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The Oath Against Modernism and the Spirit of Vatican II
Catholic Family News ^ | January, 2000 | Raymond B. Marcin

Posted on 11/05/2003 8:48:22 PM PST by Land of the Irish

Taken from the January, 2000 edition of Catholic Family News.

Editor's note: I was overjoyed when Raymond Marcin, Professor of Law at Catholic University of America, submitted this essay to CFN. Immediately, it reminded me of my dear friend, Father Marian Palandrano (d. 1995), a Traditional priest ordained in 1949 who never once said the New Mass. Often, Father Palandrano explained that he could not accept the progressive doctrine and liturgy of Vatican II because to do so would violate his Oath Against Modernism, a solemn Oath he pledged before Almighty God. Marcin discusses the conflict between the Oath Against Modernism that all the Council Fathers were bound to uphold, and Vatican II’s "counter-syllabus" which, by all appearances, violates that sacred oath.

In his 1982 treatise on Catholic theology, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger – currently the Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith – made some astonishing statements. He suggested that the documents of Vatican II, and especially Gaudium et Spes (Vatican II’s Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World), were intended to "correct" what he called the one-sidedness of the position adopted by the Church under Pope Pius IX and Pope Saint Pius X, the Popes whose Syllabi of Errors and Encyclicals warned against the dangers of the heresy of Modernism, called by Saint Pius X "the synthesis of all heresies". Cardinal Ratzinger’s statements began as follows:

"If it is desirable to offer a diagnosis of the text [of Gaudium et Spes] as a whole, we might say that (in conjunction with the texts on religious liberty and world religions) it is a revision of the Syllabus of Pius IX, a kind of counter syllabus."

In a footnote to that quote, Cardinal Ratzinger explained that "[t]he position taken in the Syllabus [of Pope Pius IX] was adopted and continued in Pius X’s struggle against ‘Modernism’." Returning to his main text, Cardinal Ratzinger went on to write that

"the one-sidedness of the position adopted by the Church under Pius IX and Pius in response to the situation created by the new phase of history inaugurated by the French Revolution was, to a large extent, corrected via facti, especially in Central Europe, but there was still no basic statement of the relationship that should exist between the Church and the world that had come into existence after 1789."

Cardinal Ratzinger’s observation that at the time of Vatican II "there was still no basic statement of the relationship that should exist between the Church and the [post-1789] world" will seem curious to those familiar with the great encyclicals of the post-1789 popes condemning the modernist errors of the post-1789 world. One presumes that when Cardinal Ratzinger wrote that sentence he meant that there was no such basic statement except the basic statements of

Pope Gregory XVI ( Mirari Vos – On Liberalism, 1832);

Pope Pius IX (Quanta Cura – On Current Errors, 1864, and Syllabus of Errors, 1864);

Pope Leo XIII (Diuturnum Illud – On Government Authority, 1881, Humanum Genus – On Freemasonry and Naturalism1884, Libertas Praestantissimum – On the Nature of True Liberty, 1888, Rerum Novarum – On the Condition of the Working Classes, 1891, and Graves de Communi Re – On Christian Democracy, 1901);

Saint Pius X (Lamentabili Sane – Syllabus Condemning the Errors of the Modernists, 1907, Pascendi Dominici Gregis – On Modernism, 1907, On the "Sillon", 1910, and Sacrorum Antistitum – The Oath Against Modernism);

Pope Pius XI (Quas Primas – On the Feast of Christ the King, 1925, Mortalium Animos – On Fostering True Religious Unity, 1928, and Divini Redemptoris – On Atheistic Communism, 1937); and

Pope Pius XII (Humani Generis – On Certain False Opinions Which Threaten to Undermine the Foundation of Catholic Doctrine, 1950); (1)

In other words, there was, at the time of Vatican II, no basic statement of the relationship that should exist between the Church and the post-1789 world, except the several basic statements over several post-1789 generations, and several post-1789 papacies which, with remarkable internal consistency of those generations and those papacies, bespoke a "relationship" of clear opposition between the Church and the post-1789 world – statements with which the majority of the participants in Vatican II apparently wanted to disagree. Cardinal Ratzinger seemed candidly to admit exactly that when he wrote:

