Ecumenical A:
Rome speaks of herself:
And what does the Catholic Church say about itself? The Second Vatican Council very deliberately and after much debate said that the church of Jesus Christ subsists in the Catholic Church in a singular way, in a way that is not true of others, except, as we shall see, with respect to the Orthodox. It did not say, “The church of Jesus Christ is the Catholic Church” or, obversely, that “the Catholic Church is the church of Jesus Christ” but that the church of Jesus Christ subsists in the Catholic Church. Do you want to know where the church of Jesus Christ, as Christ intended it, apostolically ordered, and so understood from the beginning, from the first and second and third centuries, from the very constituting self-defining moments—do you want to know where that is to be found? It is to be found in the Catholic Church.
To put it differently, what does the Catholic Church claim? That it is the church of Jesus Christ most fully and rightly ordered through time. So says the great constitution on the church, Lumen Gentium. It follows that if one believes what the Catholic Church says of itself to be true, then he is obliged to enter into and remain in communion with the Catholic Church.
The Catholic Church readily recognizes that the fullness of the saving and sanctifying grace of God is not limited to the Catholic Church. All of those, says the Second Vatican Council, who are baptized and believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are truly but imperfectly in communion with the Catholic Church. Many of our non-Catholic friends don’t appreciate that formulation. They say, “You are converting us by definition. Thanks but no thanks. If I want to be converted, I’ll make the decision.” I understand that response, but there is a flipside to it. For if all who are baptized and believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are truly but imperfectly in communion with the Catholic Church, then all Catholics are truly but imperfectly in communion with all of their other brothers and sisters in Christ. So it cuts both ways. “That They May Be One.”
- Fr. Richard John Richard Neuhuas
To put it differently, what does the Catholic Church claim? That it is the church of Jesus Christ most fully and rightly ordered through time. So says the great constitution on the church, Lumen Gentium. It follows that if one believes what the Catholic Church says of itself to be true, then he is obliged to enter into and remain in communion with the Catholic Church.
The Catholic Church readily recognizes that the fullness of the saving and sanctifying grace of God is not limited to the Catholic Church. All of those, says the Second Vatican Council, who are baptized and believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are truly but imperfectly in communion with the Catholic Church. Many of our non-Catholic friends don’t appreciate that formulation. They say, “You are converting us by definition. Thanks but no thanks. If I want to be converted, I’ll make the decision.” I understand that response, but there is a flipside to it. For if all who are baptized and believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are truly but imperfectly in communion with the Catholic Church, then all Catholics are truly but imperfectly in communion with all of their other brothers and sisters in Christ. So it cuts both ways. “That They May Be One.”
- Fr. Richard John Richard Neuhuas
posted by MM at 9:56 PM
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