The Legion of Christ follow the error made in the Letter of the Holy Office 1949. Cushingism is the norm in their religious formation.
Father, I'm very confused about "extra ecclesiam nulla salus" which holds that outside of Baptism, there is no salvation. I know that many popes have infallibly pronounced this to be true (e.g. Boniface VIII, Eugene IV, Innocent III etc.), And it is in scripture, John 3: 5 but I've gotten heard many differing views on this matter in especially in more recent times. The idea that souls can be saved without Baptism is understandably comforting, but I just want to know the truth. Thank you. - Anonymous
Fr.Shane L.C:
It’s a theologically nuanced phrase that can very easily be misunderstood. There are a few groups in the Church that are upset with the Church’s self-understanding and make a lot of hay about it, so there’s a good deal of confusion.
The best and simplest guide is what the Catechism says:
846 How are we to understand this affirmation, often repeated by the Church Fathers? Re-formulated positively, it means that all salvation comes from Christ the Head through the Church which is his Body:
Hence they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or to remain in it." (Lumen Gentium 14)(Lionel: So even when all salvation comes from Christ the Head through the Church, all still need to be formal members of the Church.Unless of course, Fr.Shane assumes that those who are saved with the baptism of desire etc( allegedly without the baptism of water) are personally known to us. So then they would be exceptions to all needing to be formal members of the Chruch.This is the error in the Legion of Christ formation and the Catechism is interpreted with this irrationality i.e the dead are visible and so all do not need to be formal members of the Church to go to Heaven and avoid Hell)."Basing itself on Scripture and Tradition, the Council teaches that the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and Baptism, and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through Baptism as through a door.Lionel: This is an affirmation of traditional extra ecclesiam nulla salus.
Lionel: This is a reference to a theoretical, hypothtical case.It can be accepted as a possibility and would be known only to God. However the Legion of Christ priests assume that these are visible for us cases and so are exceptions to all needing faith and baptism for salvation in 2014.
847 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." (Lumen Gentium 16)Lionel: These cases (LG 16) are not known to us in 2014 so they are not exceptions to extra ecclesiam nulla salus. They are also not exceptions to LG 14 and AG 7 which say all need faith and baptism.848 ”Although in ways known to himself God can lead those who, through no fault of their own, are ignorant of the Gospel, to that faith without which it is impossible to please him, the Church still has the obligation and also the sacred right to evangelize all men.” (Ad Gentes 7)Lionel: Those saved through no fault of their own are not known to us.They are not examples of salvation outside the Catholic Church in 2014. So they are not exceptions to all needing to be formal members of the Church.The Legion of Christ follow the error of the Letter of the Holy Office. Cushingism is the norm in their religious formation.-L.A
God bless you!
- Father Shane
I'm Father Shane Johnson, a Catholic priest with the Legionaries of Christ and youth minister
at St. Peter's Parish in Yonkers, NY.I also contribute to Vocation Questions.
at St. Peter's Parish in Yonkers, NY.I also contribute to Vocation Questions.
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