Catholic Treasures Books

"This Church, constituted and organized as a society in the present world, continues to exist (subsists) in the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the bishops in communion with him. Nevertheless, many elements of sanctification and of truth are found outside its visible confines." Lumen Gentium.

A) "We must mention another fruitful cause of evil by which the Church is afflicted at present [I like that: "the present world," and "at present"], namely: Indifferentism, that vicious ["vice-filled"] manner of thinking which holds that eternal salvation can be obtained by the profession of any faith, provided that a man's morals are good and decent. Seriously consider the testimony of the Savior that some are against Christ because they are not with Christ, that they scatter who do not gather with Him, and therefore without doubt they will perish in eternity unless they hold to the Catholic faith and observe it WHOLE and INVIOLATE." Pope Gregory XVI

B) "If anyone says that the condition of the faithful and that of those who have not yet come to the true faith is equal: let him be anathema." I Vatican Council

C) "Neither the true faith nor eternal salvation is to be found outside the Holy Catholic Church. Neither salvation nor sanctification can be found outside the Catholic Church. It is a SIN to believe that there is salvation outside the Castholic Church." Ven. Pope Pius IX

D) "All graces given to those outside the Church are given them for the purpose of bringing them inside the Church." St. Augustine

E) Right Reason: Can "elements" of salvation save anyone, or don't you have to meet the full requirements as commanded by the Voice of God, the Catholic Church? Can "parts" of truth suffice for the fullness of the Catholic Faith, or is all of it demanded of us, as the Church infallibly teaches? Moreover, did Jesus "constitute and organize" His Church on earth as a "society" or not, rather, as a Body -- His own continuing (subsisting) Body on earth? The latter has been defined; V2 contradicts this

"All men are called to this Catholic unity which prefigures and promotes universal peace, and in different ways belong to it, or are related to it: The Catholic faithful, others who believe in Christ, and finally all mankind, are called by God's grace to salvation. Lumen Gentium

A) "It is an error in a matter of divine truth to imagine the Church as invisible, by which many Christian communities, although they differ from each other in their faith, are united by a bond that is invisible to the senses. Pope Pius XII

B) "There is but one universal Church of the faithful, outside which no one at all can be saved." Lateran Council IV Pope Innocent III

C) "Faith in Christ cannot be maintained pure and unalloyed when it is not protected and supported by faith in the Church. Faith in Christ and faith in the Church stand together. If any man does not enter the Church, or if any man departs from her, he is far from the hope of life and salvation." Pope Pius XI

D) "Heretics and schismatics are excluded from the Church because they have separated from her and belong to her only as deserters belong to the army from which they have deserted." Catechism of Trent

E) Right Reason: To say that the Catholic Church only "promotes" a universal peace which She merely "prefigures" is to declare that such peace was not established in her from the beginning, and indeed that she has not found it herself. This contradicts the Mark of the Church which recognizes her as "Catholic," namely Universal. To argue that there is more than one way to belong to the true Church is to destroy another Mark called "One," that is: her unicity.

"Catechumens who, moved by the Holy Spirit, desire with an explicit intention to be incorporated into the Church, are by that very intention joined to her. With love and solicitude Mother Church already embraces them as her own." Lumen Gentium

A) "It does not suffice to believe. He who believes and is not yet baptized, but is only a Catechumen, has not yet fully acquired salvation." St. Thomas Aquinas

B) "Now, even the Catechumen believes in the Cross of the Lord Jesus, but unless he be baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, he cannot receive remission of his sins nor the gift of spiritual grace." St. Ambrose

C) "Without the Sacrament of Baptism, no one is ever justified. If anyone says that Baptism is optional, that is, not necessary for salvation: let him be anathema." Council of Trent

D) "Neither commemoration nor chanting is to be employed for catechumens who have died without Baptism." Council of Braga (Regional)

E) Right Reason: It is as impossible to be "joined" by our "intention" to the Church as it is impossible to have Electricity By Desire without actually plugging the cord into the socket. And no Catechumen can be "embraced as her own" by a Church which ushers them out of Mass before the Offertory, as is now done in the Novus Ordo around the world (I witnessed this at Sunday Mass in the Fort Worth cathedral). Point: if they were "joined" "already" and "embraced" as our "own," why were they not allowed to stay? The Movers and Shakers of V2 have self-destructed here.

