"The enemy has, indeed, long been prowling about the fold and attacking it with such subtle cunning that now, more than ever before, the prediction of the Apostle to the elders of the Church of Ephesus seems to be verified: "I know that . . . fierce wolves will get in among you, and will not spare the flock."[1] Those who still are zealous for the glory of God are seeking the causes and reasons for this decline in religion. Coming to a different explanation, each points out, according to his own view, a different plan for the protection and restoration of the kingdom of God on earth. But it seems to Vs, Venerable Brethren, that while we should not overlook other considerations, We are forced to agree with those who hold that the chief cause of the present indifference and, as it were, infirmity of soul, and the serious evils that result from it, is to be found above all in ignorance of things divine. This is fully in accord with what God Himself declared through the Prophet Osee: "And there is no knowledge of God in the land. Cursing and lying and killing and theft and adultery have overflowed: and blood hath touched blood. Thereafter shall the land mourn, and everyone that dwelleth in it shall languish."
2. It is a common complaint, unfortunately too well founded, that there are large numbers of Christians in our own time who are entirely ignorant of those truths necessary for salvation. And when we mention Christians, We refer not only to the masses or to those in the lower walks of life - for these find some excuse for their ignorance in the fact that the demands of their harsh employers hardly leave them time to take care of themselves or of their dear ones - but We refer to those especially who do not lack culture or talents and, indeed, are possessed of abundant knowledge regarding things of the world but live rashly and imprudently with regard to religion. It is hard to find words to describe how profound is the darkness in which they are engulfed and, what is most deplorable of all, how tranquilly they repose there"
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“They went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would no doubt have remained with us; but that they may be manifest, that they are not all of us”. (1 John 2-9)
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Pope Eugene IV, Council of Florence, “Cantate Domino,” 1441, ex cathedra:
“The Holy Roman Church firmly believes, professes and preaches that all those who are outside the Catholic Church, not only pagans but also Jews or heretics and schismatics, cannot share in eternal life and will go into the everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels, unless they are joined to the Church before the end of their lives; that the unity of this ecclesiastical body is of such importance that only those who abide in it do the Church’s sacraments contribute to salvation and do fasts, almsgiving and other works of piety and practices of the Christian militia productive of eternal rewards; and that nobody can be saved, no matter how much he has given away in alms and even if he has shed blood in the name of Christ, unless he has persevered in the bosom and unity of the Catholic Church.”
Compare the dogmatic decree of 1441 Pope Eugene IV’s, Council of Florence, Cantate Domino, AND and “Christ Among Us”, by Fr. Anthony Wilhelm, the major religious text for Catholic High School students and for adult education in America. First published in 1967 by Paulist Press, it has sold over 2,000,000 copies)
Oil and Vinegar, the two will never mix.
Olive Oil Catholicism
Among adults there are few saved, because of the sins of the flesh....With exception of those who die in childhood, most men will be damned. (St. Remigius of Rheims)
If you only knew the women who will go to Hell because they did not bring into the world the children they should have given to it. ( St. John Vianney)
They who are to be saved as Saints, and wish to be saved as imperfect souls, shall not be saved. (Pope St. Gregory the Great)
A multitude of souls fall into the depths of Hell. (St. Anthony Mary Claret - It has been revealed that on the day St. Bernard their also died 79,999 other people, and of this total of 80,000 who died, only St. Bernard and two other monks were saved. So out of 80,000 dead, 79,999 went to Hell.
So vast a number of miserable souls perish, and so comparatively few are saved! (St. Philip Neri)
Scarcely anyone is saved. (St. Alphonsus Maria Liguori)
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Vinegar Catholicism
“There are other ways of being united to God besides baptism. Most of the human race has never heard of or cannot believe in Christ or baptism. As the world population increases, Christians become proportionately less. The Christian life begun by baptism is becoming more and more the privilege and responsibility of a few. Most of humanity is united with God in other ways. (op. cit., p. 199).
Many men come to God in this way through other, nonChristian religions ... So, too, one who cannot believe in a personal God, through no fault of his own, but is committed to following his conscience, receives God’s grace pre sence God lives within many unbelievers, though they may oppose him or those who try to work for him. (p.200).
Theology has no complete answer as to how, or even whether anyone may be damned forever.
(p. 289, Christ Among Us, by Fr. Anthony Wilhelm. The major religious text for Catholic High School students and for adult education in America. First published in 1967 by Paulist Press, it has sold over 2,000,000 copies)
unedited original:
DESIRE AND DECEPTION 119
The major religious text for Catholic High School students and for adult education in America was Christ Among Us, by the then Fr. Anthony Wilhelm, C.S.P. First published in 1967 by Paulist Press (ah, our old friends!), it has sold over 2,000,000 copies, although publication was switched to the secular firm of Harper and Row after the Vatican insisted Archbishop Gerety’s imprimatur be removed a few years ago. Your author will now share with his readers its insights on the question of salvation:
There are other ways of being united to God besides baptism. Most of the human race has never heard of or cannot believe in Christ or baptism. As the world population increases, Christians become proportionately less. The Christian life begun by baptism is becoming more and more the privilege and responsibility of a few. Most of humanity is united with God in other ways. (op. cit., p. 199).
Many men come to God in this way through other, nonChristian religions ... So, too, one who cannot believe in a personal God, through no fault of his own, but is committed to following his conscience, receives God’s grace pre
sence God lives within many unbelievers, though they may
oppose him or those who try to work for him. (p.200).
Theology has no complete answer as to how, or even whether anyone may be damned forever. (p. 289).
This heretical viewpoint, as even Rahner observed, has no basis in
Revelation. It is therefore all. Yet it is
dominant in most sectors of the Church today. It is an error which has
slithered all the way to the top, and carried in its train either denial or
trivialization of all other dogmas. So complete is its hold that most
Catholic commentary on earlier writers is informed by it, 6 la Brodrick.
Your author cites as a case in point the edition of Ven. Walter
Hilton quoted earlier, which, you may recall, records Hilton’s
opposition to the then novel notion that belief did not matter with
regard to salvation. Translator M. L. Del Masto’s footnotes on p. 350
to that section quoted are most revealing:
1. The position Hilton refutes here is now the orthodox one and goes under the name Baptism of Desire, though in his own time it was, at best, a probable opinion [probable? Your author must beg leave to differ considering the weight of the quoted authorities in the earlier chapters of this book]. I