The Diabolical Insanity of the Vatican’s New Book About Methodist and Pseudo-Catholic Dialogue

The Remnant Newspaper ^ | December 16, 2025 | Robert Morrison

[ebb tide]

The Diabolical Insanity of the Vatican’s New Book About Methodist and Pseudo-Catholic Dialogue

The Vatican recently published a short book about the progress of ecumenical dialogue between Catholics and Methodists, "We Believe in One God". This recent work of diabolical disorientation ought to be a wake-up call for all serious Catholics to unambiguously denounce the false ecumenical movement that has thrived for sixty years.

As reported by OSV News, the Vatican publishing house recently released a short book about the progress of ecumenical dialogue between Catholics and Methodists, We Believe in One God: Sixty Years of Methodists and Catholics Walking Together:

“Celebrating almost six decades of Catholic-Methodist theological dialogue, the Vatican publishing house has released a book summarizing the issues dialogue members have agreed on and briefly outlined the issues where work is ongoing. The book, ‘We Believe in One God: 60 Years of Methodists and Catholics Walking Together,’ is based on the results of 11 reports produced by the Methodist-Roman Catholic International Commission since its formal dialogue began back in 1967.”

A few themes from the book are worth exploring in detail because they help us understand the true significance of many of the most disturbing developments in Rome for the past sixty years. In general, though, we can judge this book by its cover, which “features a detail from the Resurrection Window at the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, and includes images of St. John XXIII, John Wesley [the founder of the Methodist religion], Teresa of Avila and others.” Like the stained glass window’s depiction of Catholics and Protestants artificially grouped together with no connection to reality, the book reflects sixty years of artificial attempts to harmonize Catholic and Methodist thought with no connection to reality.

It is worth pausing here to reflect on the diabolical cruelty of this message. Who benefits from spreading the message that there may not be eternal punishment for those who die in a state of mortal sin? Only Satan and the enemies of Christianity win by persuading souls that Jesus and the Church were wrong on this all-important matter.

Some Catholics may not be familiar with John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist religion featured alongside John XXIII and St. Teresa of Avila on the book’s cover. The following description from the United Methodist Church website gives us a glimpse of Mr. Wesley, which ties to discussions from the new book:

“Aldersgate Day is celebrated on May 24 (or the Sunday closest) to commemorate the day in 1738 when John Wesley experienced assurance of his salvation. Wesley reluctantly attended a group meeting that evening on Aldersgate Street in London. As he heard a reading from Luther's Preface to the Epistle to the Romans, he felt his ‘heart strangely warmed.’ Wesley wrote in his journal that at about 8:45 p.m. ‘while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.’”

So Mr. Wesley was listening to a reading from the works of Martin Luther in 1738 when his heart felt “strangely warmed,” which he interpreted as an assurance that he was saved. As foreign as this may sound to Catholic belief, the new book informs us that Catholics are edified by Mr. Wesley’s assurance of God’s saving presence:

“There are evident similarities between John Wesley and the mainstream Catholic spirituality. . . . Both Catholics and Methodists have found an edifying example in John Wesley’s deeply personal experience of having his heart ‘strangely warmed’ by the assurance of God’s saving presence.” (Paragraph 48)

Catholics might be excused for failing to realize that they should be edified by Mr. Wesley’s strangely warmed heart. After all, the sentiment generally contradicts what the Council of Trent’s Decree on Justification had to say about whether we ought to feel assurances about our salvation:

“No one moreover, so long as he lives in this mortal state, ought so far to presume concerning the secret mystery of divine predestination, as to decide for certain that he is assuredly in the number of the predestined [can. 15], as if it were true that he who is justified either cannot sin any more [can. 23], or if he shall have sinned, that he ought to promise himself an assured reformation. For except by special revelation, it cannot be known whom God has chosen for Himself [can. 16].” (Denzinger 805)

The problem with relying too much on a “strangely warmed” sensation that we are saved is that such a presumption puts us at greater risk of experiencing an infinitely hotter sensation for eternity, as Jesus warned us:

“If any one abide not in Me, he shall be cast forth as a branch, and shall wither, and they shall gather him up, and cast him into the fire, and he burneth.”  (John 15:6)

This danger of eternal damnation does not apply solely to wretched heathens — St. Paul himself made it clear that he could lose his soul if he did not bring his sinful passions into subjection:

“But I chastise my body, and bring it into subjection: lest perhaps, when I have preached to others, I myself should become a castaway.” (1 Corinthians 9:27)

If St. Paul was so deeply concerned that he could suffer eternal damnation, even after having preached the Gospel to others, who among us can hope to avoid eternal damnation if we become presumptuous about our salvation? As it turns out, the new book offers us an unexpected answer:

“While human beings can choose to sever their relationship with God, Catholics and Methodists consider it appropriate to hope that no one will be eternally damned.” (Paragraph 202)

It is worth pausing here to reflect on the diabolical cruelty of this message. Who benefits from spreading the message that there may not be eternal punishment for those who die in a state of mortal sin? Only Satan and the enemies of Christianity win by persuading souls that Jesus and the Church were wrong on this all-important matter.

Pius XII would not have considered Methodists and other Protestants as members of the Mystical Body of Christ because they do not profess the true faith and are separated “from the unity of the Body.” Again, it is truly charitable to insist on this Catholic truth because it tends to encourage Protestants to become Catholic. 

The diabolical cruelty is even more clear when we recall that Blessed Pius IX condemned the following statement in his Syllabus of Errors:

“Good hope at least is to be entertained of the eternal salvation of all those who are not at all in the true Church of Christ.”

The Church still condemns this statement, even though the proponents of Vatican II’s ecumenical mission have spent the past sixty years teaching that we should have good hope that Protestants are saved (which is surely why John XXIII is in the Methodist stained glass window from the new book’s cover). It is a matter of true charity for the Church to tell non-Catholics that their heretical and schismatic religions cannot save them — they can potentially be saved in their false religion in circumstances that are likely rare, but not by their false religion. Thus, it is astoundingly wicked for the Vatican to suggest that Protestant religions will save their adherents.

Throughout the new book, though, we find statements suggesting that Catholics and Methodists are both on the path of pleasing God and saving their souls:

• “For both our communions, what is believed is a matter of glad assurance, leading to a path of faith to be followed. What is believed and affirmed in common must be embodied in the life both of the believer and the community of faith.” (Paragraph 29)
• “We joyfully affirm together that the ministries and institutions of our two communions are means of grace by which the Risen Christ in person leads, guides, teaches and sanctifies his church on its pilgrim path.” (Paragraph 144)
• “Methodists and Catholics affirm together the crucial importance of ‘heart religion,’ since we agree that Christianity is a communion of believers, a ‘fellowship with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ’ (1 John 1:1-3). We form a mystical body whose Head is Christ.” (Paragraph 47)

This latter paragraph from the new book is particularly stunning because it boldly contradicts what Pius XII wrote in his 1943 encyclical on the Mystical Body of Christ, Mystici Corporis Christi. In that encyclical, Pius XII wrote that the Catholic Church is the Mystical Body of Christ, whose members are limited to those who profess the true faith:

“Actually only those are to be included as members of the Church who have been baptized and profess the true faith, and who have not been so unfortunate as to separate themselves from the unity of the Body, or been excluded by legitimate authority for grave faults committed.”

Pius XII would not have considered Methodists and other Protestants as members of the Mystical Body of Christ because they do not profess the true faith and are separated “from the unity of the Body.” Again, it is truly charitable to insist on this Catholic truth because it tends to encourage Protestants to become Catholic. 

The Methodists are not to blame for the new book. Rather, the pseudo-Catholics who hijack our religion to make peace with the Church’s enemies are to blame because they should know better.

Abandoning pre-Vatican II teaching about Protestant religions has also led to a violation of what Pius XI wrote in his 1928 encyclical on religious unity, Mortalium Animos:

“This being so, it is clear that the Apostolic See cannot on any terms take part in their assemblies, nor is it anyway lawful for Catholics either to support or to work for such enterprises; for if they do so they will be giving countenance to a false Christianity, quite alien to the one Church of Christ.”