"These Christians are indeed in some real way joined to us in the Holy Spirit for, by His gifts and graces, His sanctifying power is also active in them, and He has strengthened some of them even to the shedding of their blood." Lumen Gentium

A) "The Catholic Church alone is the Body of Christ, of which He is Head and Savior. We must always remember the unity of the Mystical Body outside which there is no salvation; for their is no entering into salvation outside the Church. Truth, grace, the Sacraments: all the certain norms for our journey to God come from the Church. The Catholic Church is the extension of Jesus Christ in time and space. Outside this Body the Holy Spirit does not give life to anyone. Those who are enemies ot unity do not participate in the charity of divine life; those outside the Church do not possess the Holy Spirit. A Christian must fear nothing so much as to be separated from the Body of Christ. If he is separated from Christ's Body, he is not one of His members; he is not fed by His Spirit." Pope Paul VI

B) "If those unwilling to be at agreement in the Church be slain outside the Church, they cannot attain to the rewards for the Church." Pope Pelagius II

C) "No one, even if he pour out his blood for the name of Christ, can be saved unless he remain within the bosom and unity of the Catholic Church." Council of Florence, Pope Eugene IV

D) Right Reason. The Holy Spirit cannot recognize members of the Body He gives life to who differ in faith, sacraments, or submission to spiritual authority for "He cannot deny Himself" (II Tim.2:13). The Holy Spirit cannot sanctify with the same Grace souls both inside and outside the Body of Jesus. Some are claimed to have shed their blood for Jesus, but this cannot be said to have come from the strength of the Holy Spirit of Truth, since it is the "right" to promote error they are defending. If they truly loved Jesus enough to die for Him, they would have been keeping His commandments (John 14:23), one of which is to be a member of His Church and receive Him in Holy Communion.

"The Moslems together with us adore the one merciful God." Lumen Gentium

A) "The Holy Catholic Church teaches that God cannot truly be adored except within its fold." Pope St. Gregory the Great

B) "The Catholic Church alone preserves true worship." Pope Pius XI

C) "A true worshipper is one whose mind has not been defiled with any false belief." Pope St. Leo the Great

D) Right Reason. No man can worship the one true God "together with us" if they do not share our one true faith. Islam teaches that Jesus is not God and that there is only one person in God; hence, they do not believe in the God we worship. Thus, they can in no way worship "with us" our God. A man cannot worship in any way that which he does not believe in, for the Law of Praying is the Law of Believing, and vice-versa. If they believe in a one-person deity, THAT is what they worship, and in no way "with us" can they worship the Holy Trinity, the Second Person of Which is a human being like us in all things but sin.

"The Moslems together with us adore the one merciful God." Lumen Gentium.

A) The Holy Catholic Church teaches that God cannot truly be adored except within its fold." Pope St. Gregory the Great

B) "The Catholic Church alone preserves true worship." Pope Pius XI

C) "A true worshipper is one whose mind has not been defiled with any false belief." Pope St. Leo the Great

D) Right Reason: No one can adore "together with us" a God they do not believe in (the Trinity). We cannot adore "together with" them a deity we do not believe in (one who permits four wives, as does the Koran).

"Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or of 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

A) "I confess that the Lord will give over by a very just judgment to the punishment of eternal and inextinguishable fire the wicked who either did not know by way of the Lord or, knowing it, left it when seized by various transgressions, in order that they may burn without end." Pope Pelagius I

B) "The saving grace of this religion, the only true religion, through which alone true salvation is truly promised, has never been refused to anyone who was worthy of it; and whoever did lack it was unworthy of it. Consequently, those who have not heard the Gospel, and those who, having heard it have not perservered; and those who, having heard it, have refused to come to Christ; that is, to believe in Him; ALL these have perished in death: they all go in a single lump to condemnation." St. Augustine

C) "It is error to believe that there is a natural justice whereby eternal life is promised for good works without any further qualification." Pope St. Pius V

D) "Acts which spring from natural goodness have only the appearance of virtue; they cannot last of themselves nor can they merit salvation." Pope St. Pius X

E) "He who is separated from the Body of the Catholic Church, however praiseworthy his conduct may seem otherwise, will never enjoy eternal life." Council of Cirta (Regional)

F) "For this is eternal life: that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ Whom Thou has sent" (John 17:3).

G) Right Reason: This error presupposes that a man of good will can go clear to death without finding the truth. This is contradicted by so many Councils and Popes and Scriptures they cannot here be catalogued, and fly in the face of God's mercy and justice (I Tim. 2:4). This error places man's conscience over God's will, and makes God Himself unknowable. This error asserts that God will give His grace to help a man lead a good life, but will not give it to help such a man find Him in His one true Church.

Nor shall divine providence deny the assistance necessary for salvation to those who, without any fault of theirs, have not yet arrived at any explicit knowledge of God and who, not without grace, strive to lead a good life. Lumen Gentium

A) Belief in God alone seems necessary by a necessity of means, not, however, explicit faith in a Rewarder. ERROR CONDEMNED. Pope St. Innocent XI

B) It would seem that man is not bound to believe anything explicitly, for no man is bound to do what is not in his power. On the contrary, it is written "He who comes to God must believe that He exists, and that he is a Rewarder to those who seek Him" (Heb.11:6). Therefore, as regards the primary points or articles of faith, man is bound to believe them just as he is bound to have the Faith. Both learned men and simple men are bound to EXPLICIT Faith in the mysteries of Christ, chiefly those publicly proclaimed and observed throughout the whole Church. St. Thomas Aquinas