"Let us be content to say here that the text [of the Vatican II documents, especially Gaudium et Spes] serves as a counter syllabus and, as such, represents, on the part of the Church, an attempt at an official reconciliation with the new era inaugurated in 1789." (2)

THE OATH AGAINST MODERNISM

At first glance, the statements of Cardinal Ratzinger may not seem to be "astonishing." He was, after all, only stating the obvious, wasn’t he? He was only being candid. His statement was actually quite unremarkable. Reconciling the Church with the modern world was the whole point of Vatican II, wasn’t it?

To place Cardinal Ratzinger’s statements in context, however, one must go back to the events that occurred a half century before Vatican II, in the midst of the era in which the Church was consistently articulating its statements of opposition towards the tenets of liberalism and Modernism that came to characterize the post-1789 age.

On July 3, 1907, Saint Pius X issued a decree called Lamentabili Sane, listing and condemning the errors of the Modernists. Two months later in that same year, on September 8th, he issued an Encyclical Called Pascendi Dominici Gregis, a more lengthy explanatory discussion and condemnation of the heresy of Modernism. (3) Three years later, on September 1, 1910, he issued a motu proprio entitled Sacrorum Antistitum in which he mandated that an Oath Against Modernism, the text of which was prescribed in the motu proprio, be taken by all Catholic clergy before being ordained to the subdiaconate.

That mandate was not rescinded until 1967, (4) and this is the important point. The requirement that all Catholic seminarians who were being ordained to the subdiaconate on their way to the priesthood take the Oath Against Modernism was not rescinded until more than one year after the closing of Vatican II. (5) Every Catholic priest ordained between the years 1910 and 1967 was obliged to take the Oath Against Modernism.

The implications are startling. Every single bishop, Archbishop, and Cardinal who participated in Vatican II and every single Vatican II peritus (expert advisor) who was also a priest, without exception, had taken the Oath Against Modernism mandated for all Catholic clergy by Pope Saint Pius X in 1910 and not rescinded by the Vatican until 1967. To use a portion of the words of the oath, every single participant in Vatican II was under an oath-bound obligation to God Almighty "with due reverence [to] submit and adhere with [his] whole heart to the condemnations, declarations, and all prescripts contained in the encyclical Pascendi and in the decree Lamentabili".

Seen in this light, Cardinal Ratzinger’s statements are truly astonishing. How could the participants of Vatican II set out, intentionally, to "correct", or to set up a "counter syllabus" to, that to which they all, without exception, had sworn, "with [their] whole heart," to "submit and adhere"? It is a puzzlement.

What are we to believe? Are we to believe that those who voted in favor of the "counter syllabus" documents of Vatican II which were intended to "correct" the pronouncements of Pope Pius IX and Saint Pius X (and presumably the pronouncements of Popes Gregory XVI, Leo XIII, Pius XI, and Pius XII as well) violated the Oath Against Modernism which they all had taken? That they forgot their oath? In either case, it is difficult to accept that God the Holy Spirit would watch over and guide the violating or the discarding of an oath taken to God. At the very least this implication would seem to cast serious doubt on the very legitimacy of the Vatican II "counter syllabus" documents that, according to Cardinal Ratzinger, were intended to "correct" or "counter" ("reverse" might not be too strong a word) teachings which all the participants in Vatican II were oath-bound to uphold.

If we are to judge by the fruits of Vatican II, what are we to believe? We have Pope Paul VI’s own evaluation of the aftermath of Vatican II:

"We looked forward to a flowering, a serene expansion of concepts which matured in the great sessions of the Council... [instead, i]t is as if the Church were destroying herself. (6)...

