A Catechism on the Dogma ‘Outside the Catholic Church There Is No Salvation’

Catechism on the Dogma 'Outside the Catholic Church There Is No Salvation' - Free download (PDF) 

PREAMBLE OF THE LETTER

1, What was the purpose of the 1949 letter Suprema haec[1] sacra issued by the Holy Office?

To explain the true sense of the Catholic doctrine outside the Church there is no salvation, particularly in response to the case of Fr. Leonard Feeney and the St. Benedict Centre.

2. When was this document issued?

The Holy Office issued the letter on 8 August 1949.

3. Did Pope Pius XII approve this letter?

Yes. The Supreme Pontiff, His Holiness Pope Pius XII, has given full approval to this decision.

4. To whom was the letter addressed?

The letter was addressed to the Archbishop of Boston, Richard J. Cushing.

5. Who published the letter?

The Sacred Congregation ordered Bishop Cushing to publish it in its entirety.

6. Did the Holy See approve the English translation?

Yes. In due obedience, the Archbishop of Boston published the Latin text along with an English translation approved by the Holy See.

SECTION I: THE FOUNDATION OF THE DOGMA

7. What are Catholics bound to believe by divine and Catholic faith?

We are bound by divine and Catholic faith to believe all those things which are contained in the word of God, whether it be Scripture or Tradition, and are proposed by the Church to be believed as divinely revealed, not only through solemn judgment but also through the ordinary and universal teaching office.[2]

8. Has the Church always preached the dogma that there is no salvation outside the Church?

Yes. The Church has always preached this dogma.

9. Will the Church ever cease to preach this doctrine?

No. The infallible teaching that there is no salvation outside the Church will never cease to be preached by the Catholic Church.

10. How must the dogma outside the Church there is no salvation be understood?

This dogma must be understood in that sense in which the Church herself understands it. For, it was not to private judgments that Our Saviour gave for explanation those things that are contained in the deposit of faith, but to the teaching authority of the Church.

SECTION II: THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND SALVATION

11. What command did Christ give regarding the Church and salvation?

Among the commandments of Christ, that one holds not the least place by which we are commanded to be incorporated by baptism into the Mystical Body of Christ, which is the Church, and to remain united to Christ and to His Vicar, through whom He Himself in a visible manner governs the Church on earth.

12. Is salvation possible for those who, knowing the Church to have been divinely established by Christ, nevertheless refuse to submit to the Church or withhold obedience from the Roman Pontiff?

No. No one will be saved who, knowing the Church to have been divinely established by Christ, nevertheless refuses to submit to the Church or withholds obedience from the Roman Pontiff, the Vicar of Christ on earth.

13. Did Christ decree the Church to be a means of salvation?

Yes. Not only did the Saviour command that all nations should enter the Church, but He also decreed the Church to be a means of salvation without which no one can enter the kingdom of eternal glory.

SECTION III: DESIRE FOR THE CHURCH AND IMPLICIT MEMBERSHIP

14. Can someone be saved without being a visible member of the Church?

Yes. That one may obtain eternal salvation, it is not always required that he be incorporated into the Church actually as a member. In fact, it is necessary that at least he be united to her by desire and longing.

15. Does this desire always need to be explicit?

No. This desire need not always be explicit, as it is in catechumens; when a person is in invincible ignorance, God also accepts an implicit desire, so called because it is included in that good disposition of soul whereby a person wishes his will to be conformed to the will of God.

16. Where is this doctrine found?

This teaching is taught in the dogmatic letter issued by the Sovereign Pontiff, Pope Pius XII, on 29 June 1943, On the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ.[3] In this letter, the Pope distinguishes between those who are incorporated into the Church as members and those who are united to her only by desire.

17. Who are those incorporated into the Church as members?

Discussing the members of which the Mystical Body is composed here on earth, the same august Pontiff says: 'Actually only those are to be included as members of the Church who have been baptised and profess the true faith, and who have not been so unfortunate as to separate themselves from the unity of the Body, or been excluded by legitimate authority for grave faults committed.'[4]

18. Who are those united to the Church only by desire?

Toward the end of this same encyclical letter, when most affectionately inviting to unity those who do not belong to the body of the Catholic Church, he mentions those who 'are related to the Mystical Body of the Redeemer by a certain unconscious yearning and desire,' and these he by no means excludes from eternal salvation, but on the other hand states that they are in a condition 'in which they cannot be sure of their salvation' since 'they remain deprived of those many heavenly gifts and helps which can only be enjoyed in the Catholic Church.'[5]

19. What errors did Pope Pius XII condemn regarding salvation?

The Pope reproves both those who exclude from eternal salvation all united to the Church only by implicit desire, and those who falsely assert that men can be saved equally well in every religion.[6]

20. Is any kind of desire to enter the Church sufficient for salvation?

No. It must not be thought that any kind of desire to enter the Church suffices that one may be saved. The desire by which one is related to the Church must be animated by perfect charity.