C) The ruin of souls is wrought by this single cause: Ignorance of those most sublime truths, so far beyond the natural understanding of the multitutde, which nonetheless must be known by all men in order that they may attain eternal salvation. We positively maintain that the will of man cannot be upright, nor his conduct good, while his intellect is the slave of crass ignorance. This We solemnly affirm: the majority of those who are condemned to eternal punishment fall into this everlasting misfortune through ignorance of the mysteries of the Faith which must necessarily be known and believed by all who belong to the Elect. Pope St. Pius X

D) Whoever is separated from the Catholic Church, however praiseworthy his life may be in his own opinion, he shall for this very reason -- that he is at the same time separated from the unity of Christ -- NOT see life; rather the wrath of God abideth on him. In the Catholic Church there are both good and bad, but those who are separated from her cannot be good. For, though the speech of some of them appears commendable, nevetheless their very separation from the Church makes them bad according to Our Savior:"He who is not with Me is against Me" (Mt 12:30). St. Augustine

E) Right Reason: It is illogical to suggest that God in His Divine Providence will not deny the assistance necessary to be saved to those who lack the explicit knowledge of the one, true Faith while simultaneously denying them the assistance of this very knowledge. That V2 here explicitly do so suggest is irrefutable. BUT: the fact is, if this (and No.7) were accurately translated from the Latin (and I for one have never seen this done by any editor or translator), it might actually be acceptable: Here it is: "Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or of 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 -- they, too MAY achieve eternal salvation. Nor SHALL divine providence deny the assistance necessary for salvation to those who, without fault of their own, have NOT YET arrived at an explicit knowledge of God and who, not without grace, strive to lead a good life. Whatever of good or truth is found among them is considered by the Church to be a PREPARATION for the Gospel, given by Him Who enlightens all men so that they may AT LENGTH have life."

The Latin Subjunctive Mood is explicit here, denoting uncertainty, doubt, future condition, potentiality, and questionably doubtful. The words that God "shall" not deny such men grace (to those "not yet" in the Church) as a "preparation" for the Faith, so that, finally "at length" they MAY have life, etc., indicates clearly future potentiality. If then the phrase "they MAY obtain salvation ("they CAN obtain salvation" in Pope Paul VI's "Credo" wherein he is citing V2 here) is taken in its obvious future sense, no Catholic would question it at all. Interestingly, Lumen Gentium #16 ends with the infallible stipulation: "As many as believe and are baptized shall be saved; and as many as believe not will be condemned (Abbot, p.35; Flannery p.368).

Even though the Jewish authorities and those who followed their lead pressed for the death of Christ, neither all Jews indiscriminately at that time, nor Jews today, can be charged with the crimes committed during His passion. Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions, "Nostra Aetate," Oct. 28, 1965

A) You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Ghost. As your fathers behaved, so do you also. Which of the prophets have your fathers not persecuted? And they have slain them who foretold the coming of the Just One, of Whom you have now been the betrayers and murderers. Acts 7:51-52

B) The Jews, who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and have persecuted us, do not please God, and are enemies to all men; prohibiting us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they might be saved; to fill up their sin always: for the wrath of God has come upon them to the end. I Thess.2:14-16

C) Poor Jews! You invoked a dreadful curse upon your own heads in saying: "His blood be on us AND ON OUR CHILDREN!" (Mt.27:25); and that curse you carry upon you till this day, you miserable race, and to the end of time shall you endure the chastisement of that innocent Blood. St. Alphonsus Maria Liguori

D) The Lord made Cain a wanderer and fugitive over the earth, but set a mark upon him, lest anyone finding him might slay him. Thus the Jews, against whom the blood of Christ calls out, although they ought not be killed, nevertheless as wanderers they must remain upon the earth until their faces be filled with shame and they seek the name of Jesus Christ the Lord. Pope Innocent III

E) The Jews wander over the entire earth, their backs bent and their eyes cast downward, forever calling to our minds the curse they carry with them. St. Augustine

F) Right Reason: The Council's statement is an illogical construction of what is called in logic "A Straw Man" (or "Dodging the Issue") in that no one would ever consider all Jews "indiscrimately" guilty of the death of Jesus. His Mother was a Jew, as were all His first Apostles and disciples. There are also many Jews alive today who are devout Catholics, and there always have been since the Passion. Thus, the statement is erroneous.

Indeed, the Church deplores all hatreds, persecutions, displays of anti-semitism levelled at any time or from any source against the Jews. (same source as No.9).

