The heresy of Religious Indifferentism made its appearance among Catholics at the beginning of the 19th century. Coincidentally, this was around the same time the Vatican discovered the secret writings of the Freemasons - writings which called for the widespread heretical indoctrination of the Catholic Church.
As soon as the heresy appeared, Rome quickly began speaking out about it. Over the course of the next 60 years, it would be soundly condemned by four successive popes. In 1829, Pope Pius VIII refers to it as a Monstrous Impiety, a Deadly Idea, and a Foul Contrivance. In 1832, Pope Gregory XVI calls it an Abundant Source of Evils, a Deadly Error, and a Perverse Opinion. His successor, Pope Pius IX, referred to it as a Terrible and Deplorable Evil, a Hideous Stain, a Pernicious Error, a Devilish System, and a Disease “which is killing the flocks”. Later, this same pope would go on to formally condemn it in his famous Syllabus of Errors of 1864. Twenty years later, In his well-known Encyclical condemning Fɾҽҽmαsσɳɾყ, Pope Leo XIII calls Religious Indifferentism “The Great Error of the Age”, and a manner of reasoning “calculated to bring about the ruin of all forms of religion, and especially the Catholic religion.”
Four successive popes attempted to stop the spread of Religious Indifferentism, but ultimately to no avail. Nowadays, not only has it become the foundational basis of the apostate Ecuмenical movement of the Novus Ordo, but it likewise flourishes among “Traditionalists”. In fact, it has become one of their most beloved doctrines.
Following are the numerous papal condemnations against Religious Indifferentism. Inherent in these statements is a brief, yet clear, explanation of the essence of this heresy. As you read them, ask yourself if anything sounds familiar:
Pope Pius VIII, "Traditi Humilitati", (1829):
"Among these heresies belongs that foul contrivance of the sophists of this age who do not admit any difference among the different professions of faith and who think that the portal of eternal salvation opens for all from any religion. This is certainly a monstrous impiety which assigns the same praise and the mark of the just and upright man to truth and to error, to virtue and to vice, to goodness and to turpitude. Indeed this deadly idea concerning the lack of difference among religions is refuted even by the light of natural reason. We are assured of this because the various religions do not often agree among themselves. If one is true, the other must be false; there can be no society of darkness with light. Against these experienced sophists the people must be taught that the profession of the Catholic faith is uniquely true, as the apostle proclaims: one Lord, one faith, one Baptism. Jerome used to say it this way: he who eats the [Eucharist] outside this house will perish as did those during the flood who were not with Noah in the ark."
Pope Gregory XVI, Mirari Vos, (1832), #13:
“Now We consider another abundant source of the evils with which the Church is afflicted at present: Indifferentism. This perverse opinion is spread on all sides by the fraud of the wicked who claim that it is possible to obtain the eternal salvation of the soul by the profession of any kind of religion, as long as morality is maintained. Surely, in so clear a matter, you will drive this deadly error far from the people committed to your care. With the admonition of the apostle that "there is one God, one faith, one baptism" may those fear who contrive the notion that the safe harbor of salvation is open to persons of any religion whatever. They should consider the testimony of Christ Himself that "those who are not with Christ are against Him," and that they disperse unhappily who do not gather with Him. Therefore "without a doubt, they will perish forever, unless they hold the Catholic faith whole and inviolate." Let them hear Jerome who, while the Church was torn into three parts by schism, tells us that whenever someone tried to persuade him to join his group he always exclaimed: "He who is for the See of Peter is for me." A schismatic flatters himself falsely if he asserts that he, too, has been washed in the waters of regeneration. Indeed Augustine would reply to such a man: "The branch has the same form when it has been cut off from the vine; but of what profit for it is the form, if it does not live from the root?"
Pope Gregory XVI, "Summo Iugiter Studio" (#2), 1832:
"Finally some of these misguided people attempt to persuade themselves and others that men are not saved only in the Catholic religion, but that even heretics may attain eternal life. You know how zealously Our predecessors taught that article of faith which these dare to deny, namely the necessity of Catholic Faith and of unity for salvation... But We are so concerned about this serious and well known dogma, which has been attacked with such remarkable audacity, that We could not restrain Our pen from reinforcing this truth with many testimonies.”