21. Can an implicit desire produce its effect without supernatural faith?

 No. No implicit desire can produce its effect unless a person has supernatural faith: 'For he who comes to God must believe that God exists and is a rewarder of those who seek Him'.[7]

The Council of Trent declares (Session VI, chap. 8): 'Faith is the beginning of man's salvation, the foundation and root of all justification, without which it is impossible to please God and attain to the fellowship of His children.'[8]

SECTION IV: THE ERRORS OF FR. LEONARD FEENEY AND THE ST. BENEDICT CENTRE

22. Do the publications of Fr Leonard Feeney and the St Benedict Centre represent the genuine teaching of the Catholic Church?

From what has been said it is evident that those things which are proposed in the periodical From the Housetops, fascicle 3, as the genuine teaching of the Catholic Church are far from being such and are very harmful both to those within the Church and those without.

23. What are the implications of those doctrinal declarations?

From these declarations which pertain to doctrine, certain conclusions follow which regard discipline and conduct, and which cannot be unknown to those who vigorously defend the necessity by which all are bound of belonging to the true Church and of submitting to the authority of the Roman Pontiff and of the Bishops 'whom the Holy Ghost has placed… to rule the Church'.[9]

24. Can someone rightly claim to defend the Catholic Faith while rejecting the lawful ecclesiastical authority?

It is beyond understanding how a member of a religious Institute, namely Father Feeney, presents himself as a 'Defender of the Faith,' and at the same time does not hesitate to attack the catechetical instruction proposed by lawful authorities, and has not even feared to incur grave sanctions threatened by the sacred canons because of his serious violations of his duties as a religious, a priest, and an ordinary member of the Church.

25. Is it permissible to publish theological materials without ecclesiastical approval?

It is in no wise to be tolerated that certain Catholics shall claim for themselves the right to publish a periodical, to spread theological doctrines, without the permission of competent Church authority, called the imprimatur which is prescribed by the sacred canons.

Therefore, let them who in grave peril are ranged against the Church seriously bear in mind that after 'Rome has spoken' they cannot be excused even by reasons of good faith. Certainly, their bond and duty of obedience toward the Church is much graver than that of those who as yet are related to the Church 'only by an unconscious desire.' Let them realise that they are children of the Church, lovingly nourished by her with the milk of doctrine and the sacraments, and hence, having heard the clear voice of their Mother, they cannot be excused from culpable ignorance, and therefore to them apply without any restriction that principle: submission to the Catholic Church and the Sovereign Pontiff is required as necessary for salvation.

26. What warning is given to those who knowingly oppose the Church's teaching?

Therefore, let them who in grave peril are ranged against the Church seriously bear in mind that after 'Rome has spoken' they cannot be excused even by reasons of good faith. Certainly, their bond and duty of obedience toward the Church is much graver than that of those who as yet are related to the Church 'only by an unconscious desire.' Let them realise that they are children of the Church, lovingly nourished by her with the milk of doctrine and the sacraments, and hence, having heard the clear voice of their Mother, they cannot be excused from culpable ignorance, and therefore to them apply without any restriction that principle: submission to the Catholic Church and to the Sovereign Pontiff is required as necessary for salvation.

APPENDIX

Letter from the Holy Office Concerning Fr. Leonard Feeney – Summarised by Monsignor Joseph Clifford Fenton[10]

(1) The teaching that there is no salvation outside the Catholic Church is a dogma of the Catholic faith.

(2) This dogma has always been taught, and will always be taught, infallibly by the Church’s magisterium.

(3) The dogma must be understood and explained as the Church’s magisterium understands and explains it.

(4) The Church is necessary for salvation with both a necessity of precept and a necessity of means.

(5) Because the Church is necessary for salvation with the necessity of precept, any person who knows the Church to have been divinely instituted by Our Lord and yet refuses to enter it or to remain within it cannot attain eternal salvation.

(6) The Church is a general and necessary means for salvation, not by reason of any intrinsic necessity, but only by God’s own institution, that is, because God in His merciful wisdom has established it as such.