Pius XI made it clear that Catholics cannot take part in the assembles of Protestants. Here, however, is what the new book tells us:

• Methodists and Catholics welcome one another to attend their celebrations of the Eucharist, and we agree that receiving Holy Communion is both a sign of existing unity and a means towards the greater unity of the church, but they are not agreed on the unity in faith required for admission to Communion.” (Paragraph 118)
• “Opportunities to experience each other’s liturgical rites would help dispel misunderstanding about our respective practices and their meaning.” (Paragraph 123)

This is a two-fold scandal: it encourages Catholics to violate Pius XI’s prohibitions on taking part in the assemblies of non-Catholics, and it sends the message that the Catholic Church has changed its teaching on this crucial matter. This latter scandal is perhaps most devastating because if the Church appears to change its teaching on matters like this, then many other teachings can readily fall as well.

The new book even describes the supposed theological justification for how and why settled teachings could eventually change:

“The whole church is endowed with the Spirit of Truth, and it is the whole church, in different ways and through different gifts, that the Spirit leads into all truth. Catholics and Methodists both understand that the whole church must be involved in discernment and teaching under the leadership of the Holy Spirit. Lay people and ordained ministers share this responsibility, but in different ways. Both communions understand that while the gift of discernment belongs to the whole church, ordained ministers in the due exercise of their office play a special role.” (Paragraph 156)

This is essentially what the Synod on Synodality says about the sensus fidei of all Christians:

“Through Baptism, ‘the holy People of God has a share, too, in the prophetic role of Christ, when it renders Him a living witness, especially through a life of faith and charity’ (LG 12). The anointing by the Holy Spirit received at Baptism (cf. 1 Jn 2:20.27) enables all believers to possess an instinct for the truth of the Gospel. We refer to this as the sensus fidei. This consists in a certain connaturality with divine realities based on the fact that, in the Holy Spirit, the Baptised become ‘sharers [participants] in the divine nature’ (DV 2). From this participation comes the aptitude to grasp intuitively what conforms to the truth of Revelation in the communion of the Church. This is the reason why the Church is certain that the holy People of God cannot err in matters of belief. . . . All Christians participate in the sensus fidei through Baptism.” (Final Document of the October 2024 session of the Synod on Synodality)

As nice as this may sound, it is all a blasphemous hoax. It is self-evident that we cannot look to non-Catholics for any reliable indication of Catholic truth. If we need two simple illustrations of this, we can merely consider Methodist views on same-sex marriage and abortion discussed in the new book:

• “For Catholics, marriage is between a man and a woman, while some Methodists allow marriage between people of the same sex.” (Paragraph 125)
• “Our two churches are confronted with complex moral issues relating to abortion, and with wide differences between them in their teaching and interpretation which will require attention in our future dialogue.” (Paragraph 184)

Methodists do not share Catholic views on these two matters, and many others, about which the Bible provides clear guidance. How, then, can we possibly say that the Holy Ghost guides Catholics and Protestants so that they cannot err in matters of belief? Clearly Catholics and Protestants cannot both be right on matters about which they disagree!

Even though the book refrains from calling out the real sins that Methodists accept, it does not hesitate to condemn the imaginary sins against the globalist agenda:

“A further expression of social holiness is care for the earth, God’s gift, our common home. . . . By degrading the biosphere, human beings have committed ‘ecological sins.’ These sins harm the non-human creation and the poor, whose social marginalization leaves them vulnerable to rapid ecological changes.” (Paragraph 191)

So the pseudo-Catholic authors of the new book could not declare that it is a sin to kill babies in the womb but they emphatically denounced sins against “non-human creation.”

If we want help identifying the tree that has produced this diabolical disorientation, we need look no further than the first sentence of the new book’s preface, signed by a Methodist professor and Archbishop Shane Macinlay:

“Following the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) and a decision made at the World Methodist Council in 1966, the Methodist-Roman Catholic International Commission (MERCIC) — more formally called the Joint International Commission between the World Methodist Council and the Roman Catholic Church — was established in 1967.”