Pope Pius IX, Singulari Quidem, (1856), #3, 4:
“Among the many deplorable evils which disturb and afflict both ecclesiastical and civil society, two stand out in our day and are justly considered to be the cause of the others. In effect, you are aware of the innumerable and fatal damages which the hideous error of Indifferentism causes to Christian and civil society. It causes us to forget our duties to God in whom we live and act and have our being. It causes us to slacken our concern for holy religion and shakes almost to destruction the very basis of all law, justice, and virtue. There is little difference between this hideous form of indifference and the devilish system of indifference between the different religions. This belief embraces people who have strayed from the truth, who are enemies of the true faith and forget their own salvation, and who teach contradictory beliefs without firm doctrine. They make no distinction between the different creeds, agree with everybody, and maintain that the haven of eternal salvation is open to sectarians of any religion. The diversity of their teachings does not concern them as long as they agree to combat that which alone is the truth.
You see, dearly beloved sons and venerable brothers, how much vigilance is needed to keep the disease of this terrible evil from infecting and killing your flocks. Do not cease to diligently defend your people against these pernicious errors. Saturate them with the doctrine of Catholic truth more accurately each day. Teach them that just as there is only one God, one Christ, one Holy Ghost, so there is also only one truth which is divinely revealed. There is only one divine faith which is the beginning of salvation for mankind and the basis of all justification, the faith by which the just person lives and without which it is impossible to please God and to come to the community of His children. There is only one true, holy, Catholic Church, which is the Apostolic Roman Church. There is only one See founded in Peter by the word of the Lord, outside of which we cannot find either true faith or eternal salvation. He who does not have the Church for a mother cannot have God for a father, and whoever abandons the See of Peter on which the Church is established trusts falsely that he is in the Church. Thus, there can be no greater crime, no more hideous stain than to stand up against Christ, than to divide the Church engendered and purchased by His blood, than to forget evangelical love and to combat with the furor of hostile discord the harmony of the people of God.”
Pope Pius IX, Syllabus of Errors, (1864):
“Man may, in the observance of any religion whatever, find the way of eternal salvation, and arrive at eternal salvation.” Condemned
Pope Leo XIII, "Humanum Genus", (1884):
(Speaking against Freemasons) "Again, as all who offer themselves are received whatever may be their form of religion, they thereby teach the great error of this age - that a regard for religion should be held as an indifferent matter, and that all religions are alike. This manner of reasoning is calculated to bring about the ruin of all forms of religion, and especially of the Catholic religion, which, as it is the only one that is true, cannot, without great injustice, be regarded as merely equal to other religions."
These statements should give you a clear enough idea of just what this heresy of “Religious Indifferentism” is. It’s the position that those in other religions may be saved. Does this sound familiar? And herein is the deception, and the disguise. The doctrine hailed today throughout the entire Traditionalist Movement as “Baptism of Desire” is actually the heresy of Religious Indifferentism.
The doctrine known as “Baptism of Desire”, which was held by many of the Saints of old, and the doctrine parading itself today as “Baptism of Desire”, are not one and the same. In fact, they’re polar opposites. The heresy of Religious Indifferentism has no more similarity with the original doctrine of “Baptism of Desire”, than Voodoo has with Catholicism.
The original doctrine of “Baptism of Desire” went something like this:
If a man has learned the Catholic Faith; has agreed with its doctrines; has all the prerequisite dispositions necessary for admittance into the Church; and truly desires the Sacrament of Baptism, then that person may be saved via Divine dispensation on account of his “desire” for the Sacrament - were he to meet with an untimely death, that is. This is the original doctrine and meaning of “Baptism of Desire” - the doctrine which was held by many of the Saints.
As you can see here, the individual has been thoroughly prepared for admission into the Catholic Church, desires the actual Sacrament of Baptism, and only lacks that Sacrament to complete the process. As you well know, this is a far cry from today’s version of “Baptism of Desire”, which lays open the portal of salvation to anyone in any religion on earth – even those which are violently and hatefully opposed to Christ, such as Judaism and Islam.
This heresy is nothing but the reverse of Martin Luther’s heresy. As you know, Luther claimed that works were unnecessary in the attainment of salvation – but that Faith Alone sufficed. Conversely, Religious Indifferentism teaches that Faith is unnecessary in the attainment of salvation, but that Works Alone suffice - or as Pope Gregory XVI put it: “as long as morality is maintained”. And yet, what has the infallible Magisterium of the Catholic Church repeatedly taught in regard to the necessity of the Catholic Faith for salvation…?
