Pope Pius IX contributed to the confusion on extra ecclesiam nulla salus

Pope Pius IX (1846–1878), Allocution Singulari quadam, December 9, 1854 '...on the other hand, it is necessary to hold for certain that they who labor in ignorance of the true religion, if this ignorance is invincible, will not be held guilty of this in the eyes of God.'

Pope Pius IX (1846–1878), Encyclical Quanto conficiamur moerore

Outside of the Church, nobody can hope for life or salvation unless he is excused through ignorance beyond his control." ¹

Why does Pope Pius IX have to mention being saved in invincible ignorance with reference to extra ecclesiam nulla salus?

He first said all needed to enter the Church for salvation. They need to formally enter the Church with Catholic Faith and the baptism of water. He was traditional here.Then why does he have to mention those who are saved in invincible ignorance when we do not know, and cannot know any such case, as an exception?

 

Did Pope Pius IX who issued the Syllabus of Errors make the same mistake as theologians who assume that those saved in invincible ignorance are visible, nameable and personally known in the present times? Did he assume that those who are saved in invincible ignorance are also saved without the baptism of water and they are defacto, objective, explicit  exceptions to the dogma and the Syllabus of Errors ? How can hypothetical cases be explicit exceptions?. So why did he have to mention this ?

There is no connection between those who are saved in invincible ignorance and the dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus as it was known over the centuries.

 

Then in 1949 during the pontificate of Pope Pius XII Fr.Leonard Feeney was criticised in the Letter of the Holy Office for not acknowledging that being saved in invincible ignorance referred to visible, nameable and personally known cases now in Heaven who were saved without Catholic Faith and the baptism of water and so were exceptions to his strict interpretation of the dogma.

Pius IX assumes that those saved in invincible ignorance are relevant to the dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus and infers that these cases can be known to us. Then Pope Pius XII also assumes that these cases in Heaven are explicit for us and so the traditional interpretation of the dogma is affirmed and rejected at the same time.

 This objective error is then incorporated into Vatican Council II. The Council could infer ( if one is not careful to know that there is a choice) that those who are in invincible ignorance are known to us to be exceptions to the strict interpretation of the dogma.(No they are not known to us and cannot be exceptions to the dogma. They can only be possibilities saved with the baptism of water in a manner known only to God.)

Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium, 14: "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."

 Who knowing?

Who are these people?

Visible , nameable and personally known ?

 

Lumen Gentium 16 :'Those also can attain to salvation who through no fault of their own do not know the Gospel of Christ or His Church, yet sincerely seek God and moved by grace strive by their deeds to do His will as it is known to them through the dictates of conscience.

In other words this is a possibility and it is also an exception to the strict interpretation of the dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus?

 Who are these people who are in Heaven or going to be in Heaven this year without faith and baptism? They would have to be concrete to be exceptions to the dogma in the present times.It is only in the present times that there can be an exception.

For example there would have to be a case in 2015 as such for it to be an exception. If someone died without the baptism of water and the Church declares that person a saint, centuries back, then that person cannot be an exception to the dogma today in 2015.

A possibility which happened in the past cannot be an exception to the dogma today.

Assuming there are such persons how would we know who they are and how would they be exceptions to the strict interpretation of the dogma on salvation today ? They cannot be exceptions today. This would be thinking irrationally.

 Pope Pius IX (1846–1878) contributed to the confusion, irrationality and factual error now considered magisterial.It is  assumed in 2015 that there is salvation outside the Church i.e there are people in Heaven who can be saved and who were saved without faith and baptism and who are defacto exceptions in the present times.So every one it is inferred does not defacto have to be a formal member of the Church for salvation.

This error was made magisterial and public in the Letter of the Holy Office when Fr.Leonard Feeney was criticised for not being able to say that there were persons in Heaven saved without the faith and baptism and that they were known exceptions in 1949, to his strict interpretation of the dogma.Convoluted thinking! Irrational! How can we know of exceptions who are now in Heaven? How can they be exceptions on earth in the present times?

Pope John Paul II's Catechism of the Catholic Church, Redemptoris Missio, Dominus Iesus etc have accepted this irrational thinking.

-Lionel Andrades

1.

Pope Pius IX (1846–1878), Allocution Singulari quadam, December 9, 1854: "Not without sorrow we have learned that another error, no less destructive, has taken possession of some parts of the Catholic world, and has taken up its abode in the souls of many Catholics who think that one should have good hope of the eternal salvation of all those who have never lived in the true Church of Christ. Therefore, they are wont to ask very often what will be the lot and condition of those who have not submitted in any way to the Catholic faith, and, by bringing forward most vain reasons, they make a response favorable to their false opinion. Far be it from Us, Venerable Brethren, to presume on the limits of the divine mercy which is infinite; far from Us, to wish to scrutinize the hidden counsel and "judgements of God" which are "a great abyss" (Ps. 35.7) and cannot be penetrated by human thought. But, as is Our Apostolic Duty, we wish your episcopal solicitude and vigilance to be aroused, so that you will strive as much as you can to drive form the mind of men that impious and equally fatal opinion, namely, that the way of eternal salvation can be found in any religion whatsoever. May you demonstrate with skill and learning in which you excel, to the people entrusted to your care that the dogmas of the Catholic faith are in no wise opposed to divine mercy and justice.
"For, it must be held by faith that outside the Apostolic Roman Church, no one can be saved; that this is the only ark of salvation; that he who shall not have entered therein will perish in the flood; but, on the other hand, it is necessary to hold for certain that they who labor in ignorance of the true religion, if this ignorance is invincible, will not be held guilty of this in the eyes of God. Now, in truth, who would arrogate so much to himself as to mark the limits of such an ignorance, because of the nature and variety of peoples, regions, innate dispositions, and of so many other things? For, in truth, when released from these corporeal chains 'we shall see God as He is' (1 John 3.2), we shall understand perfectly by how close and beautiful a bond divine mercy and justice are united; but as long as we are on earth, weighed down by this mortal mass which blunts the soul, let us hold most firmly that, in accordance with Catholic teaching, there is "one God, one faith, one baptism" (Eph. 4.5); it is unlawful to proceed further in inquiry.
"But, just as the way of charity demands, let us pour forth continual prayers that all nations everywhere may be converted to Christ; and let us be devoted to the common salvation of men in proportion to our strength, 'for the hand of the Lord is not shortened' (Isa. 9.1) and the gifts of heavenly grace will not be wanting to those who sincerely wish and ask to be refreshed by this light."^[

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extra_Ecclesiam_nulla_salus