It all depends on how you interpret "free will". Please note the following observation from Moses:
Our "free will" is to act corruptly and to provoke the Lord. It is only because of God's steadfast love that He constantly works with us to bring us around. There isn't anything that we do for God including wanting to live for Him.
Free will is an illusion. Our desire is to freely act against God. We deceive ourselves when we believe we are acting for God.
Mary is not God and no Catholic teaching would ever make such claim because that is heresy.
Let's look at the facts that are claimed about Mary by the Catholic Church:
2) She did not die
3) If one makes a request to her, she will intercede with the Son and the Son will not deny His mother
4) Salvation came to the world because of Mary's righteous act
The [sic] issue of pre-Vatican II and post Vatican II on who is part of the Church is what you are getting at. There is only 1 Church, all are in it at some level, some more than others, but all are related to it or part of it so the question of how one understands “outside the Church there is no salvation” is one of those things that has always been part of Church teaching, but it has never been completely and definitively defined.
The dogma of the Roman Catholic Church reads as following:
2.Christ founded the Catholic Church in order to continue His work of redemption for all time.
3.Christ gave His Church a hierarchical constitution.
4.The powers bestowed on the Apostles have descended to the Bishops.
5.Christ appointed the Apostle Peter to be the first of all the Apostles and to be the visible Head of the whole Catholic Church, by appointing him immediately and personally to the primacy of jurisdiction.
6.According to Christ's ordinance, Peter is to have successors in his Primacy over the whole Catholic Church and for all time.
7.The successors of Peter in the Primacy are the Bishops of Rome.
8.The Pope possesses full and supreme power of jurisdiction over the whole Catholic Church, not merely in matters of faith and morals, but also in Church discipline and in the government of the Church.
9.The Pope is infallible when he speaks ex cathedra.
10.By virtue of Divine right, the bishops possess an ordinary power of government over their dioceses.
11.Christ founded the Catholic Church.
12.Christ is the Head of the Catholic Church.
13.In the final decision on doctrines concerning faith and morals, the Catholic Church is infallible.
14.The primary object of the Infallibility is the formally revealed truths of Christian Doctrine concerning faith and morals.
15.The totality of the Bishops is infallible, when they, either assembled in general council or scattered over the earth propose a teaching of faith or morals as one to he held by all the faithful.
16.The Church founded by Christ is unique and one.
17.The Church founded by Christ is holy.
18.The Church founded by Christ is catholic.
19.The Church founded by Christ is apostolic.
20.Membership of the Catholic Church is necessary for all men for salvation.
HarleyD:
Salvation was given to Mary by a Special Grace and thus she had the Grace to respond in faith to the Angel Gabriel. And not to dispute Moses, but all OT texts should be interpreted in the light of the Person of Christ, i.e. as Saint Augustine said the OT prefigures the NT and NT fulfills in Christ the OT.
So again, I don’t outright reject free will the way the Reformed theologians do. To Love God one as to be free, otherwise it is not Love. Are we weakened due to the consequences of original sin, yes. But does God Grace enlighten and transform us to live out our faith and practice the virtue of Love, which is the greatest of faith, hope and love [Saint Paul in 1 Corinthians] yes it does.
As for #20 yes that is true, but who is and is not a member is the question. Like I said, even when that statement was written by Father Ott, and he is an orthodox Priest theologian not doubt, Fr. Fenney was claiming or interpreting that only those who are visibly in the Catholic Church would be saved, thus Orthodox and Protestants have no chance. Fenney was excommunicated by Rome in the 1940’s over this view and we are talking over 20 to 25 years before the close of Vatican 2.
Take a look at the Fr. Feeney case, he rejected baptism of blood and baptism of desire [which the Church Fathers affirm] and had a restricted view of outside the Church there is no salvation and those same Church Fathers affirmed “extra Eccliesiam nulla salus” [outside the Church there is no salvation].
Feeney was correct about secularism, communism and free masonery. He was an early prophet on the hole anti-hate speech movement which seemed to have its origins in the Ivey league in the 1950’s, and of course now if you speak out for traditional marriage, you are charged with hate speech.
Here is the actual Letter from the Holy Office in 1949 [the CDF] which had Pope Pius XII affirmation. Again, this is still 16 years before the close of Vatican II. So the reformulated statement in Vatican II in a positive manner “All salvation is from Christ through his Church” is in keeping with the Dogma and actually communicates it more accurately, despite the protests of some sedevacantist.
So I actually thank you for bringing up #20 in Ott’s list because it allowed me to go back and provide some clarification on this.
http://www.ewtn.com/library/curia/cdffeeny.htm
And, of course, the questions about Mary remain unanswered.