"PROTESTANTS AREN'T PROPER CHRISTIANS," SAYS POPE BENEDICT XVI
Friday, January 20, 2012 at 4:29PM NOTRadio This article was written by Simon Caldwell
DailyMail, UK
July 11, 2007.
Pope Benedict XVI declared yesterday that Christian denominations other than his own were not true churches and their holy orders have no value.
Protestant leaders immediately responded by saying the claims were offensive and would hurt efforts to promote ecumenism.
Roman Catholic-Anglican relations are already strained over the Church of England's plans to ordain homosexuals and women as bishops. The claims came in a document, from a Vatican watchdog which was approved by the Pope.
It said the branches of Christianity formed after the split with Rome at the Reformation could not be called churches "in the proper sense" because they broke with a succession of popes who dated back to St Peter.
As a result, it went on, Protestant churches have "no sacramental priesthood", effectively reaffirming the controversial Catholic position that Anglican holy orders are worthless.
The document claimed the Catholic church was the "one true church of Christ".
Pope Benedict's commitment to the hardline teaching comes days after he reinstated the Mass in Latin, which was sidelined in the 1960s in an attempt to modernise.
The timing of the announcement fuelled speculation that the pontiff - regarded as an arch-conservative before his election in 2005 - is finally beginning to impose his views on the Catholic Church.
The Vatican said it was restating the position set out by the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in 2000 in a document called Domine Jesus because theologians continued to misunderstand it.
At that time, Anglican leaders from around the world made their anger felt by snubbing an invitation to join Pope John Paul II as he proclaimed St Thomas More the patron saint of politicians.
Bishop Wolfgang Huber, head of the Evangelical Church in Germany, said the Vatican document effectively downgraded Protestant churches and would make ecumenical relations more difficult.
He said the pronouncement repeated the "offensive statements" of the 2000 document and was a "missed opportunity" to patch up relations with Protestants.
Article source here.
Reader Comments (156)
I've read most of the 150 comments on this thread and one thing just jumped out at me, the catholics have such a low view of scriptures, and such a high view of man. It appears the catholic apologetics places man's tradition above the Word of God which is exactly what the Pharisees and Sadducees did in their day and Jesus warned about.
Just FYI: When I ask someone to pray for me I am asking a living person not a dead one.
In response to TarlsQtr and Gerald:
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Go to youtube and check out Jacob Prasch Upon this rock. There you will find the truth about the Papacy & the abominations of Catholicism
Gerald and other catholics..
I cannot detail all of catholic doctrine or practices despite being raised as a practicing catholic for 33 years. I never really knew or understood most of it. Additionally, since I was raised as a catholic, I cannot quote scripture and verse because even though we had a bible, we were not encouraged by priest, nun, ccd teacher or parent to read it. I can say that my family observed all catholic tradition ie, mass (daily in our case), sacraments, holy days, fasting, rosary, church festival and of course, offerings.
When I was a teen my Dad who was not raised with any religion, suddenly left our church. He started searching; he was positive that God existed, but did not feel like he had found anything of Him within catholicism...after all, you could virtually remove the name of Christ and God's word from the religion and still operate. You would still have the pope, bishops, priests, nuns, mass , sacraments, rosary, yada, yada. Anyway, we thought Dad was mentally ill when he started reading the Bible and talking about the Lord Jesus Christ. Our home became a battle ground because whenever he asked us to participate in worship of the living God we all became disgusted with him and he was such an embarrassment at all the family gatherings with all this talk about the Lord.
Dad kept up trying to persuade us and more importantly, he kept up the prayer. Slowly, over the course of 20 years, we all left catholocism, including my very angry and stubborn Mom who has left due to the sex abuse scandals, but never talks about God at all. What I can say is that as a catholic, I NEVER loved God, and had no relationship with Him at all. I was affraid to even think about it. I just kept up with mass, rosary, etc. I was once a worrisome, sad person who always felt cheated in life because I didn't have the true joy that can only come from a personal, saving relationship with Jesus Christ. Gerald, you seem very studious, but you cannot read the bible like a textbook. It is supernatural, and without asking for guidance from the Holy Spirity, you cannot read it. I believe you are lacking this incredible joy, and I pray you find Him, I am positive that He stands at the door and knocks.
Wenmar: Excellent post... Most individuals do not or cannot handle the Truth... Especially in the world we live in today... A world filled with lies and deception.. Basically Satan's world... He is the "father of lies" and will generally begin with quite a bit of truth when introducing a new way of thinking.. Over time the truth becomes less, and lies become the dominant doctrines... As the scriptures point out a little leaven will indeed leaven the whole lump in time... And thus here we are in an age that is about to come to a climatic, bloody end... But after its end we know that our Savior will introduce to the world His Father's kingdom as He will rule and reign for a thousand years..