A) Ungrateful for favors and forgetful of benefits, the Jews return insult for kindness and impious contempt for goodness granted. They ought to know the yoke of perpetual enslavement because of their guilt. See to it that the perfidious Jews never in the future grow insolent, but that in servile fear they always suffer publicly the shame of their sin. Pope Gregory IX

B) The crucifiers of Christ ought to be held in continual subjection. Pope Innocent III

C) It would be licit, according to custom, to hold the Jews in perpetual servitude because of their crime. St. Thomas Aquinas

D) Right Reasosn: The Church is the "pillar and ground of truth" according to Scripture; hence her official "display of anti-semitism" is not only worthwhile, good, and truthful, but necessary for a wholesome society. Meanwhile, one can logically hate the errors of the diabolical Jewish religion without necessarily hating (wishing Hellfire) for all Jews. My mother is a Jew named Mary, and my dearest friend is a Jew named Jesus.

Therefore, the Church reproves as foreign to the mind of Christ any discrimination against people or any harrassment on the basis of race, color, condition in life, or religion. (same source as No.9).

A) Let the Gospel be preached to the Jews, and if they remain obstinate, let them be expelled. Pope Leo VII B) If anyone does NOT condemn those who hold opinions similar to heretics and who have remained in their godlessness up till death: Let such a one be anathema. II Council of Constantinople (Ecumenical)

C) Those who have been detected, even by slight proof, to have deviated from the doctrine of the Catholic religion ought to fall under the classification of "heretic" and under the sentences operating against heretics. Pope Innocent IV

D) We decree that those who give credence to the teaching of heretics, as well as those who defend or patronize them, are excommunicated. If anyone refuses to avoid such accomplices after THEY have been ostracized by the Church, let them ALSO be excommunicated [let me interject here that this decree would reduce the Church back to that "little flock" Jesus speaks of]. For the defense of the Faith, secular authorities, whatever office they hold, ought to exterminate all heretics to the best of their ability. Whenever anyone assumes authority, whether spiritual or temporal, let him be bound to confirm this decree by oath. IV Lateran Council (Ecumenical)

E) Right Reason: Not to "discriminate" against false religions is the height of the heresy called Indifferentism (or "Americanism" in the USA). These heresies have been condemned. Therefore, so is V2 in this truly illogical statement.

One cannot charge with the sin of separation those at present born into communities separated from full communion with the Catholic Church and, in them, brought up in the faith of Christ; and the Catholic Church accepts them with respect and affection as brothers. For, men who believe in Christ and have been properly baptized are put in some, though imperfect, communion with the Catholic Church. Decree on Ecumenism, "Unitatis Redintegratio," Nov. 21, 1964

A) Since it is recognized that it is extremely rare to find men entirely devoid of religious sense, some people entertain the hope that nations, in spite of their differing religious viewpoints, may be brought to unite as brothers in the profession of certain doctrines as a common foundation of the spiritual life. Certainly, such efforts as these cannot receive the approval of Catholics, for they rest on the false opinion which regards any religion whatsoever to be more-or-less praiseworthy and good. Those who hold this opinion are in grave error; they even debase the concept of the true religion and lapse, little by little, into naturalism and atheism. Pope Pius XI

B) It is error to believe that Protestantism is nothing other than a different form of the same true Christian religion, in which it is permitted to please God equally as in the Catholic Church. There is no equality between the condition of those who have adhered to Catholic truth by the gift of Faith and of those who follow a false religion. Venerable Pope Pius IX

C) Christ is one and His Church is one; one is the Faith, and one the people cemented together into the strong unity of a Body. That unity cannot be split nor cut up into fragments. Nothing that is separated from the parent stock can ever live or breathe apart - ALL hope of its salvation is lost. If a person calls himself a "Christian," the Devil too often calls himself "Christ" -- and is a liar! Just as the Devil is not Christ, so likewise a man cannot be taken as a Christian if he does not abide in Christ's Gospel and in the true Faith. St. Cyprian, Doctor of the Church

D) Children baptized in other communions cease to be members of the Church when, after reaching the age of reason, they make formal profession of heresy; as, for example, by receiving communion in a non-Catholic church. St. Augustine

E) Right Reason: Not being able to "charge with the sin of separation those at present born" into non-Catholic communities is once again the Illogic of A Straw Man, a Dodge. It is synechdotal irrationality, trying to force a judgment of adult heretics into that of innocent new-borns. As St. Augustine points out, such newly-born souls are guilty of no sin at all, except the Original (and then only if unbaptized) until such time as they reach the use of reason and commit their first sin. Saint Cyrpian sufficiently and rationally destroys the V2 error about "full" communion in the Church of heretics, their possibility of "imperfect" communion and possession of the Faith.