"We have the impression that through some cracks in the wall the smoke of Satan has entered the temple of God:... Doubt, uncertainty ,questioning, dissatisfaction, confrontation... We thought that after the Council a day of sunshine would have dawned for the history of the Church. What dawned, instead, was a day of clouds and storms, of darkness, of searching and uncertainties." (7)

The clouds, the storms, the darkness, the searching, the uncertainties – who can say that they are not still with us today, thirty-four years after the close of Vatican II? And if the Church herself is to judge Vatican II by its fruit, should she not heed Our Lord’s injunction given at the close of His Sermon on the Mount: "Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit, shall be cut down, and shall be cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits you shall know them."(8)?

If one ponders the matter for but a moment, it does not seem a wonder that the fruits of decisions to counter or correct those teachings that the decision makers were oath-bound to uphold would turn out to be clouds, storms, darkness, searching, and uncertainties. Nor does it seem a wonder that it should appear as if the smoke of Satan has entered the temple of God.

Do we, perhaps, overstate the case? Are we, perhaps, to think that the Oath Against Modernism was, after all, merely a "form" oath, taken only as a matter of routine over all those years between 1910 and 1967 by all those being ordained to the subdiaconate with very little conscious advertence, and then more or less promptly forgotten – just a relic of a past age? Such a mode of thought may, perhaps, provide an explanation or even an excuse for those at the Council who apparently decided to "counter" what they were oath-bound to uphold, but it still leaves the question of whether God the Holy Spirit would actually guide people to discard an oath-bound obligation in that manner, and it still leaves intact the Holy Father’s own candid assessment of the fruits of that discarded oath: the dawning, not of sunshine in the Church, but rather of clouds, storms, darkness, searching, and uncertainties.

In the minds of some, however, there may be another way of resolving the puzzlement. It may be that it was Cardinal Ratzinger who was overstating the case somewhat. It may be that the participants in Vatican II who approved the documents in question saw no conflict at all between, on the one hand, what they were approving and, on the other hand, the prescriptions of the Oath Against Modernism which they had taken. But the implications here are almost as startling. If nothing contrary to the prescriptions in the Oath Against Modernism was intended by the Council participants – and that is, of course, what one would like to believe – then all the Council documents must be interpreted with that fact in mind. In other words, none of the documents of Vatican II can rightly be interpreted as in any way inconsistent with Saint Pius X’s condemnations of Modernist thinking within the Church.

The point here is that any attempts at understanding the "spirit" of Vatican II and any interpretations of its documents must take into account the fact that every Vatican II Father was, at the time he approved those documents, under the prescriptions of the Oath Against Modernism, and presumably intended not to violate that oath. It is, of course, an open question as to whether all the documents of Vatican II can be interpreted consistently with Saint Pius X’s condemnations of modernist thinking within the Church. (9) If what Cardinal Ratzinger wrote in 1982 is correct, than the "counter-syllabus" documents most certainly cannot be interpreted consistently with Saint Pius X’s condemnation of Modernist thinking within the Church. According to Cardinal Ratzinger, those documents were intended to "correct" or "counter" Pope Pius IX’s and Saint Pius X’s syllabi on the subject.

VATICAN II: A VIOLATION OF THE OATH?

Despite that very real qualm, however, it does seem to follow that, unless we accept that the Vatican II Fathers violated or discarded their Oath Against Modernism, every interpretation of the documents of Vatican II and every invocation of "the spirit of Vatican II" which over the years has been, or is now, in any way inconsistent with any of the prescriptions of the Oath Against Modernism must be rejected as being contrary to the intent of the Vatican II Fathers. The text of the oath is lengthy, but its purport is clear. In part it states:

"I firmly embrace and accept each and every definition that has been set forth and declared by the unerring teaching authority of the Church, especially those principal truths which are directly opposed to the errors of this day ["this day" being September 1, 1910]. ...

"Furthermore, with due reverence, I submit and adhere with my whole heart to the condemnations, declarations, and all the prescripts contained in the encyclical Pascendi and in the decree Lamentabili, especially those concerning what is known as the history of dogmas. I also reject the error of those who say that the faith held by the Church can contradict history, and that Catholic dogmas, in the sense in which they are now ["now" being 1910] understood, are irreconcilable with a more realistic view of the origins of the Christian religion.... .

