In a document for bishops published on Thursday, the Vatican has drawn attention to cultural changes and new ways of thinking which can be obstacles to salvation. Entitled Placuit Deo (In His Goodness), signed by Archbishop Luis Ladaria, S.J., prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and approved by Pope Francis, the Letter is intended to “demonstrate certain aspects of Christian salvation that can be difficult to understand” in today’s culture. It centers on neo-Pelagianism and neo-Gnosticism, which the document asserts are two contemporary schools of thought, rooted in the past heresies of Pelagianism and Gnosticism, and which...