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To: GOP_Lady
The ads are a good thing. Catholics believe that their Church is the true Church as well. From a Polish Catholic like the late, great Pope John Paul II who lives in the township next to Kirtland, Ohio.

The Catholic Church has a different view of your devoted, non-ending, proselytizing for the non-Christian religion of Mormonism in the name of Catholicism and Pope John Paul II himself.

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CATHOLIC ANSWERS:
Question: I read recently that the Catholic Church had rejected Mormon baptism, since their view of Christ and the Trinity is so unusual. But I have to ask: Are Mormons considered separated brothers and sisters? While their views are strange to say the least, they are still separated, and we should reach out to them. If we view them as something other than separated, doesn't that exclude ecumenism? I know that many view them as a cult, but aren't cult members separated as well?

Answer: The reason Mormons are not considered separated brethren is not because they aren't "separated" from the Church-they are-but they aren't "brethren" in the sense required.

The phrase separated brethren refers to those who, though separated from full communion with the Catholic Church, have been justified through baptism and are thus brethren in Christ. The Decree on Ecumenism (Unitatis Redintegratio) of Vatican II teaches that "all who have been justified by faith in baptism are members of Christ's body, and have a right to be called Christian, and so are correctly accepted as brothers by the children of the Catholic Church."

Because Mormonism is polytheistic and rejects the Trinity, Mormon baptism is not valid, and Mormons are not considered separated brethren. For the same reason, outreach to them, while certainly a good thing, is not ecumenism, though it can include dialogue and social cooperation as well as efforts to evangelize them.

53 posted on 08/23/2010 7:56:00 AM PDT by ansel12
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To: ansel12

Plowing the 2012 field for her dream man...


160 posted on 08/23/2010 3:52:34 PM PDT by ejonesie22 (Christians: Stand for Christ or stand aside...)
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