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.)
The binary thinking you suggest is problematic. One will not be condemned to everlasting Hell simply for not solving "the Pope problem," i.e. for simply professing abstractly that Leo is "the Holy Father."
But who the Pope is has consequences downstream in the realm of faith and morals in the actions of individual Catholics. If you think Leo is the Pope and he says all religions lead to God and ɧoɱosɛҳųαƖ relationships can be blessed, then you have a conundrum. You say, "well I don't personally believe that" while at the same time saying that the guy who does say that is the Vicar of Christ on earth.
Do you not see any logical contradiction? You are signaling to all who know you that you don't really think it matters if we have "differences of opinion" on these issues of faith and morals. We are all one big Catholic family under the big tent of synodality. Sure we have disagreements but "can't we all just get along." That is a form of indifferentism. And it is the stated goal of the Freemasonic project.
Do you think that is what Jesus taught? Following Him, we are to testify to the Truth even if it causes us to suffer death. We are not to compromise and prop up corrupt, false authorities who claim to speak in the name of Jesus while contradicting Him. That is to cause scandal, and the theologians call it cooperation with evil, a sin against charity.
So, will those Catholics who cooperate materially with evil be damned to Hell eternally. I don't think so. But they probably won't go straight to Heaven if they have failed to understand one of the fundamental lessons that Jesus taught. Purgatory is not a desirable destination according to the Saints. We should seek to be pleasing to God in all our thoughts, words and deeds. If we do so, and take advantage of the graces supplied by the Church's Sacraments and indulgences, then we have a chance to merit the beatific vision immediately.
How then do we avoid Purgatory? We are, first, to love God with all our mind, soul and strength and, second, to love our neighbor as ourselves. Primarily this consists in keeping the Ten Commandments and striving to avoid even venial sins.
But do we show our love for God when we call someone the Vicar of Christ who contradicts the teachings of Jesus Himself? Do we show our love for our neighbor when we tell other Catholics they must recognize a false prophet as the Pope (or else they will be outside of the Church where there is no salvation)?
The answer, of course, is no. Doing those things we reveal our lukewarmness. To the lukewarm in Apocalypse 3:19, Jesus says "Be zealous therefore, and do penance." Those who cooperate with evil out of laziness or convenience are not practicing zeal. And a person who thinks they are a traditional Catholic, in these times, must be zealous to keep their faith alive.
A zealous Catholic does not call a heretic "the Holy Father."
Topic: Resisting An Infallible Pope? (Read 1051 times)