Without Vatican II, there would be no basis whatsoever for Catholics to accept any of the diabolical disorientation in the new book. Today though — after  “Sixty Years of Methodists and Catholics Walking Together”—an overwhelming portion of the clergy (apparently including Leo XIV) now finds no reason to complain about false ecumenism, presumably because it was blessed by John XXIII and his Council.

This is why only Traditional Catholics are persecuted by Rome — because those who adhere to what the Church has always taught know that all of this is blasphemous nonsense. Ultimately, we stand in the way of the dumbed-down, lowest common denominator religion that is currently embodied by the Synodal Church and described in the new book. This is why it is so important to insist on the unadulterated Catholic Faith. Even a seemingly minor concession — such as accepting false ecumenism on the basis that it has thrived since Vatican II — cripples Catholic defenses against the Church’s enemies.

The Methodists are not to blame for the new book. Rather, the pseudo-Catholics who hijack our religion to make peace with the Church’s enemies are to blame because they should know better. This recent work of diabolical disorientation ought to be a wake-up call for all serious Catholics to unambiguously denounce the false ecumenical movement that has thrived for sixty years. Those Catholics who refuse to stand with what the Church taught prior to Vatican II are setting themselves up to stand with Martin Luther, John Wesley, and Henry VIII on the Day of Judgment. Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us!

[ebb tide]

Ping

[Tell It Right]

I 100% get the disdain the Catholic author has over Catholic leaders wanting to be buddy buddy with the hedonist pushing modern United Methodists. But I don’t get throwing so much shade on John Wesley. Wesley’s teachings had a major impact in the later Holiness Movement. Don’t get me wrong. He was still Protestant, including the teaching of being saved by grace, not works. But his heavy emphasis on inward holiness (Wesley’s words) until you’re living it like ya mean it is, IMHO, the kind of teaching that you’d think Catholic leaders would use as an example of ecumenicism.

[roving]

The Catholic Church needs to stay in their own lane. I want nothing to do with them. They preach heresy.

[MurrietaMadman]

I think the hierarchy has been working on a bigger, five year plan

I mean, it looks serious.

[nanetteclaret]

The problem with ecumenism is that eventually everyone will believe the same and - Voilà! A One World Religion!

[ebb tide]

I want nothing to do with them.

That's your choice; as did Lucifer have a choice.

[Old Yeller]

He was still Protestant, including the teaching of being saved by grace, not works.

You mean Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves. It is a gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

[Texas_Guy]

Forget James chapter 2?

Of course! The sons of Luther always forget.

[Old Yeller]

Forget James chapter 2?

That Romanists always take out of context.

[ebb tide]

The heretics think nothing of taking Ephesians out of context.

[Old Yeller]

Read it and learn. From gotquestions.org

It is entirely true that the one verse in the Bible that contains the exact phrase “faith alone” seems to argue against salvation by faith alone. James 2:24 reads, “You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone” (ESV). However, rejecting the doctrine of salvation by faith alone based on this verse has two major problems. First, the context of James 2:24 is not arguing against the doctrine of salvation by faith alone. Second, the Bible does not need to contain the precise phrase “faith alone” in order to clearly teach salvation by faith alone.

James 2:14–26, as a whole, and especially verse 24, has been the subject of some confused interpretations. The passage definitely seems to cause serious problems for the “salvation by faith alone” concept. First, we need to clear up a misconception, namely, that James means the same thing by “justified” in James 2:24 that Paul means in Romans 3:28. Paul is using the word justified to mean “declared righteous by God.” Paul is speaking of God’s legal declaration of us as righteous as Christ’s righteousness is applied to our account. James is using the word justified to mean “being demonstrated and proved.”

The 2011 NIV provides an excellent rendering of James 2:24: “You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone” (emphasis added). Similarly, the NLT translation of James 2:24 reads, “So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone” (emphasis added). The entire James 2:14–26 passage is about proving the genuineness of your faith by what you do. A genuine salvation experience by faith in Jesus Christ will inevitably result in good works (cf. Ephesians 2:10). The works are the demonstration and proof of faith (James 2:18). A faith without works is useless (James 2:20) and dead (James 2:17); in other words, it is not true faith at all. Salvation is by faith alone, but that faith will never be alone.

