Tuesday, October 30, 2012

The Necessity of the Church for Salvation

It seems like we're starting to hear more about the issues of heaven and hell, and salvation depending on the Church. 

Even Cardinal Donald Wuerl, in his address at the recently concluded Synod on the New Evangelization, commented on the issue (in Latin, no less!):

The New Evangelization must provide a clear theological explanation for the necessity of the Church for salvation. This is a sensitive aspect of our preaching and too often has been neglected in catechesis. Rampant in much of the revival culture of today is the sentiment that salvation is achieved through a relationship with Jesus apart from the Church. But what needs to be emphasized and demonstrated is that Christ meets man wherever he is, in and through the presence of the Church. (my emphases)
  
This video from Catholic News Service shares some insights from Ralph Martin, about whom I know very little; apparently he was an "official expert" at the Synod. I can't say that I agree with his sweeping positive statements about Vatican II; still, he makes some good points about how some of what was written about ecumenism resulted in confusion for Catholics concerning the necessity of the Church for salvation. 




13 comments:

  1. There is NO SALVATION outside of the Holy Catholic Church which is the Church Jesus Christ founded and passed on through His Apostles and giving the Keys to Peter , Our First Pope: Thanks be God
    Now if we can get people to actually Believe that . The Holy Catholic Church is our means to Eternal Salvation!

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  2. I listened to Ralph Martin and the clip that you share here...very enlightening .
    Vatican II is the pastoral council that bears no good fruit , well not much at all , I suppose !
    I would suggest people read the Oath Against Modernism ..it is an eye opener . We don't embrace other religions , we are to evangelize and CONVERT people to the complete TRUTH...to the Holy Catholic Church ! Let us do just that ...speak the TRUTH !

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  3. Jeannie - it is interesting, isn't it, that he makes all those glowing statements about how so much "good" came out of the Council, but then he has no problem showing us a prime example of how the Council confused issues with double-speak. There ARE good things said in those documents, but the problem is, those good things are undermined by the vague and ambiguous language used. And in some places there seem to be blatant contradictions.

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  4. Unless Wuerl has had some kind of conversion since last March (when he humiliated and persecuted a good priest merely for doing his duty to protect the Blessed Sacrament from profanation) I wouldn't give you two cents for his statement.

    He is a posturing viper.

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  5. I don't think that this blog is very helpful in keeping me in the Church. All I read here are posts containing things that made me leave in the first place. This is one of those posts that activates that little voice in my brain "What if they are right after all?"

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  6. I am not sure if you aware of this web site , I came across this and found it profound : It is from Catholic Family News . org and written by John Vennari : the name of the article is Common Mission and "Significant Silence" found in their archived articles.
    He states : The Council of Florence teaches INFALLIBLY "The Most Holy Roman Church firmly believes, professes, and preaches that none of those existing outside of the Catholic Church not only pagans but also Jews, heretics, schimatics can ever be partakers of eternal life , but they are to go into the eternal fire of the devil and his angels, unless before death they are joined with Her! Thus the Council of Florence defined is INFALLIBLE and TRUE for all time. Even a Pope cannot alter it ! Dear friends I did not know this and that is why I am sharing it with you! Please let us understand and know the TRUTH and be knowledgeable with Our Dogma's and Doctrines .

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  7. Jeanne, thank you. I am aware of Catholic Family News and have been since its inception as a Catholic periodical. It was initially run by a man that lives in Seattle.

    Now you see why people left after VII - we know all of what the Church used to teach. All of a sudden, She was saying the opposite.

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  8. Stay tuned, Lorraine! Stay in the Church. I have a post in the works that addresses more of the SSPX type issues. Yes, there's a lot wrong, but if we give up and say that the Church is no longer the Church, we really have nothing left and are no better off than Protestants.

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  9. YES I agree Dr. Jay!
    Stay in the CHURCH , the True Vine and True Ark!
    We must Love Holy Mother Church , the Holy Catholic Church!
    She ( The Church ) needs us to stay loyal to Her and Her teachings and Tradition ...God will bring this all back around and the TRUTH and the Remnant will reign forever with Christ!
    Let us not be discouraged or give up HOPE...Never !

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  10. Dr. Jay, Lorraine and Miss Jeanne,

    Under the category of "For your discernment":

    Please consider reading the following article by Fr. Peter Stravinskas. It delves into the topic at hand and may give you a better understanding of the doctrine of EENS (or NSOtC [wink]). :)

    http://catholiceducation.org/articles/apologetics/ap0155.html

    God love you,
    CK

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  11. Dear CK,
    The only article I see written by Fr. Peter is on the NEW MISSAL: is this the article that you want us to read on the link you gave us!

    I am little confused : sorry !

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    1. I don't know, Miss Jeanne. Whenever I cut and paste it in the address box at the top - it goes right to the article.

      Try this on a Google search:

      Can Outsiders Be Insiders? FR. PETER STRAVINSKAS

      Look for a link to catholiceducation.org and you should see it.

      Best wishes and happy All Hallows Eve to you and all!
      CK

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  12. SUCCESS CK : I googled it and poof there it was .
    GREAT ARTICLE , I am going to have to read it a few times but I think I got the message .
    Nothing has changed , the doctrine is still the same , the Holy Catholic Church has not changed it doctrine on this topic .
    Let us pray that all mankind will embrace the complete TRUTH found only in the Holy Roman Catholic Church !
    I am truly concerned for my 4 adult children who have all left the Catholic Church ...God have mercy on them and I pray for their daily conversion back to HIS CHURCH !

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