Pope St. Leo the Great, Council of Chalcedon, 451 AD,
"Therefore no one is allowed to profess or to write up or compose or devise or teach a different faith." And further, "We all have only one doctrine; this is the faith of the Doctors of the Church; this is the faith of the Holy Apostles; this is the faith which has saved the world."
Pope St. Leo the Great, "In Quad",
"Whoever is led away from the path of the true faith, his whole journey is an apostasy; and the further he travels from the Catholic light, the nearer he comes to the darkness of death...for one is the faith which sanctifies the just of all ages."
Pope St. Leo the Great,
"Whosoever continues in heresy is unpardonable, for he has cut himself off from whom he could have confessed God. Nor can he ever attain the remedy of forgiveness who no longer has an advocate to intercede for him...they are falling into that blasphemy which shall never be forgiven, neither in this world, nor in the judgment to come."
Pope St. Leo the Great, "Magno Munere" Epistle 82 to the Emperor Marcian,
"It is not lawful to differ even by a single word from the evangelical and Apostolic doctrine, or to think otherwise than as the blessed Apostles and our Fathers learned and taught concerning the Holy Scriptures."
Pope St. Hormidas (514-523), "Book on the Profession of Faith", Denzinger #171,
"The first condition of salvation is to keep the norm of the true faith, and in no way to deviate from the established doctrine of the Fathers."
Pope St. Martin V, Lateran Council (Regional), 649 AD,
"If anyone does not properly and truly confess in word and in mind according to the Holy Fathers all, even to the last portion, that has been handed down and preached in the Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church of God, and handed down and preached likewise by the Holy Fathers and the five venerable Ecuмenical Councils, let him be anathema."
And further,
"If anyone according to wicked heretics in any manner whatsoever, by any word whatsoever, at any time whatsoever, or in any place whatsoever, illicitly removes the boundaries firmly established by the Holy Fathers of the Catholic Church...in order to seek for novelties and expositions of another faith...should anyone through diabolical operation crookedly and cunningly act contrary to the pious preachings of the orthodox teachers of the Catholic Church, that is, it's papal and conciliar proclamations, to the destruction of sincere confession unto the Lord our God, and persist without repentance unto the end: let such a person be condemned forever..."
Pope St. Agatho the Wonderworker, Council of Constantinople III, 680 AD,
"We declare that no one is permitted to introduce, or to describe, or to compare, or to study, or otherwise to teach another faith. Whoever presumes to introduce or teach or pass on another creed...or whoever presumes to introduce a novel (new) doctrine... We declare to be anathematized."
Pope Adrian II, Fourth Council of Constantinople, "Actio I" 870 AD, (from the Rule of Pope St. Hormidas),
"The first condition for salvation is to keep the rule of the true faith."
Pope St. Leo IX, 1054,
"The Holy Church has been built upon a rock: that is, upon Christ and upon Peter...It was thus built because it was never to be conquered by the Gates of Hell, that is, by heretical opinions which lead the wary to destruction."
Pope Innocent III, Lateran Council IV, 1215
"There is indeed one universal Church of the faithful, outside of which no one at all is saved, in which Jesus Christ is both Priest and Sacrifice."
Pope Clement VI, “Super Quibusdam”, (1352) From Denzinger #570
“Not one man of those traveling outside the faith of the Church and outside obedience to the Pontiff of the Romans can finally be saved…All those who set themselves up against the faith of the Roman Church and who die in final impenitence will be damned and descend into the perpetual torments of Hell.”
Pope Eugene IV, Council of Florence, 1439
"Whoever wishes to be saved, needs above all to hold the Catholic Faith; unless each one preserves this whole and inviolate, he will without a doubt perish in eternity."
Pope Pius IV, Council of Trent, "Iniunctum nobis" 1565
"This true Catholic Faith, outside of which no one can be saved...I now profess and truly hold."
Pope Gregory XIII, (1572-1585), from the "Profession of Faith", found in Denzinger #'s 1000 and 1085,
"No one can be saved outside this true Catholic Faith."
Pope Benedict XIV, "Nuper ad Nos", Profession of Faith, 1743
"This faith of the Catholic Church, without which no one can be saved, and of which of my own accord I now profess and truly hold..."