"... The purpose of this [oath] is, then, not that dogma may be tailored according to what seems better and more suited to the culture of each age; rather, that the absolute and immutable truth preached by the apostles from the beginning may never be believed to be different, may never be understood in any other way.

"I promise that I shall keep all these articles faithfully, entirely, and sincerely, and guard them inviolate, in no way deviating from them in teaching or in any way in word or writing. Thus I promise, this I swear, so help me God ..." (10)

It would seem also that, if each and every participant in Vatican II was under the prescriptions of Saint Pius X’s mandated Oath Against Modernism – and recall that they were, since the Oath Against Modernism obligation was not rescinded until more than a year after Vatican II was completed, Catholics concerned with a proper interpretation of the Vatican II documents and a proper understanding of the "spirit" of Vatican II would want to know exactly what the Vatican II Fathers were oath-bound to uphold. They would want to know the full content of the Oath Against Modernism. (11) Michael Davies, an authority on both Modernism and Vatican II, (12) has described the content of the oath as follows:

"The first part of the oath is a strong affirmation of the basic Catholic truths opposed to Modernism: the demonstrability of God’s existence by human reason; the value and suitability or miracles and prophecies as criteria of revelation; the historic institution of the Church by Christ; the inviolable character of Catholic tradition; the reasonableness and supernaturalness of faith.

"The second part of the oath is an expression of interior assent to the decree Lamentabili and the encyclical Pascendi with their contents."

Davies described Lamentabili Sane as Saint Pius X’s condemnation of "sixty-five propositions which were incompatible with the Catholic faith," and he closed with the common observation that has since been made by many that "[w]hen reading the condemned propositions of Lamentabili it is hard to believe that the decree was not addressed to the errors which have been circulating since the Second Vatican Council". (13) One might rightly observe that a similar reading of Saint Pius X’s much more lengthy and explanatory encyclical Pascendi Dominici Gregis, would yield the similar conclusion that the encyclical was prophetically addressed to all the errors and confusions that are besetting orthodox Catholics today and that are being foisted in the name of the "spirit of Vatican II". (14)

Every Catholic who wishes to know the root cause of the errors and confusions that are besetting and dividing the Church today would do well to become familiar with Saint Pius X’s oath and with the Encyclical Pascendi Dominici Gregis and the Syllabus Lamentabili Sane. (15)

Footnotes:

1. The texts of all these documents are reproduced in The Popes Against Modern Errors (ed. Anthony J. Mioni, TAN Books and Publishers, Inc. 1999).

2. Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Principles of Catholic Theology (tr. Sister Mary Frances McCarthy, Ignatius Press 1987), pages 381-382; originally published in German under the title Theologische Prinzipienlehre (Erich Wewel Verlag, Munich 1982).

3. For an excellent discussion of the heresy of Modernism in general and of Pascendi Dominici Gregis in particular see Michael Davies, Partisans of Error: St. Pius X Against the Modernists (Neumann Press 1983).

4. In 1918, the Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office declared that the prescriptions of the Oath Against Modernism must remain in full force until the Holy See declares otherwise. See The Code of Canon Law: A text and Commentary (eds. James A. Coriden, Thomas J. Green & Donald E. Heintschel, Paulist Press 1985), page 585. The mandate was rescinded by a decree of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in July of 1967. See "Oath against Modernism" in The Harper Collins Encyclopedia of Catholicism, on page 926.

5. Pope Paul VI’s discourse closing Vatican II was delivered on December 7, 1965.

6. Pope Paul VI, Address to Lombard College, December 7, 1968.

7. Pope Paul VI, Address on the Ninth Anniversary of His Pontificate, June 29, 1972.

8. Matthew 7:19-20 (Douay-Rheims).

9. See, e.g., Michael Davies’ The Second Vatican Council and Religious Liberty, contending that the stand taken on religious liberty in the Vatican II Declaration on Religious Liberty is not reconcilable with previous papal teaching.

