Posted on 07/18/2007 8:47:05 AM PDT by Alex Murphy
Pope Benedict XVI’s pride in the primacy of Catholicism is making him enemies, said the head of Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Church.
“The man (Pope Benedict) makes enemies every time,” said Pope Shenouda III, leader of the 10 million Coptic Christians in Egypt, according to the state-run daily Al-Ahram.
“In his first statements a few months back, he lost all the Muslims,” he said Saturday, referring to the Pope’s speech in Germany last year when he associated Islam with violence. “And now this time, he lost a lot of the Christian denominations because he has begun to err against Christians themselves.”
Shenouda was reacting to the Pope’s approval of a document last Tuesday that reasserted the Vatican’s position on the primacy of the Roman Catholic Church as the “one true church”, while all non-Catholic churches are simply “ecclesial communities”.
“Other Christian communities are either defective or not true churches and Catholicism provides the only true path to salvation,” the Pope was quoted as saying.
The Coptic head said the statement was the result of Catholic pride and a belief “they were the only Christians in the world”, according to Reuters.
“We’re not opposed to Catholics having pride in their Church, but that doesn’t mean that every church that doesn’t join them isn’t a church,” he said.
Protestant leaders have also expressed disappointment in the Vatican’s position, coming amid ongoing efforts to deepen ecumenical dialogue between Protestant Churches and the Catholic Church.
“We are puzzled by the release of a statement of this kind at this time in the history of the church,” wrote the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) General Secretary, the Rev Dr Setri Nyomi, in a letter response. “An exclusive claim that identifies the Roman Catholic Church as the one church of Jesus Christ … goes against the spirit of our Christian calling toward oneness in Christ.
“It makes us question the seriousness with which the Roman Catholic Church takes its dialogues with the Reformed family and other families of the church,” Nyomi added. “It makes us question whether we are indeed praying together for Christian unity.”
However, many Protestant denominational heads and scholars have also pointed out that the Vatican’s statement is nothing new.
“Similar statements and perspectives precipitated the 16th century Reformation nearly 500 years ago,” said Dr Gerald B Kieschnick, President of The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod.
“At that time Martin Luther said, ‘Popes and councils can err.’ Apparently that is still true today,” he added.
Despite the disagreement over who belongs to the “true church”, many Protestant denominational organisations have publicly stated their continual commitment to ecumenical dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church. These groups include the Lutheran World Federation, the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, and the Presbyterian Church in the US.
It is amazing how inaccurate pretty much every story on this document has been.
There are numerous inaccuracies in the above article.
St. Peter is leading the next batch of newcomers on the nickel tour of heaven.
He shows them great an wonderous things; mansions; rolling golf courses; manna; etc...everything they could possible imagine that heaven would be.
They turn a corner and come upon what looks like a prison, with walls 100 feet high stringed with barbed wrie,and stretching as as far as the eye can see.
A leather-lunged guy from Philly shouts: “Hey..St. Pete, what’s behind dere “?
St. Pete: Shhhh! Keep your voice down !
(pointing to the prison)Roman Catholics...they think they are the only ones up here.
Quote from the article:
““In his first statements a few months back, he lost all the Muslims,” he said Saturday, referring to the Pope’s speech in Germany last year when he associated Islam with violence.”
He lost the Muslims? When did Pope Benedict ever have them? And I guess Benedict is supposed to cower in fear of Muslims as the Copts do having lost their homeland to them?
““And now this time, he lost a lot of the Christian denominations because he has begun to err against Christians themselves.””
To tell th etruth is to err against Christians?
I have always like Pope Shenouda III, but have always realized he is insignificant. His whining here simply re-affirms that belief.
Well Pope Benedict XVI was simply telling the truth. What was Pope Shenouda III thinking about? B16 is not going to water Church doctrine down. Truth hurts, but it is the truth.
At least he is not a fearful dhimmi like Pope Shenouda III.
LOL. What a fool. It's much better to kiss mulsim ass while they persecute and murder your flock...is that what you're saying? Because that's the situation you have Shenouda...as for me I'd rather loose the muslims!
I wonder how Bennie gets around the fact that nowhere does the New Testament ever teach a “universal church” sort of ecclesiology?
Ah, that's the only ecclesiology the New Testament teaches. One faith, one Body, one Lord, one baptism.
The church is the Bride of Christ, and Jesus is not a polygamist.
He did, and they are.
Then why were there multiple churches in regions like Crete, Galatia, and Macedonia?
Not just for the pope, but also the people who spout the same nonsense.
In that case, “churches” are interchangeable with individual Christian congregations.
Exactly. That's the only thing the word ekklesia can mean. It refers to a called-out assembly - what we would in Christian terms think of as a "local church". Christ has one bride, who will be gathered together unto Him in the general assembly and church of the firstborn in heaven (Hebr. 12:23), but which organisationally is found in type in each local church body which truly stands on the Scriptures and the doctrine of Christ, the world over. There is no hint in Scripture that there is any unified, invisible "catholic" (small-c) church which comprises all Christians the world over. Each local church is to be united in the same Lord, the same Spirit, the same baptism, etc. Each local church is a synecdechal example of what all Christians eventually will be in heaven.
It’s not pride.
It’s truth. Why should Benedict16 hide the truth.
What he’s saying is not politically correct and he’s taking fire for that point.
Sometimes, truth hurts.
As I said a while back, the Non-Chalcaedonian churches are the most liberal and purely ethnic churches in the world.
There’s a key element missing. These congregations, as a whole, have one set of beliefs, not the hundreds that are around today.
That's why I said, "but which organisationally is found in type in each local church body which truly stands on the Scriptures and the doctrine of Christ." If a body rejects the foundational truths which the Bible teaches about Christ, then it has no place to claim to be a church with Christ as its head.
My issue with Catholicism is not the general claim that if one dissents from true doctrine, then a church is not a true church. My issue is more particularly that Catholicism thinks of ITSELF as teaching the true doctrine, when an examination of the Bible says otherwise.
As for the hundreds (or thousands) of variant beliefs, well, do these beiefs relate to foundational matters of soteriology and holiness, or to lesser points of the law? In other words, some variance is not damnable heresy, while some is.
That's a little simplistic. The Orthodox Churches differ in teaching from the Catholic Church, but the Church still teaches they are valid churches. It's a matter having an apostolic succession and valid sacraments.
My issue is more particularly that Catholicism thinks of ITSELF as teaching the true doctrine, when an examination of the Bible says otherwise.
Missing a word there. "...when [a "Reformist"] examination of the Bible [teaches] otherwise." That's better.
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