I'm no longer a Calvinist.

[bbbbbbb]

Father Feeney was Catholic and was excommunicated in 1953 for teaching contrary to the Church's understanding of "outside the Church there is no salvation." Father Feeney taught that in order to be a part of the Church, one had to be a member "formally." A pertinent letter in 1949, from Pope Pius XII, addressed Father Feeney's error, and stated, "Therefore, that one may obtain eternal salvation, it is not always required that he be incorporated into the Church actually as a member, but it is necessary that at least he be united to her by desire and longing." Ironically, Father Feeney held the same understandings many Protestants do today regarding the phrase "outside the Church there is no salvation," but that understanding has long since been clarified, even since the time of Augustine in fact...

So, what does it mean for a person to "at least be united to her by desire and longing." How many non-Catholics are there that desire and long to be united to the Catholic Church and are not? If I truly desired and longed to be I most certainly would be. This strikes me as being like the baptism by desire. One can be saved by faith (desire and longing) alone as long as the object of that faith is the Roman Catholic Church. For the rest of use there is no salvation outside the Church (either as formal members or as members by desire and longing).

 

[Secundulus]

So, what does it mean for a person to "at least be united to her by desire and longing." How many non-Catholics are there that desire and long to be united to the Catholic Church and are not? If I truly desired and longed to be I most certainly would be. This strikes me as being like the baptism by desire. One can be saved by faith (desire and longing) alone as long as the object of that faith is the Roman Catholic Church. For the rest of use there is no salvation outside the Church (either as formal members or as members by desire and longing).

818 "However, one cannot charge with the sin of the separation those who at present are born into these communities [that resulted from such separation] and in them are brought up in the faith of Christ, and the Catholic Church accepts them with respect and affection as brothers . . . . All who have been justified by faith in Baptism are incorporated into Christ; they therefore have a right to be called Christians, and with good reason are accepted as brothers in the Lord by the children of the Catholic Church."
Catechism of the Catholic Church - PART 1 SECTION 2 CHAPTER 3 ARTICLE 9 PARAGRAPH 3