The statement brought swift criticism from Protestant leaders.
The Reformation was merely about providing alternatives, you see; they really were saying "Or, of Babylon".
"It makes us question the seriousness with which the Roman Catholic Church takes its dialogues with the reformed family and other families of the church," the group says in a letter charging that the document took ecumenical dialogue back to the era before the Second Vatican Council.
Their letter, to Cardinal Kasper, manages to avoid the exact phrase "turning back the clock".
The top Protestant cleric in Benedict's homeland of Germany complained that the Vatican apparently did not consider that "mutual respect for the church status" was required for any ecumenical progress.
In a statement "Lost Chance," Lutheran Bishop Wolfgang Huber argued that "it would also be completely sufficient if it were to be said that the reforming churches are 'not churches in the sense required here' or that they are 'churches of another type' - but none of these bridges is used."
Bishop Huber may go too far saying the phrasing used by the CDF in the document's fifth answer is disrespectful.
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. [citations omitted]
He has a point that the document would have benefitted from a bit of elaboration on the phrase "in the proper sense".
As noted at Disputations, the fourth answer had already said,
On the other hand, because of the division between Christians, the fullness of universality, which is proper to the Church governed by the Successor of Peter and the Bishops in communion with him, is not fully realised in history[citation omitted].
Tom Kreitzberg says this again points out the difference between "is" and "subsists in".
P.S. Father Tim at the Spirit of Vatican II Catholic Faith Community in Knoxville, Tennessee, shows the CDF how it should be done.
2. Is the Church of Christ in the Catholic Church? This is just stupid. The Church of Christ is a whole different Church - they meet in little white buildings and handle snakes and stuff. You'd think the Pope would know this kind of thing.
The pope owes the worldwide Christian church an apology.
ReplyDeletePope says to all non catholics 'You are not a proper church'!
How insulting, how offensive, how arrogant can you get!
To think most non Catholics like myself have spent years offering the hand of friendship, and praising Catholics (especially the previous Pope) for their strong stand on moral issues, and this is how the Pope decides to respond to this love and friendship. How very sad!
I had my doubts about this Pope when he decided to take the Catholic Church back to the dark ages by stating that all Catholic churches world-wide should return to holding their services in Latin, thus keeping the church and priest in total control and the congregation in the dark. In my personal experience, Catholics friends I know, already have no first hand knowledge of the scriptures or very little as they have received their faith second hand via their priest or church. I suggest they start seeking their faith first hand perhaps by reading the whole of John's Gospel for starters, maybe realise for the first time they can have a direct personal relationship with Jesus Christ. All the language barriers, rituals, saints, mysticism, smokescreens and intermediaries are completely unnecessary. But hey there is a 'health warning' if you try this direct approach by reading your bible for yourself in English instead of trying to understand the dead language of Latin, it might mean you will be in control of your faith and not the Catholic church.
Heaven forbid! You might then realise the Catholic Church and the Pope doesn't have a monopoly on the truth, but for that matter neither does any other religious leader, or Protestant church who also claims to have a monopoly on the truth.
What happened to humility amongst Catholic and Non-Catholic religious leaders? It seems to be the most rarest of commodities amongst all religious groups in these difficult times. If only the different religious leaders could look for what unites us rather than what divides us, maybe they would set a better example to us all and the world would be a more peaceful and loving place to live.