So who is Babylon.. The bible describes her as a "whore." Some think that she is solely a religious system being the Catholic faith.. But clearly she is also an economic and social system... She appeals to everyone worldwide in various ways in order to place those who are enchanted by her corruption into a state of spiritual stupor... Hinduism, Islam, Buddaism, Judaism, Catholicism, ect. make up the list of those who are deceived by her from a religious standpoint...
Within the economic realm the bible describes her as a city also... A central point of economic activity worldwide does exist today... An area that sits in the middle of the world surrounded by the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean... Some have declared this country to be the New Atlantis... Chris points this out in his video's... As much as the US has been blessed by God, again our Creator has allowed for Satan to "weaken the nations," through deception... The federal reserve in the US is a central point of banking all over the world as most countries do have "central" banks within them... Banks that pretty much control the nations in many ways.... With materialsim this "whores" system has made the world a much smaller place... God of course is allowing for all of this to take place as His Word declared it would... With the technological advances we have made it has allowed for the world to be controlled...
So to what end is the whore, and why is Satan using her?... He uses her to deceive the nations with confusion, lies, deceit... With this the world becomes a much more sinful place, which helps Satan's cause even more so.. Lucifer understands that if he has control of the worlds spiritual state, they will believe the lie about his false messiah... The one the bible describes as the beast, man of sin, king of the north will be given the authority that Satan has, as our adversary will grant it to him according to Revelation chapter 13...
So as we argue over this religion or that religion realize that Satan does not mind at all... For the whore will be burned with fire by who?... According to Revelation chapter 17 the beast and the ten kings, who will give their authority to the beast... The time we are living in know folks is what our Savior describes as "the beginning of sorrows." For after this "then there will be great tribulation." Unlike any other time that this world has ever experienced...
This whore of Babylon and her system is only the beginning of sorrows... She is meant to be used by Satan in order to deceive the nations into worshiping the "man of sin" eventually... This deception will be so appealing to so many individuals that our Savior declared in Matthew chapter 24 that "if it were possible, even the elect could be deceived." How can that be possible... If one is being lead by the Spirit of the Living God that individual will not fall for the deception because God is being allowed to guide that individual's spirit...
Recall in Daniel chapter 11 that the "king of the north" or beast will not regard any other form of worship, but will want to be worshiped... That is the end-game brethren... We have not seen anything yet... But if we are not spiritually discerned and being lead by our Savior through His Holy Spirit we will fall for the lie... The delusion that God will bring to fruition as described in 2 Thess chapter 2....
So our God had to destroy the inhabitants of the earth with a flood in order to ensure that the time in which we live in would not come to pass too soon... Our Creator knows the end from the beginning... He of course is not subject to time, yet knows the future and what it will entail... Since the beginning Satan has wanted to bring about a time when He alone would be worshiped... Through the beast, whom he gives his authority to, he will be... God has intervened time and time again in order that this inevitable conclusion would not come to pass until He deemed it right... According to His plan...
Sadly, mankind has to learn a very destructive lesson in order to appreciate our Creator's will for us... We have failed miserably in accepting Him for who He is and always has been... We have time and time again created Him in our own image.. According to what appealed to us through false doctrines which were pleasing to our fleshly state... Just as the original sin occurred in the garden of Eden, we have rejected the Spiritual relationship we could have with our Creator to satisfy our flesh... That is why we must worship God in Spirit and in Truth, while being lead by His Holy Spirit through His Son Jesus Christ... Who, by the way, is also God...
So lets get rid of the doctrines of men or demons which hinder us from "growing in grace and knowledge" and hold fast to the faith delivered to us through the prophets and saints of old... Those who were truly being lead by God in faith...
So this "whore" system has been used throughout the centuries in order to bring humanity to the point of worshiping the one who despices and hates us most... Satan the devil... Once she is no longer necessary she will be destroyed... Then the tribulation will begin...
I find it sad, that Roman Catholics are constantly named Catholics, this is a name they don't deserve. Moreover, when I note the millions upon millions who were simply murdered by the priestly brood under the guidance and' benevolent' oversight of the Dominican and Jesuits, then priests nor popes deserve the name of father ( the pope is named the most holy father). When I add to it the modern day scandal of ecclesiastical child abuse, then indeed it becomes clear that Roman Catholicism is not a true Church, but the master piece of Satan.
Also it becomes sadder that Roman Catholicism claims that good works are essential for salvation-a total laugh considering that many popes, according to papal historian Baronius were monsters. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation John 3:16 and tear down the image of the beast, mentioned in Revelation and clearly referred to as the idol(s) or statue(s) of Mary.