All who have been justified by Faith in Baptism are incorporated into Christ: they therefore have a right to be called Christians, and with good reason are accepted as brothers by the children of the Catholic Church. (same source as No.12)

A) Who is to be called a Christian? He who confesses the doctrine of Jesus Christ IN HIS CHURCH. Hence, he who is truly a Christian thoroughly detests all cults and sects found OUTSIDE the doctrine and OUTSIDE the Church of Christ, everywhere and among all peoples, as for example the Jewish, the Mohammedan, and the heretical cults and sects [of Protestants]. St. Peter Canisius, SJ, Doctor of the Church

B) Christianity is incarnate in the Catholic Church; it is IDENTIFIED with that perfect and spiritual society which has the Roman Pontiff for its visible head. Pope Leo XIII

C) We declare, say, define, and pronounce that it is absolutely necessary for the salvation of every human creature to be subject to the Roman Pontiff. Pope Boniface VIII

D) No one is our brother unless he has the same Father we do [see no. C]. St. Jerome, Father and Doctor of the Church

E) In NO way can men be counted among the children of God unless they take the Church for their Mother. Pope Leo XIII

F) No one can have God for his Father if he does not have the Church for his Mother. One cannot love Christ without loving the Church which Christ loves. The spirit of the Church is the spirit of Christ, and to the extent to which one loves the Church of Christ does he possess the Holy Spirit. Pope John Paul II

G) Right Reason: To declare "All who have been justified by Faith in Baptism" is seriously to Beg The Question, an error in Logic. For as St. Thomas and theologians in general (and Trent specifically and infalllibly) state: no one who rejects an iota of the Faith can be justified (in the State of Grace). And no one can be in the Mystical Body of Christ without actual reception of the Sacrament of (Water) Baptism, as Pius XII points out in his Encyclical of the same name. Hence, only those who have not yet reached the use of reason, and who are validly baptized, "are incorporated into Christ" and "therefore have a right to be called Christians, and with good reason are accepted as brothers by the children of the Catholic Church" -- for the simple reason that they are fully Catholic. An infant cannot be validly baptized a Protestant, for he protests nothing yet. All infants validly baptized outside the Church are genuinely Catholics.

The life of grace, faith, hope, and charity, with the other interior gifts of the Holy Spirit can exist outside the visible boundaries of the Catholic Church. (same source as No.12)

A) As Christ is the head of the Church, so is the Holy Ghost her soul. ONLY those are really to be included as members of the Church who have been baptized and who profess the true Faith and who have not unhappily withdrawn from the Body or, for grave reasons, been excluded by legitimate authority. It follows that those who are divided in faith or in government cannot be living in one Body such as this, and cannot be living the life of its one Divine Spirit. Pius XII

B) Outside this Body, the Holy Spirit gives life to NO ONE; those outside the Church do not possess the Holy Spirit. The Catholic Church alone is the Body of Christ, and if a man be separated from the Body of Christ he is not one of His members nor is he fed by His Spirit. Pope Paul VI

C) If a member be cut off ... his life is lost. The Spirit does not follow the amputated member ... Outside the Church you can find everything except salvation: you can have dignities, Sacraments, the Gospels, the faith - and preach it, too! - but never can you find salvation except in the Catholic Church. St. Augustine

D) Right Reason: Pope Pius XII's rebuttal above suffices. It is said today that Protestants have degenerated into more than 20,000 differing sects. The solitary thing they do not differ on is their mutual rejection of the Roman Catholic Church.

The brethren divided from us also carry out many liturgical actions of the Christian religion. These actions most certainly can truly engender a life of grace and, one must say, can aptly give access to the communion of salvation. (same source as No.12)

A) By means of religious Indifferentism, crafty men deceitfully pretend that people can attain eternal salvation in the practice of any religion, as though there could be any fellowship of light with darkness. These men conclude that not only sons of the Church but also others, however estranged they may remain from Catholic unity, are equally on the road to salvation and are able to achieve everlasting life. Words fail Us from utter HORROR in detesting and abhorring this new and terrible insult! Ven. Pope Pius IX

B) The Church alone has the legitimate worship of sacrifice and the salutary use of the Sacraments. Hence, to possess true holiness, we must belong to her and embrace her, like those who entered the Ark to escape perishing in the Flood. Catechism of Trent

C) The Holy Catholic Church teaches that God cannot be adored except within her fold; she affirms that all those who are separated from her will not be saved. Pope St. Gregory the Great.

D) No one is as far from the Pasch of the Lord as heretics. They can have no part with Him who are enemies of this saving Mystery. For they deny the Gospel and contradict the Creed, and they cannot celebrate the Paschal Feast with us. And though they dare to claim the name of "Christian," nevertheless every creature whose Head is Christ scorns them. Pope St. Leo the Great

E) Right Reason: Scripture assures us that "The Devil appears as a minister of light," but neither he nor his Protestant clergymen are true Christians just because they "also carry out many liturgical actions of the Christian religion." To argue this way is to Beg The Question.