10. EWTN Internet site, "www.ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/P10MOATH.HTM".

11. The full text of the Oath Against Modernism can be easily accessed on several sites on the Internet, and is reproduced in many books, including Michael Davies’ Partisans of Error (Neumann Press 1983) on page 104.

12. Davies’ publications on both topics are many, but see, e.g., Michael Davies, Partisans of Error (Neumann Press 1983) and Michael Davis, Pope John’s Council, vol. 2 of Liturgical Revolution (Angelus Press 1977).

13. Michael Davies, Partisans of Error (Neumann Press 1983), on pages 104 and 71.

14. Not surprisingly, Michael Davies drew that conclusion in his book, Pope John’s Council, on page 277.

15. Both Pascendi and Lamentabili are published in one volume, and is available from CFN


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To: sinkspur
You gonna let your mother link to a website that says John Paul II is an illegitimate Pope?

My mom is a big girl, and can think for herself. She is not easily swayed by anything, especially "man made" rules or thoughts.

I also think that the adults in our OCIA can decipher for themselves. This will give them opportunities to ask questions and see a larger picture.

There are some very good things on this site...I'm not "throwing the baby out with the bathwater," so to speak.

Thanks for your concern though. I'm not crazy about the anti semite stuff either, from what you say...however I haven't gotten that far on the link yet to render an objective opinion about what that site says.

I'll let them know about that part too.

81 posted on 11/06/2003 7:34:51 PM PST by kstewskis (111 more days until Lent and "The Passion" is released...and no I am NOT giving up Mel for Lent!)
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To: Unam Sanctam
"In fact, you may not believe it, but Pope John Paul II and Cardinal Ratzinger are actually the good guys and are helping to preserve the deposit of faith from modernists and false teaching that has crept into the Church."

You are right, I don't believe it.

The evidence against the orthodoxy of these two men is overwhelming. From the Pope's kissing of the Koran to his traveling about the earth apologizing for the historical Church and everything in between I am saddened. From his teaching that "evolution is more than just a theory" to his shocking refusal to excommunicate a single priest or bishop amongst the hundreds upon hundreds of clergy who raped boys and the dozens of Bishops who covered up this atrocity, there is nothing whatsover to convince me of the Holy Father's orthodoxy.

The pope will write his opposition to Communion in the hand, but then hold Masses on Vatican grounds where he himself distributes Communion in the hand. He invites the likes of the heroin addicted, anti-society icon Bob Dylan to entertain himself at the Vatican and holds embarrassing and bizarre "Youth Day" events all over the globe that rival a Madonna concert with raucus music and faithless teens looking for a fun time. He has no problem whatsoever excommunicating or censuring a rebellious CONSERVATIVE bishop or priest, but obstinately refuses to do the same to the rebellious LIBERAL clergy and prelates. I could go on all night citing evidence that this Pope is no conservative or orthodox Catholic, but to those who are too afraid to admit the facts no amount of evidence will convince them. So be it.

82 posted on 11/06/2003 8:43:16 PM PST by TheCrusader
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To: Unam Sanctam
"I reject the proposition that all other religions, which even though they may be grossly in error, are in error in every detail. Particularly to the extent that they agree with Catholic teaching, then by definition they cannot be in error in that respect. And I don't see how that can be a heretical proposition."

It only takes one single article of faith to be rejected by any Catholic for him to place himself outside of the Church. How much further from the Arc of Salvation are the 'religions' which teach that Jesus was a mere man, (Mohammedism), or worse yet, teach that He is in Hell, (as the Talmud does)???

If you love the Truth, and if you love your Catholic faith, and if you love Christ, you cannot help but to reject these anti-Christ faiths and all of their teachings. There have been other earlier faiths that mimicked the Catholic faith somewhat, or held some of the same tenets of faith, and they have been condemned by various Catholic Ecumenical Councils. Such as the Cathari, Arianism, and some earlier sects like the Essenians and gnostics. As I said earlier, the truth is whole, entire and complete, or it is not the truth at all. You simply cannot have 'partial truths'. This is like being lost in the desert and having bits and pieces of a map to your destination--- the bits and pieces are true but will avail you nothing whatsoever. Unless you have the whole map the bits and pieces of 'truth' are useless.

