Posted on 07/11/2008 5:54:33 AM PDT by Between the Lines
Pope Benedict XVI has reasserted the universal primacy of the Roman Catholic Church, approving a document released Tuesday that says Orthodox churches were defective and that other Christian denominations were not true churches.
Benedict approved a document from his old offices at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith that restates church teaching on relations with other Christians. It was the second time in a week the pope has corrected what he says are erroneous interpretations of the Second Vatican Council, the 1962-65 meetings that modernized the church.
Benedict, who attended Vatican II as a young theologian, has long complained about what he considers the erroneous interpretation of the council by liberals, saying it was not a break from the past but rather a renewal of church tradition.
In the latest document — formulated as five questions and answers — the Vatican seeks to set the record straight on Vatican II’s ecumenical intent, saying some contemporary theological interpretation had been “erroneous or ambiguous” and had prompted confusion and doubt.
It restates key sections of a 2000 document the pope wrote when he was prefect of the congregation, “Dominus Iesus,” which set off a firestorm of criticism among Protestant and other Christian denominations because it said they were not true churches but merely ecclesial communities and therefore did not have the “means of salvation.”
In the new document and an accompanying commentary, which were released as the pope vacations here in Italy’s Dolomite mountains, the Vatican repeated that position.
“Christ ‘established here on earth’ only one church,” the document said. The other communities “cannot be called ‘churches’ in the proper sense” because they do not have apostolic succession — the ability to trace their bishops back to Christ’s original apostles.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
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I believe it! :)
Not again. The byline is 2007.
The mistranslations, etc. were hashed out over a year ago. This is from last year.
>>> There is a rumor that this could become a yearly event. <<
No, between the lines simply doesn’t know what year this is.
So Jesus is not enough? You must bow to the authority of Rome in order to get saved. Interesting little theory.
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Nobody's perfect. :)
BREAKING NEWS: THE POPE IS CATHOLIC!
(It’d be nice if the news got to the muddleheads who imagine Rome has fundamentally changed for the better, BUT....)
“MSNBC News Services
updated 9:52 a.m. ET, Tues., July. 10, 2007”
No agenda there /s
The MSM is trying to defuse the uproar over the UCF student and that Myers who swore to desecrate the Eucharist.
How better than to bring up old news and create a furor whereby people would be less willing to defend the church against intolerance by creating a viewpoint of intolerance.
I was fed this nonsense in the 60s as a non-Catholic student attending a Catholic private school in Nawlins so that I could get an education. I was required to attend religion classes and, when the instructor called on me to provide a different opinio as a non-Catholic, the other students would start mumbling stuff about me being an atheist, non-believer, etc., etc.
Like politicians who view politics as a means to grab power, the Catholic Church has tried to control religion as a means of power. The Pope is more than the leader and figurehead of the Catholic Church, in the Catholic religion, he is perceived to be the sole person on earth who has access to God.
I respect Catholics as much as I do those who practice other religions (with the exception of the cult of murder, oppression, cruelty and slvaery called Islam). However, on this issue, the Catholic Church remains rooted in the 4th century A.D.
“The Pope is more than the leader and figurehead of the Catholic Church, in the Catholic religion, he is perceived to be the sole person on earth who has access to God.”
Really, unequivocally WRONG.
Everyone on earth has access to God.
Some days are like that for me.
Wouldn’t any true believer think that he was a member of the Church created by Our Savior? That to the extent others disagreed on basic doctrine they were in error?
It’s Friday. We’ll all get over it. :)
So, you have seen my tagline. : )
I have now. :)
That's just it, though. Doctrine isn't just something we come up with off the cuff. Doctrine has a source - the Word of God. Rome claims that its traditions are on par with Scripture, but (amusingly) does so on the basis that Scripture says so in II Thessalonians 2:15 (which it doesn't of course, the "traditions" Paul mentions were orally preached analogs to the written truths appearing in his epistles). However, no professing church has any authority apart from the Word of God - The Bible defines what "the church" even is. The Word of God is what gives churches their authority to teach and preach and conduct matters internally within their own membership - not "tradition" (which can mean anything, and HAS meant just about anything over the past 1600 years of Catholicism). The measure of whether a professing Christian is doctrinally correct or not correct has nothing to do with whether they agree or disagree with some denomination or group. It is measured by how their theology stacks up against the Bible as it is systematically exegeted.
Ol’ Ratzenberger should watch out. There are some militant Amish factions that are not above invading Vatican City over this.
“Seems that I don’t know what the date is. I found this story under “top headlines’
I checked the dates of their “top headlines” and the articles, except for the one about the pope are all current within June and July of 2008. Odd.
Not all your fault.
Well I’d rather he say that than to try and say we’re all Christian brothers and sisters! At least that’s intellectually honest.
For whatever that’s worth!
Yup, Jesus established a single church ~ in Jerusalem!
Other churches were established by disciples in various places. The Pope owns one of ‘em.
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