In certain circumstances, it is allowable, indeed desirable, that Catholics join in prayer with their separated brethren. (same source as No.12)

A) No one must either pray nor sing psalms with heretics, and whosoever shall communicate with those who are cut off from the communion of the Church, whether clergy or layman: Let him be excommunicated. Council of Carthage (Regional)

B) If any clergyman or layman shall go into the synagogue of the Jews or to the meetings of heretics to join in prayer with them, let them be deposed and deprived of Communion. III Council of Constantinople (Ecumenical)

C) That the faithful and clergy should pray for Christian unity under the leadership of heretics can in no way be tolerated. Ven. Pope Pius IX

D) Is it permitted for Catholics to be present at, or take part in, conventions, gatherings, meetings, or societies of non-Catholics which aim to associate together under a single agreement all who in any way lay claim to the name of Christian? In the negative! It is clear, therefore, why this Apostolic See has never allowed its subjects to take part in the assemblies of non-Catholics. There is only one way in which the unity of Christians may be fostered, and that is by furthering the return to the one true Church of Christ of those who are separated from her. Pope Pius XI

E) Right Reason: This error of the Council is an immediate derivation from their error that non-Catholics such as Mohammedans and Protestants worship the same God we do. That prayer with them is forbidden proves that we do not, for one cannot worship by prayer that which he does not truly believe in. The God of Protestants, for example, permits birth control and abortion; for us to pray along with them to this god is blasphemy logically. Of course, for Catholics pastors to join "Ministerial Unions" of Protestant ministers; for military or hospital chaplains to join in prayer with non-Catholics; for Catholic Charismatics to join in prayer with non-Catholic Charismatics; for ... you get the idea -- these are all grievous offenses against the One True God and against the Mark of Unicity of His One True Church.

The special position of the Eastern churches: These churches though separated from us nevertheless possess true Sacraments, whereby they are still joined to us in closest intimacy. Therefore, some worship in common is not merely possible, but is encouraged. (same source as No.12)

A) No one shall pray in common with heretics or schismatics. Council of Laodicea (Regional)

B) God will have the Paraclete [Holy Spirit] only in those who worship Him in perfect Faith. St. Cyril of Alexandria

C) Outside the unity of Faith and Love which makes us sons and members of the Church, no one can be saved; hence, if the Sacraments are received outside the Church, they are NOT effective for salvation even though they are true Sacraments. However, they can become useful if one returns to Holy Mother the Church, whose sons ALONE Christ considers worthy of eternal inheritance. St. Bonaventure, Doctor of the Church

D) Right Reason: Again, we would be worshipping by prayer a god who allows rejection of the Pope. This is blasphemy.

The separated churches and ecclesiastical communities in the West: A love and reverence of Holy Scripture leads our brethren to a constant and diligent study of the Sacred Text. For the Gospel "is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith" (Ro.1:16). (same source as No.12)

A) If anyone says that a man who is justified and however perfect is not bound to observe the Commandments of God AND OF HIS CHURCH, but only to believe, as though the Gospel were a bare and absolute promise of eternal life without the condition of observing the Commandments: let him be anathema. Council of Trent

B) Bear well in mind that, as the Fathers of the Church teach in numerous passages, the sense of Holy Scripture can be found nowhere incorrupt outside the Catholic Church. Pope Leo XIII

C) Take away the authority of the Church and neither Divine Revelation nor natural reason itself is of any use, for each of them may be interpreted by every individual according to his own caprice. From this accursed liberty of conscience has arisen the immense variety of heretical and atheistic sects. If you take away obedience to the Church, there is NO error which will not be embraced. St. Alphonsus Maria Liguori, Doctor of the Church (the last to die).

D) There can be nothing more dangerous than those heretics who admit nearly the entire cycle of Catholic doctrine and yet, BY A SINGLE WORD, as with a DROP of poison, infect the real and simple faith taught by Our Lord and handed down by Apostolic Tradition. For such is the nature of the Faith that nothing can be more absurd than to accept SOME things and to reject OTHERS. If, then, it be certain that ANY thing is revealed by God, and this is not believed, then NO thing whatever is believed by Divine Faith. But he who dissents even in ONE POINT from divinely-revealed Truth ABSOLUTELY rejects ALL faith. You, who believe what you like of the Gospels, believe yourselves rather than the Gospels. Pope Leo XIII

D) Right Reason: Since no non-Catholic "has the faith" (Ro.1:16), then the Gospel is not "the power of God for their salvation." If they truly were "diligent in its study," they would see the necessity of membership in the Catholic Church (Acts 2:47, etc.); then, if they genuinely had "a love and reverence" for the Author of the Gospels, they would yield to His grace and come into that Church to save their souls. The Council here Begs The Question of their faith and love, thus erring against Logic.