(7) In order that a man may be saved within the Church, it is not always necessary that he belong to the Church in re, actually as a member, but it can sometimes be enough that he belongs to it as one who desires or wills to be in it. In other words, it is possible for one who belongs to the Church only in desire or in voto to be saved.

(8) It is possible for this desire of entering the Church to be effective, not only when it is explicit, but also (when the person is invincibly ignorant of the true Church) even when that desire or votum is merely implicit.

(9) The Mystici Corporis reproved both the error of those who teach the impossibility of salvation for those who have only an implicit desire to enter the Church, and the false doctrine of those who claim that men may find salvation equally in every religion.

(10) No desire to enter the Church can be effective for salvation unless it is enlightened by supernatural faith and animated or motivated by perfect charity.

Is the Book of Mormon Catholic? YES — Just Read It in the Light of Tradition!

 Novus Ordo conservatives claim that we can find an orthodox interpretation for every error in Vatican II. And they are right! Since the advent of the hermeneutic of continuity, the concept of heresy has become obsolete. With a little bit of effort, one can read Catholicism into almost anything. To prove this, I have selected a quote from the Book of Mormon, which I will now read in the light of tradition:

'Behold, I am he who was prepared from the foundation of the world to redeem my people. Behold, I am Jesus Christ. I am the Father and the Son. In me shall all mankind have life, and that eternally, even they who shall believe on my name; and they shall become my sons and my daughters.' (The Book of Mormon, Ether 3:14–16)

Joseph Smith Meets Joseph Ratzinger 

Joseph Smith and Benedict XVI (Grok)

Using the hermeneutic of continuity, it is evident that the Book of Mormon reaffirms traditional Catholic doctrine. It clearly states that:

The divinity of Christ: The divinity of Christ: Our Lord is presented as 'he who was prepared from the foundation of the world.' We can find the same idea in the prologue of the Gospel according to St John:

'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him: and without him was made nothing that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men.  And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.' (John 1:1-5)

The Father and the Son are consubstantial: 'Behold, I am Jesus Christ. I am the Father and the Son.' This is a remarkable profession of faith in the unity of Divine essence and the distinction of persons. We can find this same idea in Ludwig Ott’s Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, p. 52:

'In God, there are Three Persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Each of the Three Persons possesses the one (numerical) Divine Essence. (De fide.)'

The redemption: Christ is the redeemer of mankind: 'Behold, I am he who was prepared from the foundation of the world to redeem my people' and 'In me shall all mankind have life, and that eternally, even they who shall believe on my name'.

The necessity of faith for salvation: without faith, it is impossible to please God. 'In me shall all mankind have life, and that eternally, even they who shall believe on my name.'

Through faith, we are adopted as God’s children: '…They who shall believe on my name…'will have life, and that eternally'.

Bottom line: with some effort, one can give a veneer of orthodoxy even to the most absurd doctrines. My attempt to read Catholicism into a heretical book does NOT make it Catholic — any more than a popesplainer can turn the Novus Ordo sect into the one true Church founded by Our Lord. 

The apostasy and destruction of Rome Foretold by Catholic Prophecy

Rome consumed by fire (Grok)

Some hold that, towards the end of the world, Rome will abandon the Christian faith and reject her Pontiff. She will restore her ancient power, wealth, greatness, and dominion, and return to paganism and persecution of the Church. Lastly, the great city will be consumed by fire and reduced to ruins.

The apostasy and destruction of Rome Foretold by Catholic Prophecy - Free download (PDF)

Rome as Babylon in the Apocalypse

Certain contemporary scholars argue that the term Babylon in the writings of Saint John refers to Rome. They have devised a remarkable interpretation of these oracles. The dreadful things foretold by the evangelist do not concern the Roman Church or the Christian Rome. In the last days of the world, God will remind all of the transgressions once inflicted on the Church under her pagan monarchs. They further assert that, in those latter days, she will accumulate a host of new offences, equal to or even surpassing her former transgressions. Then God, gravely offended and provoked by such manifold and grievous abominations, both old and new, will inflict the most severe punishments upon that most ungrateful city, which shall be annihilated. This, they argue, is how events will unfold.

For as long as the Eternal City remains orthodox and obedient to her shepherd, the destruction foretold by Saint John cannot possibly befall her. Indeed, she is preserved from those impieties on account of which, according to the Apostle, she is destined to perish. Rather, she is holy, devout, and the most faithful promoter of the true religion.

The Last Days of the Eternal City

On those days, she will fall away from the Christian faith, repudiate her Bishop, restore the former idolatry, and renew her assault against the Church, adding to her former injustices many new and more heinous ones. Then, once the Pontiff has been driven into exile and the ranks of the Church either exiled or slain, she will, for a short time, attain immense power, opulence, luxury, magnificence, and imperial grandeur.

