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Prodigal Daughter
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| Joined: | Wed Nov 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania USA |
| Posts: | 203 |
| First Name: | Deborah/PD | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Baptized Catholic, received First Communion, left during Confirmation year. ... |
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Posted: Wed Jul 11th, 2007 12:59 am |
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By John Thavis
Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- In a brief document, the Vatican's doctrinal congregation reaffirmed that the Catholic Church is the one, true church, even if elements of truth can be found in separated churches and communities.
Touching an ecumenical sore point, the document said some of the separated Christian communities, such as Protestant communities, should not properly be called "churches" according to Catholic doctrine because of major differences over the ordained priesthood and the Eucharist.
The Vatican released the text July 10. Titled "Responses to Some Questions Regarding Certain Aspects of the Doctrine on the Church," it was signed by U.S. Cardinal William J. Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and approved by Pope Benedict XVI before publication.
In a cover letter, Cardinal Levada asked the world's bishops to do all they can to promote and present the document to the wider public.
The text was the latest chapter in a long-simmering discussion on what the Second Vatican Council intended when it stated that the church founded by Christ "subsists in the Catholic Church," but that elements of "sanctification and truth" are found outside the Catholic Church's visible confines.
The related discussion over the term "churches" surfaced publicly in 2000, when the doctrinal congregation -- then headed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict -- said the term "sister churches" was being misused in ecumenical dialogue.
In a format of five questions and answers, the new document stated that Vatican II did not change Catholic doctrine on the church. It said use of the phrase "subsists in" was intended to show that all the elements instituted by Christ endure in the Catholic Church.
The sanctifying elements that exist outside the structure of the Catholic Church can be used as instruments of salvation, but their value derives from the "fullness of grace and truth which has been entrusted to the Catholic Church," it said, quoting from Vatican II's "Decree on Ecumenism."
The text said the Second Vatican Council used the term "church" in reference to Orthodox churches because, although separated from the Catholic Church, they have preserved apostolic succession, the ordained priesthood and the Eucharist. Nevertheless, they "lack something in their condition as particular churches" because they are not in union with the pope, it said.
The Christian communities born out of the Reformation, on the other hand, do not enjoy apostolic succession -- the unbroken succession of bishops going back to St. Peter -- and therefore "cannot, according to Catholic doctrine, be called 'churches' in the proper sense," it said.
In his cover letter, Cardinal Levada said the document came in response to critical reactions to the teaching of "Dominus Iesus," another doctrinal congregation document of 2000, which said the Catholic Church was necessary for salvation, and to ongoing confusion over interpretations of the phrase "subsists in."
An authoritative commentary published July 10 in the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, said the congregation had acted to protect the unity and uniqueness of the church. The document, the commentary said, took aim at the notion that the "church of Christ" was "the sum total of the churches or the ecclesial communities" or that it exists only as a future goal.
"If this were the case, the church of Christ would not any longer exist in history, or would exist only in some ideal form emerging either through some future convergence or through the reunification of the diverse sister churches," it said.
What Vatican II intended was to recognize ecclesial elements in non-Catholic communities, it said.
"It does not follow that the identification of the church of Christ with the Catholic Church no longer holds, nor that outside the Catholic Church there is a complete absence of ecclesial elements, a 'churchless void,'" it said.
The council's wording does not signify that the Catholic Church has ceased to regard itself as the one true church of Christ but that it recognizes that true ecclesial realities exist beyond its own visible boundaries, it said.
Regarding the doctrinal congregation's insistence that communities originating from the Reformation are not churches, the article said:
"Despite the fact that this teaching has created no little distress in the communities concerned and even among some Catholics, it is nevertheless difficult to see how the title of 'church' could possibly be attributed to them, given that they do not accept the theological notion of the church in the Catholic sense and that they lack elements considered essential to the Catholic Church."
The commentary said that, at first glance, Catholic ecumenism might seem somewhat paradoxical, because it holds that the Catholic Church has the "fullness" of the means for salvation, but recognizes the value of elements in other churches.
The Catholic Church's teaching, it said, is that the fullness of the church "already exists, but still has to grow in the brethren who are not yet in full communion with it and also in its own members who are sinners."
U.S. Dominican Father J. Augustine Di Noia, undersecretary of the doctrinal congregation, said the document does not call into question Pope Benedict's pledge to work for ecumenical progress.
"The church is not backtracking on its ecumenical commitment. But ... it is fundamental to any kind of dialogue that the participants are clear about their own identity," he told Vatican Radio.
Father Di Noia said the document touches on a very important experiential point: that when people go into a Catholic church and participate in Mass, the sacraments and everything else that goes on there, they will find "everything that Christ intended the church to be."
END
Source: http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0703923.htm
There are several positive aspects of this announcement which make me think it is truly a "beautiful thing."
1.) It tells our separated brethren in no uncertain terms that they truly are separated from the fullness of truth. If no one told me that, I never would have considered returning to the CC.
2.) It tells Catholics who consider the CC just another "Christian denomination" that what they are a part of is something better than they could ever have imagined. If I had been told that at an early age maybe I would have left the CC.