Pope Benedict XIV, "Pastoralis Romani" (#1),
"The vigilance and pastoral solicitude of the Roman Pontiff...are principally, and above all, manifested in maintaining and conserving the unity and integrity of the Catholic Faith, without which it is impossible to please God."
Pope Clement XIII, "In Dominico Agro" (#12) 1758-1769,
"Diabolical Error decks itself out with ease in lying colors with some appearance of truth, so that the force of pronouncement is corrupted by a very brief addition or change, and the confession of faith which should have resulted in salvation, by a subtle transition leads to death."
Pope Leo XII, "Quod hoc inuente"(#8), 1824,
"We address all of you who are still removed from the true Church and the road to salvation. In this universal rejoicing, one thing is lacking: that having been called by the inspiration of the Heavenly Spirit and having broken every decisive snare, you might sincerely agree with the Mother Church, outside of whose teachings there is no salvation."
Pope Pius VIII, 1829, as quoted in "Recollections of the Last Four Popes" by Cardinal Wiseman (1858),
"It will be especially fitting to remember this firm dogma of our religion; that outside the true Catholic Faith no one can be saved."
Pope Gregory XVI, "Mirari vos" (#13), 1832, reiterating the Athanasian Creed,
"Therefore, without a doubt, they will perish forever, unless they hold the Catholic faith whole and inviolate." And further, "Let nothing of the truths that have been defined be lessened, nothing altered, nothing added, but let them be preserved intact in word and in meaning."
Pope Gregory XVI, "Summo Iugiter Studio" (#2), 1832,
"Finally some of these misguided people attempt to persuade themselves and others that men are not saved only in the Catholic religion, but that even heretics may attain eternal life. You know how zealously Our predecessors taught that article of faith which these dare to deny, namely the necessity of Catholic Faith and of unity for salvation. The words of that celebrated disciple of the Apostles, martyred St. Ignatius, in his letter to the Philadelphians are relevant to this matter: ‘Be not deceived, my brother; if anyone follows a schismatic, he will not attain to the inheritance of the Kingdom of God.’ Moreover, St. Augustine and the other African bishops who met at the Council of Cirta in the year 412 explained the same thing at greater length: ‘Whoever has separated himself from the Catholic Church, no matter how laudably he lives, will not have eternal life, but has earned the anger of God because of this one crime: that he abandoned his union with Christ.’ Omitting other passages which are almost numberless in the writings of the Fathers, We shall praise St. Gregory the Great who expressly testifies that this indeed is the teaching of the Catholic Church. He says: ‘The holy universal Church teaches that it is not possible to worship God truly except in her, and asserts that all who are outside of her will not be saved.’ Official acts of the Church proclaim the same dogma. Thus, in the decree on faith which Innocent III published with the Synod of Lateran IV, these things are written, ‘There is one universal Church of all the faithful, outside of which no one is saved.’ Finally, the same dogma is also expressly mentioned in the Profession of Faith proposed by the Apostolic See, not only that which all Latin Churches use, but also that which the Greek Orthodox Church uses and that which other Eastern Catholics use. We did not mention these selected testimonies because We thought you were ignorant of that article of faith and in need of our instruction. Far be from Us to have such an absurd and insulting suspicion about you. But We are so concerned about this serious and well known dogma, which has been attacked with such remarkable audacity, that We could not restrain Our pen from reinforcing this truth with many testimonies.”
Pope Gregory XVI, "Caritate Christi" (#147), 1831,
"For in fact, you know as well as We...with what constancy our Fathers endeavored to inculcate this Article of Faith which innovators dare to deny; namely, the necessity of the Catholic Faith and Catholic Unity to obtain salvation."
Pope Pius IX, "Nostis et Nobiscuм" (#10), 1849,
"In particular, ensure that the faithful are deeply and thoroughly convinced of the truth of the doctrine that the Catholic Faith is necessary for attaining salvation. This doctrine, received from Christ and emphasized by the Fathers and Councils, is also contained in the formula of the profession of faith used by Latin, Greek, and Oriental Catholics."
Pope Pius IX, Papal Oath composed at Vatican I,
"This true Catholic Faith, outside of which no one can be saved, which I now freely profess and truly hold, I do promise and swear that I will most constantly keep and confess whole and inviolate with the help of God until the last breath of my life, and I will take great care that it will be held, taught, and preached by my inferiors and by those who will be placed under my charge."