While James 2:24 is the only verse that contains the precise phrase “faith alone,” there are many other verses that do, in fact, teach salvation by faith alone. Any verse that ascribes salvation to faith/belief, with no other requirement mentioned, is a declaration that salvation is by faith alone. John 3:16 declares that salvation is given to “whoever believes in Him.” Acts 16:31proclaims, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.” Ephesians 2:8 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith.” See also Romans 3:28; 4:5; 5:1; Galatians 2:16; 3:24; Ephesians 1:13; and Philippians 3:9. Many other verses could be referenced in addition to these.

In summary, James 2:24 does not argue against salvation by faith alone. Rather, it argues against a salvation that is alone, a salvation devoid of good works and obedience to God’s Word. James’s point is that we demonstrate our faith by what we do (James 2:18). Regardless of the absence of the precise phrase “faith alone,” the New Testament definitely teaches that salvation is the product of God’s grace in respownse to our faith. “Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? . . . On that of faith” (Romans 3:27). There is no other requirement.

[ebb tide]

Nope. I don’t read dishonest heretical websites.

[hinckley buzzard]

Paul said a lot of things, depending on the needs of the church he was addressing at the time. According to Matthew 25, Jesus Christ said, simply, those who fed the hungry, gave drink to the thirsty, clothed the naked, visited the prisoner, welcomed the stranger, tended the sick, would be welcomed into eternal life, as these acts were done to Him.

[ebb tide]

The Church teaches that faith alone is not sufficient for salvation. While faith is necessary, it must be accompanied by good works. The following points summarize the Church's teaching on this matter:

1. Faith and Works: Faith alone will not save us without good works. It is emphasized that "faith, if it have not works, is dead" (V17 Geiermann The Converts Catechism of Catholic Doctrine 1910 32:2).

2. St. James' Teaching: The Church cites St. James, who states, "Do you see how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only?" (V5 Burke A Catechism Moral and Controversial 1752 207:3).

3. St. Paul’s Clarification: St. Paul’s teachings are interpreted to mean that while faith is essential, it must be a faith that works through charity. He does not advocate for justification by faith alone (V5 Burke A Catechism Moral and Controversial 1752 207:4).

4. Council of Trent: The doctrine that faith alone is sufficient for justification has been condemned by the Council of Trent, which states that good works are requisite for justification alongside faith (V8 Frassinetti A Dogmatic Catechism 1872 118:2).

5. Overall Teaching: The Church asserts that true faith involves belief in God and adherence to His commandments, which includes performing good works as an expression of that faith (V17 Cafferata The Catechism Simply Explained 1932 198:1).

In conclusion, the Church does not support the notion of salvation by faith alone, emphasizing the necessity of good works in conjunction with faith.

[Governor Dinwiddie]

There was a schism in that denomination. What was left were "Rainbow Methodists",
the weirdest of the weird. Who knows which group the Vatican is courting.

[daniel1212]

100% get the disdain the Catholic author has over Catholic leaders wanting to be buddy buddy with the hedonist pushing modern United Methodists. But I don’t get throwing so much shade on John Wesley. Wesley’s teachings had a major impact in the later Holiness Movement.

You are referring to:

Catholics might be excused for failing to realize that they should be edified by Mr. Wesley’s strangely warmed heart. After all, the sentiment generally contradicts what the Council of Trent’s Decree on Justification had to say about whether we ought to feel assurances about our salvation:

“No one moreover, so long as he lives in this mortal state, ought so far to presume concerning the secret mystery of divine predestination, as to decide for certain that he is assuredly in the number of the predestined