As Paul said when speaking of those who refused to believe and convert: "What have I to do with them"?

83 posted on 11/06/2003 9:03:29 PM PST by TheCrusader
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To: TheCrusader
The evidence against the orthodoxy of these two men is overwhelming.

I see no such evidence. On the contrary, I see two great men striving to preserve the deposit of faith in difficult times of modernism and moral heresy. Talk about special pleading! To equate the Pope and Cardinal Ratzinger with modernist "spirit of Vatican II" types like Richard McBrien or Hans Kueng and his ilk is simply obscene. It shows a true lack of any ability to make distinctions and a complete lack of charity toward the head of our Church.

From the Pope's kissing of the Koran

You guys constantly bring this up. There is no evidence that this was anything more than a courteous gesture, and probably a mistaken one. It is not a statement on faith or morals whatsoever, but simply a physical gesture. It is not an infallible definition. Nothing in anything the Pope has said or written decrees or implies that we should pay any heed to this book. Perhaps he made an honest mistake, and it is very uncharitable of you to interpret a mistaken GESTURE as something heretical when there is no eveidence whatsoever of heretical teaching about Islam or the Koran.

to his traveling about the earth apologizing for the historical Church

He has not apologized for teachings on faith and morals, but for sinful actions of members of the Church. Whether he really can apologize for other individuals is something that is certainly questionable, but it is a good faith gesture and not heretical. Members of the Church committed sins, e.g., unjustified killings in the Crusades and Inquisition, and to the extent they have committed sin, they are partially separated from the Body of Christ, as we are when we are not in a state of grace. Therefore, the apologies do not contradict the doctrine that the Mystical Body and Bride of Christ is spotless and pure in a theological sense.

and everything in between I am saddened. From his teaching that "evolution is more than just a theory"

A Catholic need not accept that the creation described in Genesis is literally true (except that there was an Adam and an Eve who are the parents of humanity and that there was an actual fall from grace, per Pope Pius XII in Humani Generis), as opposed to true on a more symbolic level -- we can look at the different types of litterature that formed the Bible.

to his shocking refusal to excommunicate a single priest or bishop amongst the hundreds upon hundreds of clergy who raped boys and the dozens of Bishops who covered up this atrocity,

These are sins, which hopefully these erring clerics have confessed and done penance for. They are not challenging on an ideological level the teachings of the faith.

there is nothing whatsover to convince me of the Holy Father's orthodoxy.

The pope will write his opposition to Communion in the hand, but then hold Masses on Vatican grounds where he himself distributes Communion in the hand.

This is a disciplinary liturgical matter, not a doctrine of the faith.

He invites the likes of the heroin addicted, anti-society icon Bob Dylan to entertain himself at the Vatican

I'm not familiar with the incident, but I hardly see this as heretical. Jesus Himself hung out with publicans and sinners to encourage their repentance.

and holds embarrassing and bizarre "Youth Day" events all over the globe that rival a Madonna concert with raucus music and faithless teens looking for a fun time.,/p>

How do you know they are "faithless". These events may not be to your liking, but they are trying to reach out to modern youth in a way that they are used to. If it has brought some youngsters closer to Christ, then I don't see a problem. I don't see any heresy here.

He has no problem whatsoever excommunicating or censuring a rebellious CONSERVATIVE bishop or priest, but obstinately refuses to do the same to the rebellious LIBERAL clergy and prelates.

He certainly could do more in this regard, but he has done some, e.g. Hans Kueng, and has promoted orthodox faith through his teaching and preaching and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Basically, he is waiting out the liberals, hoping they will die off (the younger clergy by the way are more orthodox than the older ones), rather than coming down hard. Perhaps one could criticize his strategy on prudential grounds, but it is not heretical.

