiritual, : interior incorporation often occurs before : baptism (see St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa : theologiae 3, 66.11 and 13 on baptism of : desire and of blood) and at times even : without any explicit knowledge of the : mystery of Christ (Lumen gentium 16).

: : Here it should be stressed that when they : speak formally of incorporation into the : Church, most ecclesial traditions—even those : that do not give prominence to the : Sacraments—acknowledge that its : accomplishment is normally through baptism.

: The gift of the Holy Spirit that is the : inner mark of belonging to the Body of : Christ is made ordinarily to those who seal : their faith in Jesus Christ by baptism.

: Admittedly some Christian bodies born during : or after the Reformation are silent on the point. The more ancient Christian : traditions, however, are unanimous here, : even though they may explain differently the : connection between the sacramental rite and : the inner incorporation or may not all : recognize the validity of baptism  adnistered in ways other than their own.

 

: Every person baptized in a true baptism : belongs to the Body of Christ and therefore

: to the Church. One of the most important : consequences of Vatican II ecclesiology is

: the break with Bellarmine's viewpoint, : repeated in Mystici Corporis Christi, which

: in fact limited true belonging to the Church : to those baptized within the Catholic

: community. For Vatican II every genuine : baptism truly brings incorporation into

: Christ and the Church. Even though divided, : the Church is single (Unica Christi

: Ecclesia, Lumen gentium 8.1) and baptism : brings entrance into the single (though

: divided) Church. This is the profound : implication of the expression "the one

: single Baptism of the one single : Church." Lumen gentium refrains from

: stating that the Church is the Catholic : Church; it chooses rather to affirm that the

: "Church subsists in the Catholic : Church" (subsistit in; Lumen gentium

: 8). The precise reason of this choice is to : give recognition to the presence of

: genuinely ecclesial elements in the : non-Catholic bodies that the document,

: further on, designates as "Churches or : ecclesial Communities." (The 1964

: schema of the Constitutio de Ecclesia has : this: "loco 'est' 1.21, dicitur

: 'subsistit in' ut expressio melius concordet : cum affirmatione de elementis ecclesialibus

: quae alibi adsunt." ) The implication : is that in these "Churches and

: ecclesial Communities" the Church (the : single Church) is present. Therefore those

: who by baptism belong to these bodies and : within them live in faithfulness to the

: Spirit, relying on the elements of genuinely : evangelical life they find there (Lumen

: gentium 8.2; 15.1 & 2; Unitatis : redintegratio 3), by that same belonging

: also belong to the single Church.

:

: Given the viewpoint of the conciliar  documen(which in their own way mark a

: return to Thomas Aquinas's insistence on the : interiority of incorporation into

: Christ—Summa theologiae 3a, 8.3), it is : extremely important to keep in mind that

: belonging to the single Church comes about : in and through belonging to the

: "Churches and ecclesial : Communities." These bear within them

: elements of sanctification and of truth that : make it possible for the baptized to live

: according to the Gospel. Therefore the value : of each "Church or ecclesial

: Community" as such is not set : aside—treated, that is, as meaningless or

: purely incidental. Moreover, the council : refuses to conceive the incorporation as

: though it were an unmediated action of the : Holy Spirit, between the Spirit and each

: individual alone. However far from being : what the Catholic Church regards as the true

: form of the Church, every ecclesial : community is the locus of a genuine

: incorporation into the single Church. : Acknowledgment of that fact is an

: implication of the idea of "incomplete : communion"; the accent falls on

: "communion," the noun, rather than : on "incomplete," the adjective,

: and clearly the term "communion" : should not be taken to mean anything other

: than the "communion" that : incorporation in Christ brings about (see

: Bertrams; Hamer; Kasper; Lanne; McDonnell; : McGovern).

:

: Incorporation through baptism means, then, : incorporation into the single Church. The

: Church, however, exists now as divided, : disunited. Lumen gentium and the other

: conciliar documents that explicate its : ecclesiology, affirm that incorporation,

: while real, does not have the same : completeness in all Churches and ecclesial

: communities. The documents add that : incorporation has this fullness only in the

: Catholic Church (Lumen gentium 8.2 : [subsistit in passage]; Unitatis

: redintegratio 3.5). To illustrate let us : give an image: a graft can be made onto a

: living body, yet for some reason not receive : all the vigor and strength of the body

: because of some defect or lack in the way : the grafting onto the whole organism is

: done. In the belief of the Catholic Church : the baptized person fully (plene )

: incorporated into the Church is the one who : shares truly in the Eucharist (i.e., as one

: having charity), within a community whose : bishop, ordained in the apostolic

: succession, is in communion with the bishop : of Rome (except for the last part the

: Catholic Church is at one with the Orthodox : Churches in this understanding).

