Sunday, April 27, 2014

Nostra Aetate does not state there are defacto, known cases saved in other religions

In another book of the SSPX it is implied that Nostra Aetate is an exception to the traditional teaching on salvation - extra ecclesiam nulla salus. This book is written by one of the SSPX bishops. I brought this to the attention of the SSPX priest Fr.Gabriel. I mentioned that Nostra Aetate 2 refers to the possibility of a non Catholic  being saved in his religion.It does not state that this is a defacto, known case.So how can it be an exception to extra ecclesiam nulla salus?
 
Where does Nostra Aetate 2 state that these are defacto, known cases or exceptions to the dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus ?
 
Here is Nostra Aetate 2.
 
2. From ancient times down to the present, there is found among various peoples a certain perception of that hidden power which hovers over the course of things and over the events of human history; at times some indeed have come to the recognition of a Supreme Being, or even of a Father. This perception and recognition penetrates their lives with a profound religious sense.
Religions, however, that are bound up with an advanced culture have struggled to answer the same questions by means of more refined concepts and a more developed language. Thus in Hinduism, men contemplate the divine mystery and express it through an inexhaustible abundance of myths and through searching philosophical inquiry. They seek freedom from the anguish of our human condition either through ascetical practices or profound meditation or a flight to God with love and trust. Again, Buddhism, in its various forms, realizes the radical insufficiency of this changeable world; it teaches a way by which men, in a devout and confident spirit, may be able either to acquire the state of perfect liberation, or attain, by their own efforts or through higher help, supreme illumination. Likewise, other religions found everywhere try to counter the restlessness of the human heart, each in its own manner, by proposing "ways," comprising teachings, rules of life, and sacred rites. The Catholic Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in these religions. She regards with sincere reverence those ways of conduct and of life, those precepts and teachings which, though differing in many aspects from the ones she holds and sets forth, nonetheless often reflect a ray of that Truth which enlightens all men. Indeed, she proclaims, and ever must proclaim Christ "the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6), in whom men may find the fullness of religious life, in whom God has reconciled all things to Himself.(4)
The Church, therefore, exhorts her sons, that through dialogue and collaboration with the followers of other religions, carried out with prudence and love and in witness to the Christian faith and life, they recognize, preserve and promote the good things, spiritual and moral, as well as the socio-cultural values found among these men. -Nostra Aetate 2, Vatican Council II.(emphasis added)
 
The Catholic Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in these religions. She regards with sincere reverence those ways of conduct and of life, those precepts and teachings which, though differing in many aspects from the ones she holds and sets forth, nonetheless often reflect a ray of that Truth which enlightens all men.
 
Being saved with 'a ray of that Truth' is a possibility. It can only be a possibility for us since these cases-saved would be known only to God.They can never be defacto known to us.The  text does not state that they are known to us personally in the present times, defacto.
-Lionel Andrades 
 
 
 
 
 

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