MEMBERSHIP IN THE CHURCH
Vatican II, in its <Decree on Ecumenism> #11 taught: "It is
altogether necessary that full doctrine be lucidly explained.
Nothing is so foreign to true ecumenism as that false irenicism in
which the purity of Catholic doctrine suffers detriment, and its
true and certain sense is obscured."
Sadly this injunction of the Council has often been violated.
Two outstanding breaches are to be noted:
I. <The Balamand [Lebanon] Statement of the Orthodox-Roman Catholic
Commission,> agreed on June 17-24, l993 and published July 15
(<Origins> Aug. 12, 1993). In #10: ". . . The Catholic Church
developed the theological vision according to which she presented
herself as the only one to whom salvation was entrusted." This view
seems to be rejected by the Commission. In #15: ". . . there is no
question of conversion of people from one church to the other in
order to ensure their salvation." And in #22: "Pastoral activity in
the Catholic Church, Latin as well as Oriental, no longer aims at
having the faithful of one church pass over to the other. . . ."
II. <Eugene J. Fisher> [of the U. S. Bishops' office for Jewish
relations], said in: "The Church's Teaching on Supersessionism" in
<Biblical Archaeology Review,> Mar-Apr. 1991. p. 58: "Rather, the
Jewish 'no' is properly understood as a 'yes' to God's continuing
call to them. Jewish refusal to convert to Christianity is not to
be understood as anything less than a faithful witness to God.")
To respond to these errors, we need to keep three points, in a
delicate balance. It is essential to hold each fully without any
trimming.
1. <There is no salvation outside the Church.> But it would be
terribly wrong to hold this in such a way as to say, in effect,
that if someone does not get his name on the register of some
Catholic parish, even if he never had a chance to hear there was
such a thing as the Church, such a one is damned. So God would damn
millions upon millions without ever giving them a chance. But that
would not be a god, but a monster. And, logically, unbaptized
infants would have to be damned too. But that is ruled out by the
text of Pius IX (also cited below): "God. . . in His supreme
goodness and clemency, by no means allows anyone to be punished
with eternal punishment who does not have the guilt of voluntary
fault."
L. Feeney committed such an error and was rightly condemned by
the Church for it. Cf. the Holy Office text cited below.
2. <Some who do not get their names on the register of any Catholic
parish can reach heaven.> This is taught repeatedly, e. g, Pius IX
in 1863; Pius XII in <Mystical Body Encyclical,> Holy Office in
condemnation of Feeney, Vatican II in LG #16, John Paul II in
<Redemptoris missio> #10.
Here are the texts: Pope Pius IX, <Quanto conficiamur moerore>
(1863: DS 2866): "God. . . in His supreme goodness and clemency, by
no means allows anyone to be punished with eternal punishments who
does not have the guilt of voluntary fault.
Pope Pius XII, <Mystici corporis> (1943:DS 3821): "They who do not
belong to the visible bond of the Catholic Church. . . [we ask them
to] strive to take themselves from that state in which they cannot
be sure of their own eternal salvation; for even though they are
ordered to the mystical body of the Redeemer by a certain desire
and wish of which they are not aware [implicit in the general wish
to do what God wills], yet they lack so many and so great heavenly
gifts and helps which can be enjoyed only in the Catholic Church."
Holy Office, Aug 9, 1949, <condemning doctrine of L. Feeney> (DS
3870): "It is not always required that one be actually incorporated
as a member of the Church, but this at least is required: that one
adhere to it in wish and desire. It is not always necessary that
this be explicit. . . but when a man labors under invincible
ignorance, God accepts even an implicit will, called by that name
because it is contained in the good disposition of soul in which a
man wills to conform his will to the will of God."
Vatican II, <Lumen gentium> #16:(1964 AD) "For they who without
their own fault do not know of the Gospel of Christ and His Church,
but yet seek God with sincere heart, and try, under the influence
of grace, to carry out His will in practice, known to them through
the dictate of conscience, can attain eternal salvation."
John Paul II, <Redemptoris Missio> #10 (Dec. 7, 1990): "The
universality of salvation means that it is granted not only to
those who explicitly believe in Christ and have entered the Church.
