That response didn't really address the idea of no salvation outside the Church, he just said those "Feeneyites" are basically nuts!
On the surface, I would have to agree! After all, who in the world thinks that if someone is not in the Catholic Church, they're not going to Heaven? Maybe those Feeneyites are nuts!
Come on now... what about that stupid, oh, I mean that "ignorant" native on the remote desert island? If he never heard of the Catholic Church, or that he has to become a Catholic, then why should he worry about not getting to Heaven? All he has to do is to follow the Natural Law, and live up to what his conscience tells him to do, then he too, will make it to that heavenly beatitude, right?
I guess the Feeneyites take what the Church has defined dogmatically, and misinterpret it to their own destruction (a paraphrase of St. Peter referring to the unlearned wresting the Scriptures to their own destruction).
So, if the Church defined something that is binding on the conscience of all Catholics to believe, under penalty of anathema, then ALL Catholics MUST believe it!
That makes sense to me...
In fact, the Church defined that dogma, not once, not twice, but three times over the course of a couple of hundred years, by several popes and councils. But if the Feeneyites got it wrong, then they got it wrong not once, not twice, but three times!
But how can this be???
First, when a dogma is defined, how is one to interpret it??
The answer is almost too simple, but I'll explain...
1) The words themselves used to define a dogma is the meaning.
2) If there was another interpretation of a dogma (the words); another way to figure it out, so to speak, then THAT would have to be explained and interpreted again to clarify the first time the words of the dogma were issued. That could get very confusing, because the "dogma" would then be open to other interpretations, and so on, and so on, ad infinitum...
3) So, to recap, the words are the formula, and the formula has to be clear without confusion. It can be understood better, perhaps, but not re-interpreted to glean another meaning, if that were the case, then it wouldn't be a DOGMA, period.
In any event, I find it hard to see how those Feeneyites got it wrong three times. Maybe it's me, I don't know...
But I look at it this way... If one DOESN'T have to be a Catholic in order to be saved, then Our Lord died an excruciating, unnecessary death on the Cross for no reason. That means that a druid, a witch, Buddha, tree-worshippers, pagans and the like can get to Heaven too, so long as they listen to their conscience and live up to the Natural Law (same as that ignorant native!). That implies, too, that they don't have to be Baptized either. However, unless a man is born again of WATER and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven (St. John, Chapter 3;5).
That makes perfect sense, because without Baptism, then Original Sin is still on the soul, and by its nature, Original Sin is mortal, in other words, the soul is not in a state of grace; it is not in a state of JUSTIFICATION.
One last thought on Baptism... When referring to Baptism, the Council of Trent used the word for VOW, not desire, that may get a soul into a state of JUSTIFICATION, but certainly not salvation. As an example, I can "desire" a brand new F-150 truck -- so what? But if I make a VOW to buy that truck, then I'll do my best to save my money to buy that truck.
And, they don't have to eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood in order to have life in them -- really? (St. John, Chapter Six -- read it all, it's very revealing regarding the Bread of Heaven; the Eucharist).
I think that one reason some Catholics seem to think that those two great Sacraments are not necessary for Justification -- and Salvation, is because of that train-wreck of the Second Vatican Council and its aftermath: rampant Modernism, poor catechesis, along with the near-destruction of the sacred Liturgy: the bedrock of the Mass! The law of praying is the law of believing, and uncountable saints were made through that Traditional Liturgy. Plus, the sublime Mass of all time, especially the Eucharist, gave courage, and strengthened the martyrs to face their persecution to the death.
It was Pope St. Pius X, that said that Modernism is the synthesis of all heresies, and condemned such. If that is the case, and it seems to be very apparent these days that it is, especially what comes out of the Vatican almost on a daily basis, as the Modernists are in complete control, and have been for far too many years, going way back BEFORE Vat. II.
In light of these data, I guess that maybe the Feeneyites were right all along??
If the core dogma of the Church is undermined, then all hell could break loose; and it has!
By the way, I am a "Feeneyite"...
Fr. Feeney, pray for us...
Viva Cristo Rey! Fr. Miguel Pro, Pray for us...
Gene DeLalla
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