I could go on all night citing evidence that this Pope is no conservative or orthodox Catholic, but to those who are too afraid to admit the facts no amount of evidence will convince them. So be it.

I'm not afraid of anything. I have stated the facts and I see no evidence of lack of orthodoxy. Viva il Papa!

84 posted on 11/06/2003 9:17:29 PM PST by Unam Sanctam
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To: Unam Sanctam
"even pagans might on occasion have glimpses of the truth, the fullness of which subsists in the Catholic Church."

This is heart of the problem that today's Catholics are experiencing. They have been taught the blasphemous error that the fullness of truth merely "subsists" in the Catholic Church. This new-age teaching has supplanted the classical-traditional Catholic teaching that the Catholic Church is the truth, and the difference has enormous implications.

"if I am delayed, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth." (1 Timothy 3:15)

As the above Scripture verse says, the Church is the 'pillar and foundation' of the truth, meaning that its spiritual structure of doctrines embodies, upholds and dispenses the Truth, hence the Church, (which is a set of teachings), is the truth. When you say that the truth merely 'subsists' in the Church you make the Church and the truth two sovereign entities and compartmentalize one within the other. This horrendous teaching implies that the Church contains or harnesses the truth when in fact she embodies the truth and is woven together by the fabric of Truth. The Church, as the Bride of Christ, is betrothed to the Truth, (Jesus Christ), and the two become one. (I am the way, the truth, and the life").

Furtermore, this modernist teaching allows that the truth can 'subsist' in other churches and religions as well, since it is not restricted by the totality of Catholic teachings. In thier view the truth can be sliced, diced and spread about in bits and pieces and fed like French Fries to people instead of the whole potato of revealed truth.

85 posted on 11/06/2003 10:10:16 PM PST by TheCrusader
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To: Unam Sanctam
"To equate the Pope and Cardinal Ratzinger with modernist "spirit of Vatican II" types like Richard McBrien or Hans Kueng and his ilk is simply obscene. It shows a true lack of any ability to make distinctions and a complete lack of charity toward the head of our Church."

Pssst. Hans Kung is still proudly teaching his errors through books, interviews, articles, radio and t.v. programs. But don't tell the Holy Father, because the Vatican has "silenced" him. tee hee

86 posted on 11/06/2003 10:36:01 PM PST by TheCrusader
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To: Unam Sanctam
"From the Pope's kissing of the Koran--- and it is very uncharitable of you to interpret a mistaken GESTURE as something heretical when there is no eveidence whatsoever of heretical teaching about Islam or the Koran."

Hmmmmm, he kissed the Koran, and sent an Apostolic Delegate to the new Mosque in Rome to bless it, and now didn't he teach us in the catechism that Muslims are going to heaven because we are all children of Abraham? I think it's strange that he would even bother to write his views on Islam in a CATHOLIC catechism in the first place. Not very "traditional" in my humble opinion. He sure is a cutting edge progressive pope though, I gotta give you that. See you at the next World Youth Day?

87 posted on 11/06/2003 11:45:10 PM PST by TheCrusader
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To: TheCrusader
He does not teach as a Catholic theologian. He speaks only for himself.
88 posted on 11/07/2003 7:24:17 AM PST by Unam Sanctam
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To: TheCrusader
This was a mistaken act, not a doctrinal teaching, and everyone would have happily forgotten it if you guys didn't constantly bring this up again and again and again because you are not objectively seeing what the Pope teaches, but rather, like the Democratic National Committee, want to actively promote scandal through lies and distortions. You guys WANT the Pope to be a heretic! Rather than interpreting his statements and actions in charity and good faith in an orthodox light, you grasp at every straw to try and prove that the Pope is a heretic. You are no different from the Protestants of the Reformation who desperately wanted to show that the Pope was a heretic and used every lie and defamation in the book in order to try to prove it. Since you are not obedient to the Scripture, Tradition and the Magisterium in your rejection of the Pope and promote your own private judgment, you are Protestant for all intents and purposes. The Pope has taught nothing heretical as regards Islam, as I have shown in other posts. You have yet to show a single teaching that is heretical.
89 posted on 11/07/2003 7:30:43 AM PST by Unam Sanctam
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To: TheCrusader
I may have used "subsists" in error here. Actually, the Catholic Church teaches the fullness of truth. There is no question about that. The term subsists was used by Lumen Gentium in a different context, i.e., the Church of Christ subsists in the Catholic Church. This merely means that, while the fullness of Truth resides in the Catholic Church, others that may not be formally tied to the visible Church, may be tied in some invisible way to her. This is a Scriptural and a Patristic teaching of long pedigree.
90 posted on 11/07/2003 7:36:43 AM PST by Unam Sanctam
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To: TheCrusader
The Muslims invoke God as "beneficent and merciful". Do we Catholics now have to deny that God has these attributes because the Muslims believe He does?
91 posted on 11/07/2003 7:41:10 AM PST by Unam Sanctam
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To: sinkspur
"You gonna let your mother link to a website that says John Paul II is an illegitimate Pope?"