Since salvation is offered to all, it must be made concretely
available to all. But it is clear that today, as in the past, many
people do not have an opportunity to come to know or accept the
Gospel revelation or to enter the Church. . . . For such people,
salvation in Christ is accessible by virtue of a grace which, while
<having a mysterious relationship to the church, does not make them
formally a part of the church,> but enlightens them in a way which
is accommodated to their spiritual and material situation. This
grace comes from Christ; it is the result of his sacrifice and is
communicated by the Holy Spirit. It enables each person to attain
salvation through his or her free cooperation." [emphasis added].
From all these texts it is definitely clear that some who do
not get on the register of a Catholic parish can reach salvation.
but it tell us only the <fact.> It DOES NOT TELL US the <how.> Yet
we are sure it tells us it is a fact, for since no one can be saved
outside the Church, these texts make clear <that in some way these
people are members or in some way pertain to the Church.>
Vatican II, in <Lumen gentium> #14: "They are <fully>
incorporated into the society of the Church, who, having the Spirit
of Christ, accept all its organization and all the means of
salvation instituted in it, and are joined in the same visible
union with Christ, who rules it through the Supreme Pontiff and the
Bishops. that is [they are joined] by the bonds of profession of
faith, of the acceptance of ecclesiastical rule and communion." We
notice the word <fully.> It implies there can be a lesser
membership, still sufficient for salvation. What is that lesser
membership?
St. Justin Martyr in <Apology> 1. 46 said that some in the past
who were considered atheists were really Christians, since they
followed the Divine Word, the Logos. He mentions Socrates as an
example. Then in <Apology> 2. 10 he says that the Divine Word, the
Logos is within each person. Now that presence is not spatial, does
not take up space. A spirit takes up no space. It means that the
spirit is present wherever he is causing an effect. What effect? We
turn to Romans 2:14-16: "The gentiles who do not have the law
[revealed religion] do by nature the things of the law. They show
the work of the law <written on their hearts.>" And according to
their response, they will or will not be saved. . . . So Socrates
perceives what the Spirit of Christ writes on his heart. That
means: Makes known to him interiorly how he should live. Socrates
believes this, has confidence in this, obeys this - and so has what
Romans 1:5 calls "the obedience of faith," that is, the obedience
that faith is. Now St Paul in Romans 3:29 asks: "Is He the God of
the Jews only? No, He is also God of the gentiles". He means that
if He had made salvation depend on keeping the law of Moses, He
would act as though He did not care for anyone but Jews. But He dos
care. So He has provided, and He does that by salvation
by faith, or justification by faith. Faith in Paul includes three
things, the three enumerated above.
Further, in Romans 8:9 we learn that if someone has and follows
the Spirit of Christ, he is a <member of Christ.> But in Paul's
terms, member of Christ = <member of the Body of Christ> - which is
the Church. So Socrates had a substantial, not a formal membership
in the Church. This agrees with John Paul II in <Redemptoris
missio> #10 who speaks of a grace offered to all that does not
<formally> make them members of the Church. But yet <it implies
that in some way less than formal, they are members.> That is the
way we have just described for Socrates. It applies to other people
too. (Socrates is often quoted in Plato as saying that the man who
seeks the truth should have as little as possible to do with the
things of the body. So he was far from being a homosexual).
Further, a person may be in good faith and have a subconscious
block that keeps him from seeing the force of the reasons for
joining. Then he may still be saved.
There are many other Fathers with broad view of membership in
Church. I have them all, with comments, in the 28 pp. appendix to
Our Father's Plan.
<How does this all relate to the statement of Vatican II in LG
#8 that "This church, in this world, as a society constituted and
ordered, subsists in the Catholic Church>. . . even though outside
its joints many elements of sanctification and truth are found,
which, as gifts proper to the Church of Christ, impel to Catholic
Unity." The <relatio> on this passage explains: "Now the intention
is to show that the Church, whose deep and hidden nature is
described and which is perpetually united with Christ and His work,
is concretely found here on earth in the Catholic Church. This
visible Church reveals a mystery - not without shadows until it is
brought to full light, just as the Lord Himself through his
'emptying' came to glory. . . . the mystery of the Church is
present in and manifested in a concrete society." [cited from
<Homiletic and Pastoral Review,> Jan. 1984, p. 14]. <This does NOT
mean that the Catholic Church is merely the aggregate of the
visible Catholic Church plus the orthodox, and perhaps even
Protestant churches. By no means.> It means only what we have
explained above: some who fulfill the conditions given by St.