By the Sacrament of Baptism, whenever it is properly conferred in the way the Lord determined [what! No Baptism of Desire?], and received with the proper disposition of soul, man becomes truly incorporated into Christ and is born to a sharing of the divine life. (same source as No.12)

A) If anyone says that baptized persons are freed from all the Precepts of Holy Church, either those contained in Scripture or handed down by Tradition, so that they are not bound to observe them unless of their own accord they wish to submit themselves to these Precepts: Let him be anathema. Council of Trent (Ecumenical)

B) Do not all those who are baptized belong to the Church? Yes, but membership in the Church requires conditions OTHER than Baptism alone: it requires IDENTICAL Faith and UNITY of communion. Pope Paul VI

C) Besides a desire to be baptized, Faith is also necessary to obtain the grace of the Sacrament [of Baptism]. Our Lord said: "He who believes and is baptized shall be saved" (Mk 16:16). Catechism of Trent

D) The Church is one, unified, and articulated after the maner of a physical body. Therefore, whosoever is not joined to the Body is NOT a member of it, and is NOT in union with Christ its Head. Pope Pius XI

E) The Church gives us to understand that some people can receive Baptism outside her, but that NO one can either receive or possess salvation outside her; for, outside the Church there is no remission of sins. St. Augustine

F) A person would be deceiving himself by the fact that he had been re-bornof water. The branch that has been cut from the vine resembles any other branch, but what does its [outward] form avail if it does not live off the root? Pope Gregory XVI

G) Whether in the Catholic Church or in any heretical or schismatical church, if anyone receives the Sacrament of Baptism, he receives it intact; but he will not have salvation if he received that Sacrament outside the Catholic Church. Eternal life can never in any way be obtained by one who, with the Sacrament of Baptism, remains a stranger to the Catholic Church. Hold most firmly, and do not doubt at all, that the Sacrament of Baptism can exist among heretics, but that outside the Catholic Church it cannot be of profit. For the unity of this ecclesiastical society is of such value for salvation that he is not saved by Baptism to whom it has not been administered where it ought to have been. Hold most firmly, and do not doubt at all, that everyone baptized outside the Catholic Church cannot be made a partaker of eternal life is before the end of this earthly life he does not return to the Catholic Church and become incorporated with it. St. Fulgentius

H) Right Reason: No one can possess "the proper disposition of soul" while in the act of being baptized into a non-Catholic religion, unless that person is without the use of reason at the time. My grandmother was baptized a Methodist and, thirty minutes later, dropped dead. I wouldn't give you a plug nickel for her chances of having escaped an eternity in Hell-fire. Voltaire, on the other hand, died screaming for a priest (for hours and hours), which his Masonic companions adamantly refused him. Like St. John Bosco, I agree that Voltaire might have saved his soul.

The Christian way of life of these [Protestant] brethren is nourished by Faith in Christ. It is strengthened by the grace of Baptism and by hearing the Word of God. (same source as No.12)

A) It is impossible to understand the Divine Word outside the Church. St. Hilary of Poitiers, Father and Doctor of the Church.

B) Neither the true Faith nor eternal salvation is to be found outside the Holy Catholic Church. Ven. Pope Pius IX

C) He who does not embrace the teaching of the Church does not have the Habit of Faith. Neither formed nor formless faith remains in a heretic who disbelieves ONE SINGLE article of Faith. All who deny one article of Faith, regardless of their reason, are by that very fact excommunicated. St. Thomas Aquinas

D) He who does not believe according to the Tradition of the Catholic Church is an unbeliever. St. John Damascene, Father and Doctor of the Church

E) A man cannot be taken for a Christian who does not abide in Christ's Gospel and in the true Faith. St. Cyprian

F) Right Reason: Jesus said: "I am THE way," therefore there cannot be "a Christian way of life" nourished by heresy or by the denial of a single article of Faith. There can be no "grace of Baptism" for any soul who receives Baptism while concomitantly denying an article of Faith.

It is through his conscience that man sees and recognizes the demands of the Divine Law. He is bound to follow this conscience faithfully in all his activity so that he may come to God. Therefore, he must not be forced to act contrary to his conscience, nor must he be prevented from acting according to his conscience. Declaration on Religious Freedom, "Dignitatis Humanae," December 12, 1965

A) That it is right for each individual to follow with tranquil soul what is acceptable to his own religious creed makes the divine establishment of the Church of no consequence. The true Church of Jesus Christ was established by divine authority and is known by a four-fold Mark which must be believed. No other Church is Catholic except the one founded on Peter and on his successors in the Chair of Rome. Especially fatal to the salvation of souls is that erroneous opinion that Liberty of Conscience and Liberty of Worship is the proper right of every man. By Our Apostolic authority, we reject, proscribe, and condemn this evil opinion. Ven. Pope Pius IX

B) Right Reason: If my conscience and my religion teach me that it is all right to commit murder (as various pagan religions do, teaching their adherents cannibalism, etc.), does that help me "come to God" or should I "be prevented from acting" according to this conscience and this perverse religion by the local police department?

