Since there are pre-Vatican II Church docuмents which, while being clearer than V2, sometimes needed clarification for those who may have been confused, why do we not give the post V2 hierarchy the same treatment? There were times where Ratzinger, for instance, said that the true interpretation of Vatican II was that "subsists in" meant the same thing as "is". He said this in Dominus Jesus, which would supposedly be Universal Ordinary Magisterium assuming that the V2 church doesn't constitute a different Church. I'm really just confused about the "elementae ecclesiae". Did the Pre-Vatican II Church teach that there were no ecclesial elements outside of the Catholic Church, even though there are sects which believe individual correct things (like the trinity or things the Orthodox sects believe) or have valid Sacraments? I'm having a hard time coming up with a solid refutation. Is it possible for there to be "ecclesial and salvific elements" outside of the Church without those same elements being elements of "truth and sanctification"? And are there clear Magisterial pre-Vatican II docuмents that repudiate that claim?
Yes, there are clear Magisterial teachings that address this.
PIUS IX
[Encyclical Amantissimus, April 18, 1862]
He who leaves this [Roman] See cannot hope to remainwithin the Church; he who eats of the lamb outside of ithas no part with God.LEO XIII
[Encyclical Satis Cognitum, June 29, 1896]
The Church of Christ, therefore, is one and the sameforever; those who leave it depart from the will andcommand of Christ the Lord — leaving the path ofsalvation they enter on that of perdition. “Whosoever isseparated from the Church is united to an adulteress.He has cut himself off from the promises of the Church,and he who leaves the Church of Christ cannot arrive at therewards of Christ...He who observes not this unityobserves not the law of God, holds not the faith of theFather and the Son, clings not to life and salvation.” (St.Augustine, Sermo CCLXVII, no. 4)PIUS XII
[Encyclical Mystici Corporis, June 29, 1943]
Therefore they are straying from divine truth who imaginethe Church to be something which can neither be touchednor seen, that it is something merely “spiritual,” as theysay, in which many Christian communities, althoughseparated from one another by faith, could be joined bysome kind of invisible link. SAINT CYPRIAN
[De Unitate Ecclesiæ, c. 17. P.L. 4, 513.]
The schismatic dares to set up an altar and to profanethe truth of the divine Victim by means of falsesacrifices.POPE ST. LEO THE GREAT
[Ep. LXXX Ad Anatolium, cap. 2.]
Elsewhere [i.e., outside the Church] there is neither alegitimate priesthood nor true sacrifices.ST. JEROME
In Amos, V: 22, P.L. 25, 1033-1034.
God hates the sacrifices of these [ i.e., heretics] and pushesthem away from Himself, and whenever they cometogether in the name of the Lord, He abhors theirstench, and holds his nose...I would encourage you to read the Catechism on Modernism (Pascendi in Q&A format), since Pope Pius X describes exactly what we are witnessing today, and what we read in the writings of modernists (including Ratzinger, who denied the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ). St. Pius X writes about the philosophy of the modernist, the modernist view of science and history, his behaviour concerning divine things, etc. Modernists are the most difficult heretics to discern, and so Pascendi for this reason is invaluable, especially in our times.
May the Holy Virgin guide and keep you in these difficult times.
Online: https://archive.org/details/catechismonmoder00lemiuoft/page/n5/mode/2up
Physical copy: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0F7RZL3ZZ/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0F7RZL3ZZ&linkCode=as2&tag=httpwwwchanco-20 />
Topic: Interpretation of Vatican II (Read 213 times)