The Great Harlot and the Ten Kings

During this time, she shall have under her dominion ten of the most powerful kings, who will serve as her ministers and allies. With her flourishing power, a war against the Church of Christ, more cruel than those under Nero, Domitian, Decius, Diocletian, and others, will be unleashed. The blood of martyrs shall be poured out, and all that is sacred in Christianity will be brought to nothing.

Yet, when she seems to have reached the pinnacle of her power and fortune, her greatness shall be revealed as fleeting and fragile. For those very ten kings, once subject to her authority, will rise against her, dividing the world and the empire among themselves. They will wage war upon the City and cast her down from her very foundations, leaving her desolate: an astonishing example of divine vengeance.

These oracles may be summarised as follows: Rome, in the consummation of the world, because of her apostasy and rejection of her pastor, and on account of her atrocious crimes, shall be annihilated at the hands of the ten kings.

The Apocalypse of Saint John and the Destruction of Rome

We have already sufficiently demonstrated that John spoke of the corruption of the Christian religion. Moreover, on account of her ancient idolatry and the blood of martyrs once so profusely shed there, she is destined to be consumed by fire:

'…having a golden cup in her hand, full of the abomination and filthiness of her fornication: And on her forehead a name was written: A mystery; Babylon the great, the mother of the fornications, and the abominations of the earth. And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.' (Revelation 17:4-6)

'Because all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication; and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her; and the merchants of the earth have been made rich by the power of her delicacies'. (Revelation 18:3)

'…And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.' (Revelation 18:24)

'And the great city was divided into three parts; and the cities of the Gentiles fell. And great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the indignation of his wrath.' (Revelation 16:19)

'For her sins have reached unto heaven, and the Lord hath remembered her iniquities.' (Revelation 18:5)

'Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine, and she shall be burnt with the fire; because God is strong, who shall judge her.' (Revelation 18:8)

'Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath judged your judgment on her.' (Revelation 18:20)

'For true and just are his judgments, who hath judged the great harlot which corrupted the earth with her fornication, and hath revenged the blood of his servants, at her hands. And again they said: Alleluia. And her smoke ascendeth for ever and ever.' (Revelation 19:2-3)

As if to say: God will, in the final days(for it seems that John speaks of the future), remember all the wickedness and impieties once committed by her under Nero, Domitian, Trajan, and the other pagan emperors, when they promoted and propagated idolatry to an enormous extent, oppressed the Church, slaughtered the Apostles and Martyrs, and shed Christian blood without end. Then God will finally pass judgment upon the impious Harlot, severely avenge the blood of the saints, and make her desolate. For this vengeance, the saints will rejoice with marvellous exultation, praising divine justice for all eternity.

Rome will eventually defect from the Christian faith and return to the ancient idolatry, pomp, luxuries, pride, arrogance, sumptuousness, and the greatness of empire; she will cast down the Pontiff, fiercely persecute the Church of Christ, and cruelly shed the blood of martyrs. Finally,  she will restore the former state of power and impiety that she had under the pagan monarchs or even a greater one, for which she shall at last perish.

Firstly, God will not punish the ancient city solely because of her ancient sins. If the city, so long as she continues, as at present, to uphold the Christian faith and remain obedient to the Vicar of Christ. For what punishment could the Orthodox-Roman people and the devoted children of the Church deserve for the sins committed by their forefathers against the Church of Christ?  Why should they be guilty of that decadent paganism and impious idolatry if they remain steadfast in the true Catholic faith? Therefore, when the time comes, she will add to her ancient paganism a new apostasy, followed by the most savage attacks against the Church, for which the just judgment of God will exterminate her.

Secondly, those words in chapter 18, verse 5, concerning the downfall of the once-holy City: 'For her sins have reached unto heaven, and the Lord hath remembered her iniquities', suggest that, she will augment the heap of her ancient sins with new and heinous ones, and that the monstrousness of her present sins will revive in God the memory of her former transgressions.

Thirdly, John adds in verses 9 and 19: 'And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication, and lived in delicacies with her, shall weep, and bewail themselves over her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning; Standing afar off for fear of her torments, saying: Alas! alas! that great city Babylon, that mighty city: for in one hour is thy judgment come.'

 The coming destruction will happen due to her recent crimes, when even the kings of the earth, who in those final days will be defiled by her in equal impiety, will be the cause of her ruin. Those who, many centuries before, undoubtedly under pagan Roman rulers, shared in Rome’s sins, and were involved in the idolatry and the Church’s persecutions, will then no longer be able to lament.