Religious communities have the right not to be prevented from publicly teaching and bearing witness to their beliefs by the spoken or written word. (same source as 21)

A) The accursed perversity of heretics has so increased that now they exercise their wickedness not in secret but manifest their error publicly, and win over the simple and weak to their opinion. For this reason, We resolve to cast them, their defenders, and their receivers under anathema, and We forbid under anathema that anyone presume to help heretics or to do business with them. III Lateran Council (Ecumenical)

B) It is insanity to believe that Freedom of Conscience and Freedom of Worship are the inalienable rights of every citizen. From this foul-smelling fountain of Indifferentism flows the erroneous and absurd opinion -- or, rather, MADNESS -- that freedom of conscience must be asserted and vindicated for everyone. This most pestilential error opens the door to the complete and immoderate liberty of opinions which works such widespread harm both in Church and State. Pope Gregory XVI

C) Right Reason: Cannibals should not be allowed on street corners. Ask yourself this: If it is OK to permit a man to murder his mother, what do I do if that man is my brother? Honor his "right" to kill Mom, or defend to the death my Mom?

If special civil recognition is given to one religious community in the constitutional organization of the State, the right of all citizens and religious communities to religious freedom must be recognized and respected. (same source as No.21)

A) In this age of ours, it is no longer expedient that the Catholic religion be the only religion of the State, to the exclusion of all other cults whatsoever. ERROR CONDEMNED by Ven. Pope Pius IX

B) In certain regions of Catholic name, it has been praiseworthily sanctioned by law that men immigrating there be allowed to have public exercises of any form of worhsip of their own. ERROR CONDEMNED by Ven. Pope Pius IX

C) For it is false that the civil liberty of every cult, and likewise the full power granted to all men to manifest openly and publicly any kind of opinions and ideas, more easily leads to the corruption of morals and minds of men, and to the spread of the evil of Indifferentism. ERROR CONDEMNED by Ven. Pope Pius IX

D) The power of Christ over all nations has begun to be denied; hence, the right of the Church to teach the human race, to pass laws, and to rule for the purpose of leading people especially to eternal salvation, which exists from the very right of Christ, has been denied. Then, indeed, little by little, the religion of Christ was placed on the same level with false religions, and put in the same class most shamefully; it was then subjected to the civil power and almost given over to the authority of rulers and magistrates. We call this plague of our age Laicism, with its errors and nefarious effects. Pope Pius XI

E) Right Reason: First, note that the State is granted leave to possess a "constitutional organization" rather than the traditional monarchical organization. This is an insidious example of Begging The Question. The most serious error is to put the true Faith and Worship on the same level with cannibals and (worse) Protestants.

It is fully in accordance with the nature of faith that in religious matters every form of coercion by men should be excluded. (same source as No.21)

A) I pray to God that some of us, as high as we seem to sit, treading heretics under our feet like ants, live not to see the day that we would gladly wish to be at league and composed with them; to let them have their churches quietly to themselves so that they would be content to let us have ours quietly to ourselves. I entirely detest heretics and, as Magistrate, do promise assiduously to perform my duty in investigating them. Heresy is a kind of treason, and if a heretic persisteth in his false belief, he may be handed over to be burned. [This is the essence of Liberalism, a condemned heresy] St. Thomas More.

B) That it is againsts the will of the Spirit to burn heretics [at the stake] is condemned as false. Pope Leo X

C) Even if my own father were a heretic, I would gather the wood to burn him at the stake. Pope Paul IV

D) The only way to argue with a blasphemer is by running your sword through his bowels, as far as it will go. St. Louis, King of France

E) Right Reason: No man should be forced to become Catholic, but all men should be forcibly restrained from attacking the Faith in any fashion. Otherwise, it logically follows that either the Faith is not true or that Truth is not worth fighting for. That greatest of prophets of the Old Law, St. Elias, gave us perhaps the greatest object lesson when he did not hesitate to order the killing of 450 ministers of false religions (III Kings 18:40).

The human person is to be guided by his own judgment and to enjoy freedom. (same source as 21).

A) By the fact that freedom of all forms of worship is proclaimed, truth is confused with error, and the Holy and Immaculate Spouse of Christ, outside which there is no salvation, is placed on the same level with heretical sects and even with Jewish perfidy. Pope Pius VII

B) That every man is free to embrace and to profess whatever religion his reason approves of is hereby condemned as ERROR. Ven. Pope Pius IX

C) What more deadly evil could there be for a soul than freedom to be in error? Pope Leo XIII

D) If a person wants to save his soul, all he has to do is examine his conscience against the everlasting teachings of the Church. Outside this true Catholic Faith, no one can be saved, SO HELP ME GOD! Pope John XXIII

E) Right Reason: Anyone who cannot see that this error of Vatican Council II is DIAMETRICALLY opposed to (B), the error formally and officially condemned as such by Venerable Pope Pius IX is simply of bad will. You can lead a mule to water, but you cannot make him drink. Saint Paul wrote Timothy: "God wills all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of truth" -- and the ONLY thing in human creation which can frustrate God's will of bringing a man to the truth is that man's own bad will.

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