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Pope: Other Christians not true churches
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| RJT |
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070710...eF12kn2fTjMWM0F
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LORENZAGO DI CADORE, Italy - 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. ADVERTISEMENT
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.
On Saturday, Benedict revisited another key aspect of Vatican II by reviving the old Latin Mass. Traditional Catholics cheered the move, but more liberal ones called it a step back from Vatican II.
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.
The Rev. Sara MacVane of the Anglican Centre in Rome, said there was nothing new in the document.
"I don't know what motivated it at this time," she said. "But it's important always to point out that there's the official position and there's the huge amount of friendship and fellowship and worshipping together that goes on at all levels, certainly between Anglican and Catholics and all the other groups and Catholics."
The document said Orthodox churches were indeed "churches" because they have apostolic succession and that they enjoyed "many elements of sanctification and of truth." But it said they lack something because they do not recognize the primacy of the pope — a defect, or a "wound" that harmed them, it said.
"This is obviously not compatible with the doctrine of primacy which, according to the Catholic faith, is an 'internal constitutive principle' of the very existence of a particular church," the commentary said.
Despite the harsh tone of the document, it stresses that Benedict remains committed to ecumenical dialogue.
"However, if such dialogue is to be truly constructive, it must involve not just the mutual openness of the participants but also fidelity to the identity of the Catholic faith," the commentary said.
The document, signed by the congregation prefect, U.S. Cardinal William Levada, was approved by Benedict on June 29, the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul — a major ecumenical feast day.
There was no indication about why the pope felt it necessary to release the document, particularly since his 2000 document summed up the same principles. Some analysts suggested it could be a question of internal church politics, or that it could simply be an indication of Benedict using his office as pope to again stress key doctrinal issues from his time at the congregation. |
Don't know how I feel about this - and admittedly don't understand it completely yet, but in general, I think it's probably pretty unfortunate that for whatever reason Benedict feels a need to "reinterpret" Vatican 2, and somewhat publicly posture himself as the supreme religious figure on the planet.
Meh. |
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| all-nite-freak |
typical German
heil hitler |
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| Sunsnail |
Those priests should read Matthews 23:9
"And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven."
It makes it pretty clear that god doesn't want anyone to be called father. :mad: |
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| Andryuha |
| Eh, this guy is not well in the head. I realized that when he stated that people should use test tube babies (because that's God's gift :rolleyes: ) instead of sex to reproduce. |
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| RJT |
| quote: | Originally posted by Andryuha
Eh, this guy is not well in the head. I realized that when he stated that people should use test tube babies (because that's God's gift :rolleyes: ) instead of sex to reproduce. |
Please point me to where he said such things?
There was a story that made national news last year regarding a very close friend of my family (and my sisters teacher) who was fired by the diocese of Green Bay solely because the practice of making "test tube babies" is against Catholic doctrine... |
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| stren |
| quote: | Originally posted by all-nite-freak
typical German
heil hitler |
yeah, Hitler wasn't German |
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| washout |
| quote: | Originally posted by RJT
and somewhat publicly posture himself as the supreme religious figure on the planet. |
| quote: | Originally posted by Sunsnail
Those priests should read Matthews 23:9
"And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven." |
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| all-nite-freak |
| quote: | Originally posted by stren
yeah, Hitler wasn't German |
i'll be damned to hell before i recognize holes like poland and austria as independent nations.... |
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| stren |
| quote: | Originally posted by all-nite-freak
i'll be damned to hell before i recognize holes like poland and austria as independent nations.... |
ignorant Yankee :rolleyes: |
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| Marc Summers |
| I guess it doesn't matter that the head of the Russian orthodox church was at the pope john paul II funeral? They obviously respected the man, now the new pope is pooping on them. :o |
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| all-nite-freak |
| quote: | Originally posted by stren
ignorant Yankee :rolleyes: |
lol...ya because they make lightbulb jokes about canadians perogiface
the only reason you are on this planet is because your moms birth control pills kept falling out. |
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| Moral Hazard |
| There goes my pope again, making me shake my head in confusion. One true church... WTF, someone please explain to me how the pope can claim succession of bishops from Peter within the Holy See when the Roman Catholic church did not come into existance until hundreds of years after Peter's death. Furthermore, this succession would seem to be based entirely on the fact that successive bishops studied their faith in accordance with the counsel of Nicea... if this is the case then subsequent churchs should be viewed as equally valid as the fathers of the reformation were all Catholic prior to their splitting from the Vatican structure... as catholics they also would have studied their faith and practiced it as perscribed by Nicea. It seems intellectually dishonest to suggest that just because one group has a different interpretation of the faith that they are outright wrong when the Vatican itself reinterprets and alters it's beliefs overtime. Oh Benny, you're really taking us backwards here... an odd move for someone who views his mission as reviving faith in the modern world. |
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