Fourthly, in chapter 18, verse 7: 'As much as she hath glorified herself, and lived in delicacies, so much torment and sorrow give ye to her; because she saith in her heart: I sit a queen, and am no widow; and sorrow I shall not see.'

Having cast out her lawful spouse, the Roman Pontiff and swollen with impiety she will utter these words, as if to say: Although I have rejected my spouse and Bishop, I am not a widow, for I am the mistress of the world and have reached the pinnacle of greatness and happiness, having so many kings under me who can serve as husbands, brothers, and sons.

Finally, at that time, she will have ten kings under her authority, who, when she is at the height of her prosperity, will cast her down from the pinnacle of power and reduce her to ashes, dividing her empire among themselves. This is described in John chapter 17, verse 12: 'And the ten horns which thou sawest, are ten kings, who have not yet received a kingdom, but shall receive power as kings one hour after the beast.'

And in verse 16: 'And the ten horns which thou sawest in the beast: these shall hate the harlot, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and shall burn her with fire.'

After the fall of that ancient city, when these kings bear the sceptres of the empire, each ruling his own region, the Antichrist will appear.

John offers a detailed account of the extinction of the Eternal City in chapters 17, 18, and 19. That this event is to take place near the end of the world is evident from the sequence of the oracles, the coherence of the passages when read together, and the trajectory of their prophetic meaning.

Modern commentators hold a similar view

Having considered what the Apostle says of Rome under the figure of Babylon, it is clear that the interpretation put forward by recent commentators is neither unreasonable nor unfitting. Andreas of Caesarea, in chapter 52 of his commentary on Revelation 17, expresses a similar view: 'We believe this Babylon refers to a noble and present city, which will hold primacy in the world until the coming of Antichrist.' This is almost exactly the position held by Ribera and other modern commentators.

The Pseudo-Sibylline Oracles on the Annihilation of Rome

Even the apocryphal Sibylline Books agree with the words of John and with this more recent interpretation:

'Then will appear the tenth human era,

When the creator of the stars shakes the earth,

and shatters the love of statues;

And the people of Rome,

Kept within seven fortresses, will strike,

The power of wealth, destroyed, shall perish,

As Vulcan mingleth fires with flames.'  (Book II)

And in Book 3:

'A great pain will arise from Europe,

Born of the illegitimate race of Saturn, and created by slaves.

Which  will conquer the mighty Babylon,

And upon all the lands where the sun shineth, called queen of the earth.

Unhappy and overthrown, she shall perish in sorrow,

Nor thereafter shall he any longer restrain his wandering descendants by law.'

Shortly before:

'O Rome, rich in gold, offspring of Latin stock,

Tender virgin longed  by many suitors,

Drunken, yet not with any wine of the world,

And shrouded in a cloud like a slave.

Often would a harsh mistress seize thy delicate locks,

And in exacting vengeance, hurl you down from on high to the earth.

Rome shall become a ruin: thus fate arranges all things.'

And in Book 7:

'Fierce-hearted Rome, after the Macedonian arms are broken,

Shall strike the heavens with lightning-flash;

Yet God shall strip thee of all strength,

Even when thou seemest most secure.'

And in Book 8:

'From heaven shall it come upon thee, O Rome, lofty in thy pride:

Ruin shall descend, and with thy head bowed low,

Thou that wert first shalt be laid level with the dust,

And shalt be utterly consumed with fire,

Falling in upon thyself alone; thy riches shall perish,

And foxes and wolves shall make their dwelling in thy desolations.

Then, abandoned and forlorn, as though thou hadst never been born, shalt thou lie.'

These words agree with those of St John concerning Rome, in Apocalypse, chapter 18, verse 2:

'Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, and she is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every unclean spirit, and the hold of every unclean and hateful bird.'

And verse 8:

'Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be burned.'

The Sibyl furthermore declares:

'Then draweth nigh the end of the world, and the final light approacheth,

And the judgment of the eternal God upon the just and the reprobate.

But she shall first endure the inescapable wrath.

Unhappy life shall come, and a time of bloodshed.'

And again:

'Rome, beholding the first of thy torments and thy groanings,

Nevermore shalt thou bend thy neck beneath a servile yoke,

Neither Syrian, nor Greek, nor barbarian, nor any other

Shall again inflict upon thee the plagues which thou didst once commit.

And, trembling, thou shalt weep until thou hast paid the last farthing.

Thou shalt be a triumph unto the world—and a reproach unto all the earth.'