3.) It recognizes "that elements of 'sanctification and truth' are found outside the Catholic Church's visible confines." This will provide great opportunities for affirming our separated brethren in the truths which they believe while at the same time sharing the beauty and fullness that we have (and they can have) in the CC.
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"Man should tremble, the world should vibrate, all Heaven should be deeply moved when the Son of God appears on the altar in the hands of the priest."
St. Francis of Assisi
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CajunRick
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Posted: Wed Jul 11th, 2007 01:10 am |
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Let me point out that there is absolutely nothing new in this document. It reiterates Church teaching regarding the relationship between the Catholic Church and other ecclesial communities. This teaching is unchanged since the Council of Trent, but the language used has been "modernized" to make it positive rather than negative. In other words, we now stress the commonalities rather than the differences, but the differences still remain.
We have been very careful on the forum to use the word "Church" only in referring to the Catholic Church and those Churches that have true sacraments: The Orthodox and Oriental Churches, the Assyrian Church of the East, and the Polish National Church.
We use the term "church" (lower case) to refer to church buildings, whether Catholic or something else.
And we use the terms "ecclesial communities" and "faith communities" to refer to Protestant congregations.
This has been the practice in the Catholic Church since Vatican II, and is the way the terms are used in the Catechism. We may have slipped up from time to time, but that is the general rule we have followed. And the document released today merely reiterates existing Church teaching, language, and practice.
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Darlene
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| Joined: | Mon Oct 9th, 2006 |
| Location: | Pocono Mountains, Pennsylvania USA |
| Posts: | 868 |
| First Name: | Darlene | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Christian, trusting His love and forgiveness |
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Posted: Wed Jul 11th, 2007 01:17 am |
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Excellent article. It's very clear and precise in the points it is making. This article makes it clear just how charitable the Catholic faith really is. On the other hand, many Evangelical Protestants don't even consider Catholics to be Christians. 
On this note, last night I was cleaning out our desk. What should I happen to find, but another Chick Tract. More vestiges of my anti-Catholic past. :?
Darlene
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The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. II Corinthians 13:14
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Steven Barrett
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| Joined: | Tue Nov 14th, 2006 |
| Location: | Hadley, Absurdistan, AKA , Massachusetts USA |
| Posts: | 1566 |
| First Name: | Steven | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Catholic, Episcopal communicant, Baptist, Catholic |
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Posted: Wed Jul 11th, 2007 01:49 am |
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Darlene, when you get around to it, find a big metal coffee can, and burn the Chick tract in a home-made auto da fe, then dump the remains or ashes in an appropriate place. Best yet, make a cell phone video of it and send it to Mr. Chick himself!
What does gall me is some news I found out in the latest Columbia Magazine (KofC) concerning the chaplaincy, esp. in Iraq. It seems as if the more hard-core evangelicals are passing around pamphlets questioning of all things, the Christianity of Catholicism and some other beauts of anti-Catholic rubbish.
This is dangerous because of the potential damage it could cause to the morale. How stupid could these evangelicals be to be passing this stuff out to Catholic soldiers. What surprises the hell out of me is why hasn't this been made into a public issue. After all, it seems as if the evangelicals have been getting their way pretty much under W's "leadership." Now, what about us? Bush and his buddies knew well how to manipulate our votes, but they're still the old Country Club WASP gang when their colors are truly revealed, and this allowing the evangelicals to pass around this scurrilous nonsense makes a mockery out of the heretofore notion of W being the first "real Catholic" president, as Clinton was the "first black president."
We have enough trouble trying to keep the Sunnis and the Shiites from killing each other. We certainly don't need this kind of parallel stupidity within our ranks. If this situation isn't straightened out soon, the evangelicals will become even more strident in the wake of the Pope's recent reiteration that Protestant denominations aren't the real deal. I don't know why they're even so upset since so many evangelicals are so fond of this "invisible church" or strong fellowship of like-minded believers minus the hierarchy, etc.
Stay tuned, things might get more interesting. 
S.
Amazing what a few days up in Maine can do for one's spirits. Things were mighty fine up in Well's Beach, if you'll forgive the pun, ayuh.
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James Michael Curley to a young Thomas “Tip” O’Neill -- “Son, it’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice.”
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Prodigal Daughter
Member
| Joined: | Wed Nov 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania USA |
| Posts: | 203 |
| First Name: | Deborah/PD | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Baptized Catholic, received First Communion, left during Confirmation year. ... |
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Posted: Wed Jul 11th, 2007 02:00 am |
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After all, it seems as if the evangelicals have been getting their way pretty much under W's "leadership." Now, what about us?
I don't know, I feel pretty affirmed with Alito and Roberts on the Supreme Court.
Glad to hear about your nice time in Maine. TJ (my dh) and I will be heading up to Deer Isle in a few days. Can't wait!
Last edited on Wed Jul 11th, 2007 11:15 am by Prodigal Daughter
____________________
"Man should tremble, the world should vibrate, all Heaven should be deeply moved when the Son of God appears on the altar in the hands of the priest."
St. Francis of Assisi
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