To: Tantumergo
Here is what Cardinal Ratzinger himself has said:
"When the council fathers replaced the word "is" with the word "subsistit," they did so for a very precise reason. The concept expressed by "is" (to be) is far broader than that expressed by "to subsist." "To subsist" is a very precise way of being, that is, to be as a subject, which exists in itself. Thus the Council fathers meant to say that the being of the Church as such is a broader entity than the Roman Catholic Church, but within the latter it acquires, in an incomparable way, the charater of a true and proper subject." L'Osservatore Romano, October 8, 2000.
In this quote by the Cardinal, it should be noted that when he uses the phrase "the Church" he means something broader than "the Catholic Church." He means the "Church of Christ" which includes, according to him, the Orthodox churches and other Christian bodies.
To: ultima ratio
Not for the first time, Ratzinger has issued apparently contradictory teaching. This is what he had to say on the subject in 1985:
"....In order to justify [his position], L. Boff appeals to the constitution Lumen Gentium n.8 of the Second Vatican Council. From the Council's famous statement, "Haec ecclesia (sc. unica Christi ecclesia) Catholica subsistit in ecclesia Catholica ( This Church---namely the sole Church of Christ---subsists in the Catholic Church) he derives a thesis which is exactly contrary to the authentic meaning of the council text, for he affirms: 'In fact it (sc. the sole Church of Christ) may also be present in other Christian churches' (p.75). But the Council had chosen the word subsitit---subsists--exactly in order to make it clear that the ONE SOLE "SUBSISTENCE" of the true Church exists, whereas outside her visible structure only 'elementae ecclesia'--elements of the Church exist: these being elements of the same Church tend and conduct toward the Catholic Church (Lumen gentium 8). The decree on ecumenism expressed the same doctrine (Unitatis redintegratio 3,4) and it was restated in Mysterium Ecclesiae." ---(U.S. Catholic Conference Documentary Service, April 4, 1985, Vol. 14, No. 42, pp 685, 686"
He clearly affirms Catholic doctrine here by noting that there is "one sole subsistence" of the Church which exists ONLY in the Catholic Church and consequently only "elements of the Church" can exist outside her visible structure. This latter is self-evident as even Feeneyites admit that pagans can validly baptise.
"when he uses the phrase "the Church" he means something broader than "the Catholic Church." He means the "Church of Christ" which includes, according to him, the Orthodox churches and other Christian bodies."
This is not at all evident from the context of the quote you have given. He means something broader than the "Roman Catholic Church" which again is self-evident. The Church also consists of about 20 different Greek Catholic Churches. If he did mean to include non-Catholic bodies, then I would have to disagree with him.
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