: : Two Views of the Church. To grasp the : meaning of this Catholic position, it is

: important to recall the difference between : two views of the Church, the

: "Catholic" view—that of Roman  Catholics, the Orthodox, and some : Anglicans—and the Protestant one. The : Protestant view considers the Church : essentially in its invisible reality (its

: res in the Scholastics' vocabulary). It : looks immediately at what God works in the

: heart "of all who love the Lord Jesus : Christ in sincerity and whose names are

: known only to God" (Moss 2, 41). Thus, : the focus is on the effect of grace and the

: mysterious bond existing here and now : between the glorified Christ and each

: sincere believer. Such a reading of the : reality of the Church, therefore, centers on

: realized sanctification, that is on the : invisible communion of all who are in grace.

: Outward signs—the Sacraments, the : institutional Church—have a value of mere

: instrumentality, no more. All those who : confess Christ—and thereby may possibly be

: sanctified—have the possibility of existing : within the ecclesial plenitude to the degree

: that charity is alive in them. It is : impossible, therefore, to take institutional

: elements as the index of degrees of : ecclesiology.

: : The Catholic view is altogether different. : The reality of the Church must be seen as

: consisting at once and inseparably of what : Christ works here and now within the

: faithful and of the institutional elements : established from the outset by the apostolic

: community, the interpreter of Christ's will. : From the day of Christ's resurrection to the

: day of his second coming the Church, taken : in its total reality, is the Sacramentum

: salutis, i.e., the expression of all that : salvation implies—not only the inner

: presence of grace, but also the channels of : grace. These instruments also are saving

: gifts of God and constitutives of the : manifestation of his grace. The Church

: received its identity at once from its : inner, mysterious reality (its res) and from

: the visible means (the sacramentum ) of : which it is the bearer. For the Church is,

: in the present world, the Body of Christ, to : be seen always as tightly bound to the Jesus

: of the Incarnation—the eternal Son of the : Father, but also the One Sent to give to

: human beings along with the event of : salvation the means for entering into that

: salvation.

:

: Full Incorporation. This makes clear the : meaning of the important statement of the

: Constitution on the Church: "They are : fully incorporated into the society of the

: Church who, possessing the Spirit of Christ, : accept her entire system and all the means

: of salvation given to her" (Lumen : gentium 14.2). Full incorporation comes

: about where the spiritual reality (the : possession of the Spirit of Christ) and the

: entirety of visible, essential elements are : present. To be joined only to the visible

: institution without charity is not to be : "in the heart of the Church" : (ibid. ); to possess charity without holding : fast to the outward, institutional, and : essential elements is not to belong totally

: to the reality of the Sacrament that the : Church is. The two aspects of incorporation

: into the Church, the spiritual and the : visible, are, as it were, interfused. Among

: the factors that together give the Church : its outward manifestation, the institutional

: aspect is inseparable from the communal : profession of faith and from sharing in the

: Sacraments, above all in the Eucharistic : synaxis. The Eucharist is the unifying

: center in which come together, within the : communio of the Body of Christ, the

: communion of the profession of faith and the : communion with the apostolic ministry, whose

: centrum unitatis is the bishop of Rome.

: Incorporation achieves in the Eucharist its

: full measure.

:

: This understanding of the incorporation in : Christ and the Church allows for breaking

: away from the Counter-Reformation positions : maintaining that there is no genuine

: belonging to the Church other than within : the Catholic community, bound fast to the

: pope (Bellarminus, De conciliis 3, 2 [ed. : Fevre 1870] v. 2. 316–318). That conception

: remained in the thought of Mystici Corporis : ; use of the term "membership"

: made difficult any sort of nuancing. But : thanks to its ecclesiology—prepared by the

: renewal of patristic studies and the : ecumenical dialogue—Vatican II was able to

: affirm at the same time that Churches or : ecclesial communities separated from the

: Catholic Church are part of the single : Church, and that nevertheless incorporation

: in Christ and His Church possesses within : the Catholic Church the fullness that it

: does not have elsewhere.

:

: Bibliography: w. bertrams, "De gradibus : communionis in doctrina Concilii Vaticani

: II," Gregorianum 47 (1966) 286–305.

: y.-m. congar, "What Belonging to the : Church Has Come to Mean," Communio 4

: (1977) 146–160. j. hamer, "La : terminologie écclésiologique de Vatican II

: et les ministères protestants," La : Documentation Catholique 53 (1971) 625–628.

: w. kasper, "Der ekklesiologische : Charakter der nichtkatholischen

: Kirchen," Theologische Quartalschrift : 145 (1965) 42–62. e. lanne, "Le Mystère

: de l'Église et de son unité," Iréníkon : 46 (1973) 298–342. k. mcdonnell, "The

: Concept of Church in the Documents of : Vatican II as Applied to Protestant

: Denominations," Lutherans and Catholics : in Dialogue—IV, Eucharist and Ministry

: (Minneapolis 1970) 307–324. j. o. mcgovern, : The Church in the Churches (Washington, D.C.

: 1968). c. b. moss, What Do We Mean by : Reunion (London 1953). 

: [j. m. r. tillard/eds.]