Church

Catholics: “We’re still the only true church”

15 Comments

This just in from the Vatican: the Pope says the Catholic Church is still the only “true” church. In a document released yesterday, he answered a few questions about the Catholic Church’s teaching, including this one:

Fifth Question: Why do the texts of the Council and those of the Magisterium since the Council not use the title of “Church” with regard to those Christian Communities born out of the Reformation of the sixteenth century?

Response: According to Catholic doctrine, these Communities do not enjoy apostolic succession in the sacrament of Orders, and are, therefore, deprived of a constitutive element of the Church. These ecclesial Communities which, specifically because of the absence of the sacramental priesthood, have not preserved the genuine and integral substance of the Eucharistic Mystery cannot, according to Catholic doctrine, be called “Churches” in the proper sense.

Protestants, naturally, have a different view (see also the Westminster Larger Catechism, questions 62-65).

The only ones really upset about this paper are those devoted to ecumenism (unity among all Christian churches), who apparently don’t mind if the Pope believes the Roman church is the only true church as long as he doesn’t talk about it (a rather postmodern sentiment).

Many (mostly conservative) Protestant denominations are not surprised or especially bothered by the Pope’s declaration because it’s nothing new or surprising; he’s simply reiterating Catholic dogma that’s been around for centuries.

15 thoughts on “Catholics: “We’re still the only true church””

  2. Where do C’s get off being so damn arrogant? And Jerry Klein just can’t understand why, apparently, it’s ok to point out the flaws of Catholics, but not Blacks, Jews, gays, deaf, etc. For one, these other groups don’t generally go around professing their superiority.

  3. Hard to believe anyone can believe the fallacy which worldwide religions support.

  4. Lifelong Catholic….but I don’t know for how much longer.

    How about not even commenting, Oh mighty highness Captain Pope, King of all that is right.

    What a load of self-righteous B.S.

  5. “Where do C’s get off being so damn arrogant?”

    It’s not arrogance; virtually every denomination claims itself to be the One Truth Church. It’s a theological point. The Nicene creed professes that the church is one, holy, catholic, and apostolic, catholic meaning “universal.” Virtually all Christian denominations profess the Nicene Creed, so virtually all accept the descriptive definition of THE church as one (there can only be one), holy (meaning open to interpretive debate), catholic (church membership open to all), and apostolic (maintaining apostolic descent in their lines of ministerial authority from the original 12 apostles).

    As a general rule Orthodox Churches DO have apostolic descent as Catholics define it and so may be properly called “churches” (although Catholics believe they are the proper “one” and the Orthodox are in schism, and the Orthodox believe vice versa); Anglicans probably have apostolic descent; Lutherans do in some countries but not in others; Presbyterians definitionally don’t (no bishops).

    Protestant denominations, of course, have a different definition of what constitutes proper apostolic descent. (Very low church Protestants, including Baptists, Anabaptists (Amish, Mennonites), and Pentecostals typically are not interested in apostolic descent period.)

    It’s a little silly to get your knickers in a twist over the “arrogance” of a theological point when you don’t understand what the point is about.

    And if you really want to see some anti-ecumenical arrogance directed at Protestants, one of the major roadblocks to Orthodox/Catholic ecumenical relations is that the Orthodox generally refuse to recognize Protestants at all and get actively upset/resentful that Catholics spend so much time worrying about ecumenical relationships with what they (the Orthodox) call (I kid you not) “a minor German heresy.” The Orthodox feel Catholics should be concentrating on reuniting the two “lungs” of the true church (East and West, Orthodox and Catholic) that have been in schism since 1054. To them, Protestantism is an irredeemable heresy (not a legitimate theological difference of opinion that creates legitimate schism) and it’s offensive to have Protestants treated by Catholics as religious groups equal in dignity to the Orthodox.

  6. Its astrotheological beliefs. I understand that some people believe in having a moral base that is consistant with a particular religion, but enlighten me as to why 12 major religions have the same back story, and yet they claim they are better than the other and are more worthy of land and power.

  7. We are quibbling over theories and terms (ie: What is a “church” vs. an “ecclesial community”?) while Osama and his boys openly advocate killing all non-Muslims. Both sides take this too seriously, but there is nothing wrong with agreeing to disagree on some points. To those that are so offended, are you really surprised the Pope thinks his religion is the right one? When was the last time Teddy Kennedy said, the Republican Party is just as good as mine, vote for either one, no difference??

  8. A wise, and devout Baptist, uncle of mine once told me: “Denominations have sent many more people to Hell than Satan ever has.”

    Food for thought…

  9. This is not surprising, are there that many churches that will tell you that any other denomination is just as good and will still get you through the pearly gates? Would your church leaders agree that everlasting fun filled days await the muslims, budhists and scientologists of the world? What about the Jews? Oh and those pesky witness folks. As long as church leaders keep their sheep from killing others and generally behaving themselves I could care less what they think about anything.

  10. I’m sorry it is arrogance. Catholics believe they are the ONE true religion. That may be a theological debate, which is fine. The arrogance comes when this carries over into other aspects of their lives. Many Catholics that I have had relationships with tend to believe, seriously, that they are better than others and, therefore, that their views should be given primacy. It is, in my opionion, an intolerable point of view. Certainly all Catholics don’t share this arrogant viewpoint, but for those who do, how do the rest of us even try to get along with them?

  11. The good old U.S. was founded by the trading companies and hard-core Protestants. The U.S. has always adhered to good-old Protestant values. The Pros of this country have made it their mission in life to malign the Church. From the Ku Klux Klan to every idiot Evangelical out there, Catholics have had to endure vicious attacks in the past. The Church as a whole is far, far from perfect. When I see Protestants like Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Jimmy Swaggart [do I dare go on?]. I wonder just where the Protestans are coming from. Arrogant? Please!

  12. Gotta go with Brothers on this. I am Catholic, will freely admit the Church has some very serious issues to address. All men are imperfect – some more than others. I do however, need both hands to count the number of Protestant ministers I know who have been divorced – a few more than once, and the list of discrepancies goes on. The Catholic Church is alive and very well. The Lutheran Reformation bred how many offshoot Protestant faiths? Historically, most Protestant denominations are composed of dissenters from other Protestant denominations. What to make of it all?

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