Justin Martyr, and St. Paul, as found concretely in men like
Socrates, are substantially, not formally, members of the Church,
not with visible adherence, but yet to an extent sufficient for
salvation. They have true membership, otherwise they could not be
saved. But this is <as individuals> not <as members of another
church. It is this merely substantial, yet true membership, that
makes possible their salvation. Hence the words of Redemptoris
missio #10 can say this sort of membership does not make them
FORMALLY members of the Church, i.e., fulfilling all the
conditions given in Mystici corporis,> and repeated in LG #14 cited
above.
3. <Anyone who really knows that the Church is founded by Christ
for our salvation, and refuses to enter cannot be saved.> It is not
enough to be a Jew, or an orthodox etc., IF one knows that the
Catholic Church is the true Church, and yet refuses to enter. This
does not wipe out the possibility of #2 above. Again, there is such
a thing as a <subconscious block,> that is a person perceives
subconsciously, not consciously, that if he joins, there will be
unacceptable consequences for him. This may not cause a person to
reject what he knows explicitly is true (then he would be guilty
and not saved), but it may keep him from perceiving the force of
the reasons for the conclusion that he should enter the Catholic
Church (and so he is not guilty, and comes under <Lumen gentium>
#16 and, and <Redemptoris missio> #10 and other texts). If we deny
this, we imply that anyone in the US, since all know about the
Catholic Church, if he does not enter it, goes to hell. This is
terribly false.
However, to say as does Eugene Fisher (Office of US Bishops for
relations with Jews, in his statement in <Biblical Archaeology
Review> of March-April 1991, p. 58) that when a Jew says no to
Christ he is saying yes to God, is a terrible error. And a similar
thing is to be said about the Orthodox who say no to the Church in
a way not explained by the subconscious blocks.
In fact, for even a Jew to be a member of the People of God,
this conversion is necessary. Yes, we know that St. Paul in Romans
11:1 and 28 wrote: "Has God rejected His people?. Of course not!. .
. God's gifts and His call are irrevocable." How then could the
same St. Paul, in the middle of the same chapter, give the image of
the two olive trees, the tame tree standing for the People of God,
the wild olive standing for the Gentiles - how could Paul give that
imagery which clearly implies the Jews who reject Christ have
fallen out of the People of God, like the branches broken from the
tame olive? The problem is not difficult: God's call to them to be
His people still stands, will always stand. But it is one thing for
Him to call - another for them to accept. If they do not accept,
they are out of the tame olive, the People of God. The Pharisees
understood this to their horror when Jesus had finished giving the
parable of the unfaithful tenants of the vineyard that was Israel,
when he said: (Mt 21:43): "The kingdom of God will be taken away
from you and given to a nation that will yield a rich harvest."
In Romans 9:25-16 St. Paul quotes their prophet Hosea: "Those
who were not my people, I will call my people" In the original
setting. Hosea was saying that the Jews, because of their sins,
brought on the Babylonian exile, and had fallen out of the People
of God. But after their repentance, God would gladly take them
back: "Those who were not my People I will call my People. In the
original words of Hosea 2:23: "I will say to <lo ammi> [not my
people]: "You are my people." For they had ceased being God's
people, and had remained many days (Hosea 3:4) "without king or
prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or teraphim,"
but when they repented, He would gladly say to them the words just
cited: "You are now my people again".
So St. Paul looks forward to the day when the same words will
be applied to the Jews who rejected their Messiah (Rom 11:25): "A
blindness in part has fallen upon Israel until the fullness of the
Gentiles enter" the People of God. Then, Paul adds "all Israel will
be saved" - will enter the kingdom of their Messiah.
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