Friday, July 12, 2013

Redemptoris Missio does not contradict Fr.Leonard Feeney

Redemptoris Missio does not contradict Fr. Leonard Feeney since  when 'the Encyclical Redemptoris Missio states that salvation “is not granted only to those who explicitly believe in Christ and have entered the Church” (art. 10)' it is not referring to any cases known in the present times who can be an exception to the literal interpretation of Fr.Leonard Feeney.
 
Fr.Brian Harrison assumes that Redeptoris Missio contradicts Fr.Leonard Feeney.In a theological forum he has written :
 'To reach eternal salvation, it is necessary (though not sufficient): (a) to have been baptized sacramentally; and (b) to die sincerely professing the Catholic faith and one’s own personal submission to the Roman Pontiff...
 
Pope John Paul II, in an authoritative statement that is more explicitly ‘anti-Feeney’ than those found in either the Catechism or the conciliar texts, teaches in the Encyclical Redemptoris Missio that salvation “is not granted only to those who explicitly believe in Christ and have entered the Church” (art. 10). While this clearly contradicts both of the propositions (a) and (b) in bold type above,...- Fr.Brian Harrison.
 
10. The universality of salvation means that it is granted not only to those who explicitly believe in Christ and have entered the Church. Since salvation is offered to all, it must be made concretely available to all. But it is clear that today, as in the past, many people do not have an opportunity to come to know or accept the gospel revelation or to enter the Church. The social and cultural conditions in which they live do not permit this, and frequently they have been brought up in other religious traditions. For such people salvation in Christ is accessible by virtue of a grace which, while having a mysterious relationship to the Church, does not make them formally part of the Church but enlightens them in a way which is accommodated to their spiritual and material situation. This grace comes from Christ; it is the result of his Sacrifice and is communicated by the Holy Spirit. It enables each person to attain salvation through his or her free cooperation.
For this reason the Council, after affirming the centrality of the Paschal Mystery, went on to declare that "this applies not only to Christians but to all people of good will in whose hearts grace is secretly at work. Since Christ died for everyone, and since the ultimate calling of each of us comes from God and is therefore a universal one, we are obliged to hold that the Holy Spirit offers everyone the possibility of sharing in this Paschal Mystery in a manner known to God."
-Redemptoris Missio
The universality of salvation means that it is granted not only to those who explicitly believe in Christ and have entered the Church.
This is an affirmation of the dogma on salvation and the traditional teaching.It is saying salvation is granted to those who explicitly believe in Jesus Christ and have entered the Church visibly -and also to those who are saved with the baptism of desire etc.Those who are saved with the baptism of desire within the Church can only be possibilities for us and cannot be personally known. For them to be exceptions to the traditional interpetation of the dogma they would  have to be personally known.
 
Perhaps Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger assumed these cases were personally known to us.They were exceptions. Since  Pope Benedict VI and Pope Francis in the  encyclical  Lumen Fidei includes Christians among those having 'ecclesial faith'. Christians in Lumen Fidei are exceptions to the centuries old dogmatic teaching on exclusive salvation in only the Catholic Church.
 
Redemptoris Missio states:
 
For such people salvation in Christ is accessible by virtue of a grace which, while having a mysterious relationship to the Church, does not make them formally part of the Church but enlightens them in a way which is accommodated to their spiritual and material situation.
 
This refers to the possibility of salvation if God chooses it in  a way known only to him.Since these cases would not be known to us it is not an exception to  the literal interpretation of Fr.Leonard Feeney.Fr.Brian Harrison assumes that they are exceptions.This would imply that he could name such a case in the present times.
 
Redemptoris Missio:
 
 "this applies not only to Christians but to all people of good will in whose hearts grace is secretly at work. Since Christ died for everyone, and since the ultimate calling of each of us comes from God and is therefore a universal one, we are obliged to hold that the Holy Spirit offers everyone the possibility of sharing in this Paschal Mystery in a manner known to God."
Same as above. These cases would only be known to God and they are not explicit for us to be an exception to the traditional interpretation of Fr.Leonard Feeney.
 
So Redemptoris  Missio is not contradicting the literal interpretation of the dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus since we do not know who is saved with grace in 2013.
-Lionel Andrades

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