Pope Pius IX, Vatican Council I, From Denzinger #'s 1792 and 1793,
"Since without faith it is impossible to please God, no one is justified without it, nor will anyone attain eternal life unless he perseveres to the end in it... All those things are to be believed by Divine and Catholic Faith which are contained in the written word of God or in Tradition, and which are proposed by the Church either in solemn judgment or in its Ordinary and Universal teaching office as Divinely revealed truths which must be believed."
Pope Pius IX, "Ubi Primum" 1849,
"It is therefore necessary to receive these divine oracles integrally, in the same sense in which they have been kept, and are still being kept, by this Roman Chair of Blessed Peter. Mother and Mistress of all the churches, She has kept whole and inviolate, and taught to the faithful, the faith given by the Lord Jesus Christ, showing all the faithful the way of salvation and the doctrine of uncorrupted truth."
Pope Pius IX, Vatican Council I, Session II, Profession of Faith, 1870
"This true Catholic faith, outside of which none can be saved, which I now freely profess and truly hold..."
Pope Pius IX, Vatican Council I, Dogmatic Constitution on the Catholic Faith,
"The doctrine of the faith which God has revealed has not been proposed like a theory of philosophy, to be elaborated on by the human understanding, but as a divine deposit entrusted to the Spouse of Christ, to be faithfully guarded and infallibly declared. Therefore, that sense of sacred dogmas is to be kept forever which Holy Mother Church has once declared, and it must never be deviated from on the specious pretext of a more profound understanding. Let intelligence and science and wisdom increase, but only according to the same dogma, the same sense, the same meaning...If anyone shall have said that there may ever be attributed to the doctrines proposed by the Church a sense...which is different from the sense the Church has once understood and does now understand: let him be anathema."
Pope Leo XIII, 1903,
"But he who dissents even in one point from Divinely revealed truth absolutely rejects all faith, since he therefore refuses to honor God as the Supreme Truth and formal motive of faith... There can be nothing more dangerous than those heretics who admit nearly the entire cycle of Catholic doctrine, and yet, by a single word, as with a drop of poison, infect the real and simple faith taught by our Lord and handed down by Apostolic Tradition."
And finally, “All who dissent from the Scriptures concerning Christ are not in the Church, and all who agree with the Scriptures concerning the Head but who do not communicate in the unity of the Church are not in the Church. They can in no way be counted among the children of God unless they take Jesus Christ as their Brother, and, at the same time, the Church as their Mother… Consequently, all who wish to receive salvation outside the Church are mistaken as to the way and are engaged in a futile effort… Christianity is, in fact, incarnate in the Catholic Church; it is identified with that perfect and spiritual society which is the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ and has for its visible head the Roman Pontiff… This is Our last lesson to you: receive it, engrave it upon your minds, all of you: by God’s commandment salvation is to be found nowhere but in the Church.”[/b]
End of Quotes
There is one more crucial point that must be stressed here. The Saints believed that this “desire” literally initiated one into the Catholic Church. That is, they believed that the individual actually became a Catholic before he died. This is why they gave their doctrine the metaphorical name of “Baptism” – this being the Sacrament of Initiation, as I’m sure you know.
In other words, they never once intended to imply that a non-Catholic could be saved. This is one of the primary differences in the two doctrines known as “Baptism of Desire”. This is also why Rome came out with its repeated and forceful condemnations against Religious Indifferentism – because it held that non-Catholics could be saved.
Until that time, no one dared to claim such a thing. Extra Ecclesium Nulla Salus has always been the universally accepted position of the Church, from the days of the Apostles themselves. Outside the Catholic Church, there is no salvation. Period. Anyone wishing to challenge this claim faces an insurmountable obstacle – more than 3000 quotes from at least 72 popes, 35 Councils, 100 Church Fathers, 30 Doctors of Sacred Theology, over 300 Saints, Blessed, and Venerables; and dozens of official catechisms and indulgenced prayers of the Church – all of which are compiled for easy reading in The Apostolic Digest.
Religious Indifferentism/Baptism of Desire denies the single most oft-repeated and most crucial dogma in the history of Christianity – that of the necessity of membership in the Catholic Church for salvation. In doing so, it claims that the Catholic Church, which the popes have repeatedly announced is the only possible means of salvation, is ultimately useless. This doctrine is pure heresy. It is straight from Hell.
Advocate it at your own risk...
Topic: The Heresy of Religious Indifferentism (Read 6557 times)