‘More unites us as Christians than divides us’ By Bishop Joseph N. Latino
Many of you either read or saw news reports last week with headlines stating that Pope Benedict XVI had released a statement saying the only way to salvation is through the Catholic Church. These media reports were misleading and filled with misinformation – basically false. No where in the document is the statement or any similar wording that the only way to salvation is through the Catholic Church.
I pray that any hurt or anger you may have experienced or which you might have received from non-Catholic friends and family members will be healed in a Christian compassionate way. We have contacted the media sources responsible for this and expressed our dismay and disappointment in such poorly done articles.
It is irresponsible to oversimplify and misinterpret a complex theological discussion into a short news story for an audience not always familiar with the theological language of the Catholic Church.
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith released a document July 10, entitled “Responses to Some Questions Regarding Certain Aspects of the Doctrine on the Church.” The document clarified questions that had been the subject of theological debate for many years.
The document did not express any new doctrine or teachings. It made clear what church teaching already was concerning how the Catholic Church defines itself as the Catholic Church.
In paragraph 8 of “Lumen Gentium” (LG), the “Dogmatic Constitution on the Church” from the Second Vatican Council, the Church Fathers restate a long held definition of our Church:
This is the one Church of Christ which in the Creed is professed as one, holy, catholic and apostolic, which our Savior, after His Resurrection, commissioned Peter to shepherd, and him and the other apostles to extend and direct with authority, which He erected for all ages as “the pillar and mainstay of the truth” (1Timothy 3:15).
This Church constituted and organized in the world as a society, subsists in the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the Bishops in communion with him, although many elements of sanctification and of truth are found outside of its visible structure.
The document from the congregation merely clarifies that the Church which Jesus established on earth “subsists in” the Catholic Church. This means the “perduring, historical continuity and the permanence of all the elements instituted by Christ in the Catholic Church, in which the Church of Christ is concretely found on this earth.”
In other words, the fullness of everything that Jesus meant for his Church to be on earth is found in the Catholic Church.
The document does not in any way attempt to denigrate other Christian denominations. The document is clarifying what the Catholic Church teaches that the Catholic Church believes to be the Church of Christ. It is a theological clarification filled with terms that if read on the surface level might indeed be perceived as harsh or offensive to non Catholic Christians.
In terms of the incorrect statement that “salvation is only through the Catholic Church,” the document basically says that because of the elements of truth and sanctification that are present in these churches and ecclesial communities they are indeed used by Christ as instruments of salvation for their members.
Apparently the media was not working from the actual document and developed an incorrect summary. This mistake has caused some most unfortunate misunderstandings by many in the community.
Cardinal Walter Kasper of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity has an excellent thought on reading this document: “A thorough reading of the text makes clear that the document does not say that the Protestant churches are not churches, but that they are not churches … in the sense in which the Catholic Church understands itself as church. For anyone even partly informed, this is purely self-evident.
“The Protestant churches do not want to be a church at all in the sense of the Catholic Church; they speak strongly of having another understanding of church and ministry in the church which, on the other hand, Catholics frankly do not consider to be the original one.
“The foundation of the dialogue is that there is more that unites us than divides us. Therefore we should not miss reading the positive statements of the declaration about the Protestant churches, namely, that Jesus Christ is effectively present within them for the salvation of their members (Unitatis redintegratio, 22).
“Therefore, the declaration is not taking back anything of the ecumenical progress already reached, but drawing attention to the ecumenical task that still lies ahead. We should be offended by these differences, and not by those who point them out. The declaration is rather an urgent invitation to an objective dialogue that will help us move ahead.”
The document from the congregation may be accessed through our diocesan website, www.jacksondiocese.org, under Current News. It is not a long document at all and a prayerful and thoughtful reading of the document in its proper context should alleviate many of the hurts that may have been felt over the past few days.
Let us remember as Cardinal Kasper so eloquently states that there is more that unites us as Christians than divides us.
misinformation – basically false. No where in the document is the statement or any similar wording that the only way to salvation is through the Catholic Church.