Are we all off-track? How are we “saved” (Catholic, not Protestant definition)?
Is being “correct” on the Pope issue of primary importance in whether we go to Heaven/Purgatory (saved) or Hell (condemned)?
If yes, we’d better get it right and make sure our “position” is the right one! If all else is subordinate to our response to the Pope issue, that means Heaven is only for those who find this “narrow road” and remain on it until death. Those with the wrong position are condemned
to Hell. Truly, this a ponderous and serious matter of the utmost consideration.
If one’s position on the Pope is wrong, it is clear one will not be saved. Such persons who hold the wrong position, we should avoid and have no fellowship, for he is a heretic who presents a proximate risk to our very salvation.
If, however, our position the matter of the Pope, is not primary to salvation, there remains room for differing opinions. As history demonstrates, the Church Fathers and the Saints differed on the matter, though none of them speaks entirely to the crisis as it exists today. This is because the present day crisis is truly unprecedented. If the matter were 100% crystal clear, there would be no differences of opinion among the Fathers and the Saints. Past Catholic apologists would be united, just as true Catholics do not deviate from certain positions. For example, Catholics universally believe there is no salvation outside the Catholic Faith. Catholics universally believe that abortion is murder. Catholics reject modern ecuмenism. Catholics reject same sex or gender bender theology and practice. There are no “positions” from which to make the right choice. These are absolutes. If a person believes in, promotes, and practices abortion, he sins mortally and if he doesn’t repent before death, his soul will be lost. If he engages in false worship in the name of ecuмenism, for example, unites in prayer with pagan religion, he forfeits his soul.
The problem comes in when interpreting finer matters of “yes or no” beliefs. Example, Catholics universally believe abortion is murder, a mortal sin. But there is disagreement on the matter of what to in the case of an ectopic pregnancy. Most Catholics believe saving the mother’s life by surgical intervention is acceptable within strict parameters. A small minority hold that human intervention is forbidden. It is the required sacrifice, bodily death, to which God calls all women, the consequence of Original Sin. No amount of argument and debate can change the law of God, Himself. If the latter believe aright, have chosen the “right” position, then women who’ve taken the limited measures to preserve their lives are in mortal sin, as surely as women who’ve willingly undergone abortion are in mortal sin AND automatically excommunicated. If they die without serious repentance, confession and absolution, and doing penance, their souls are irrevocably lost. Did not Our Lord say, “(S)He that will save (her)his life shall lose it? (S)He that will lose (her)his life for God’s sake, shall be saved?”
Both “positions” adhere to Our Lord’s statement, so which is right?
It can be deduced that the woman who has medical intervention for an ectopic pregnancy is willingly undergoing an abortion, sullies her soul with mortal sin, and if she dies without repentance, is definitely lost.
It can also be deducted that another woman doing the same thing within parameters set by the Church in more recent times, who does so in good conscience, commits no sin at all. She can save her soul, even if she dies during the “lawful?” procedure.
Which one is right? Obviously, having the “right” position regarding ectopic pregnancy, is a matter of life and death, eternal life or eternal death, Heaven/Purgatory or Hell. Remember, this is a matter of where one will go forever. One's position had better be right!
It goes not only for the woman, but for her husband who probably paid for either hospital care or the funeral, her children, extended family, her friends, the priest who prayed and possibly administered Extreme Unction, and the medical professionals who intervened.
Is my logic faulty?
If so, in what way(s)?
Is the matter analogous to the “Pope problem?”
How is it to be resolved?
Is resolution to one position or the other necessarily required for salvation?
Must we adhere to one or the other?
May a priest require of the persons involved to adopt his position to receive the Sacraments?
Can there be any wiggle room at all?
If there cannot, then the priest must inquire of every soul who presents himself for reception of the Sacraments.
If there can, then he need not know everyone’s position.
Is there any possibility the priest or anyone else can be wrong?
Or may a soul adopt a position with the acceptance that he may be wrong, should God later make it clear to all or to the individual that he is 100% right or in the wrong?
The answer to these questions is needed in Tradition on the “Pope Question.” The answers should lessen the constant arguing and lack of charity among many traditional Catholics. As I asked earlier, is the position on the Pope a matter of black and white, right or wrong? Is it a matter on which all doubt and debate must be forsaken, or is there “wiggle room?”
CI members, I’d like your input on these questions. (Serious comments only, please. Commenters calling me a feminist, a stupid idiot, ignoramus, retarded, etc. need not reply.)
Topic: Resisting An Infallible Pope? (Read 455 times)