That "shade" actually manifest darkness on the side of the elitist RC, as "strangely warmed heart" is not referring to assuredly in the number of the predestined, meaning they will not fall away into reprobation, as Paul etc. warned of, thereby forfeiting what faith obtained. , (1 Co. 9:27; Gal. 5:1-4; Heb. 3:12; 10:25-39; 2 Peter 1:9, etc.) For the "strangely warmed heart" refers to Wesley’s profound spiritual awakening (which very very few Catholics experience), by effectual penitent, heart-purifying ("purifying their hearts by faith"), regenerating, justifying faith in the Sin-bearing, Atoning, Crucified and Risen Divine Son of God, (Acts 10:43-47, 11:13-18, 15:7-9; Titus 3:5) who saves sinners on His merit, (2 Cor. 5:21) and which faith is counted for righteousness. (Rm. 4:5)

https://wesleygospel.com/2025/05/15/biblical-arguments-against-eternal-security-john-wesley-and-charles-finney/ states,

John Wesley, Serious Thoughts Upon the Perseverance of the Saints. Using the Bible, he maintains the view that true converts can lose the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit; and hence lose the saving, justifying, and sanctifying grace of the Spirit, by willingly consenting to temptation and consciously reversing repentance, rejecting the substitutionary atonement that they trusted in before–the most important aspect of apostasy, and by rebelling against God after previously walking with him (Hebrews 6:4-6, 10:26-29; 2 Peter 2:20-22; 1 Timothy 1:19)

More shade by Catholics in the dark, for whom their church itself is an object of faith, by whose treasury of merit even proabortion, prohomosexual public figures whom Rome manifestly considers being members in life and in death (showing the Vatican's understanding of canon law) may finally enter glory, is this line:

Those Catholics who refuse to stand with what the Church taught prior to Vatican II are setting themselves up to stand with Martin Luther, John Wesley, and Henry VIII on the Day of Judgment. Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us!

Besides the Holy Spirit never recording any believer ever praying to anyone else in Heaven but God, then seeing as Wesley preached high holiness, and lived so, and Luther formally taught salvation by fruit bearing faith, while Catholics have long testified to being far more liberal than those who strongly esteem Scripture as the accurate and wholly God-inspired word of God, with its literal sense in historical and miraculous accounts, then Catholicism (and United Methodists) can only wish its members were as intent upon morality, and conservative.

It is telling that Prots denominations that are closest to Rome are also the most liberal.

However, as said, since the unscriptural RCC is itself and object of faith, then those without are to be attacked, no matter how holy.

[daniel1212]

Forget James chapter 2? Of course! The sons of Luther always forget.

Not Luther here:

faith is a living and an essential thing, which makes a new creature of man, changes his spirit...

Faith cannot help doing good works constantly... if faith be true, it will break forth and bear fruit... where there is no faith there also can be no good works; and conversely, that there is no faith.. where there are no good works. Therefore faith and good works should be so closely joined together that the essence of the entire Christian life consists in both.

if obedience and God's commandments do not dominate you, then the work is not right, but damnable, surely the devil's own doings, although it were even so great a work as to raise the dead... if you continue in pride and lewdness, in greed and anger, and yet talk much of faith, St. Paul will come and say, 1 Cor. 4:20, look here my dear Sir, "the kingdom of God is not in word but in power." It requires life and action, and is not brought about by mere talk.

Works are necessary for salvation, but they do not cause salvation... “This is why St. Luke and St. James have so much to say about works, so that one says: Yes, I will now believe, and then he goes and fabricates for himself a fictitious delusion, which hovers only on the lips as the foam on the water. No, no; faith is a living and an essential thing, which makes a new creature of man, changes his spirit and wholly and completely converts him. It goes to the foundation and there accomplishes a renewal of the entire man; so, if I have previously seen a sinner, I now see in his changed conduct, manner and life, that he believes. So high and great a thing is faith.”...

faith casts itself on God, and breaks forth and becomes certain through its works... faith must be exercised, worked and polished; be purified by fire...

it is impossible for him who believes in Christ, as a just Savior, not to love and to do good. If, however, he does not do good nor love, it is sure that faith is not present...

where the works are absent, there is also no Christ... More

[ebb tide]

Pimping your own website again.

What a joke.

[BipolarBob]

Reminds me of that song. “Give me that one world religion, give me that one world religion, it’s good enough for me. “