That would not be as flagrant as a diocesan bookstore selling books by Hans Kung, Joan Chittester, Elizabeth Schlusser-Fiorenza, and other dissendents not to mention non-Catholics such as Martin Luther King and Bishop Desmond Tutu.

The poor unsuspecting Catholics that go to the bookstore will assume that these books will be "approved" so to speak. While the website may be in gross error, it is not operating under diocesan auspices and thus, let the user beware.
92 posted on 11/07/2003 1:30:15 PM PST by RaginCajunTrad (Proud to be a Trad!)
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To: RaginCajunTrad
The poor unsuspecting Catholics that go to the bookstore will assume that these books will be "approved" so to speak.

Does your diocese operate a bookstore? Mine doesn't.

"Approved" for what? Only an ignoramus would think that that Martin Luther King was reflecting Catholic teaching with his books, although his non-violent protest is in keeping with Catholic social doctrine.

And, I'm sorry, but a purported Catholic website that says that JP II is an illegitimate pope is far worse than anything written by the authors you list, though I laugh at such nonsense and the people who support such nonsense.

93 posted on 11/07/2003 1:35:40 PM PST by sinkspur (Adopt a shelter dog or cat! You'll save one life, and maybe two!)
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Comment #94 Removed by Moderator

To: third double
I read it on the website. Go to www.the-pope.com and read it yourself. Sedevacantist city.
95 posted on 11/07/2003 2:04:26 PM PST by sinkspur (Adopt a shelter dog or cat! You'll save one life, and maybe two!)
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Comment #96 Removed by Moderator

To: third double
www.the-pope.com is linked to on kensmen. In fact, that's all Apologia is, a list of links, like Drudge.
97 posted on 11/07/2003 2:38:41 PM PST by sinkspur (Adopt a shelter dog or cat! You'll save one life, and maybe two!)
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Comment #98 Removed by Moderator

To: third double
That's a link.

Here's the link to a sedevacantist website, also found at Apologia.

From the "Introduction":

The Magisterium which is taken as authoritative here is that taught and enforced by every Pope who is clearly recognized as such by the entire Church. Since legitimate questions have been raised as to the reliability, orthodoxy, sanity, or even Papal claims regarding certain recent and current leaders of the Vatican establishment, precedence is given to the clear teachings of those reliable Popes from Pius XII on back to Peter himself. More recent teachings, if taken at all, may only be taken to the extent to which they can be reconciled to the previous teachings.

JP II is not a Pope to these knuckle-draggers; he's the "leader of the Vatican establishment."

99 posted on 11/07/2003 3:03:42 PM PST by sinkspur (Adopt a shelter dog or cat! You'll save one life, and maybe two!)
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To: third double
Want an eyeful?

Click on this link to go to some juicy anti-semitism, right there on the Apologia website.

Just scroll down to the Jewish Tribal Review link.

100 posted on 11/07/2003 3:22:38 PM PST by sinkspur (Adopt a shelter dog or cat! You'll save one life, and maybe two!)
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