Why Catholics Should Care about their Lutheran and Anglican Brethren

CHESAPEAKE, Va. (Catholic Online) � I recently wrote an article entitled �Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Succumbs to Heresy� because it involved significant news. I also did so because I am a Catholic. As a Catholic, I believe I should be concerned about other Christians who are struggling within the communities which descended from the Protestant Reformation. Though the article was well received, there were some disapproving comments.

They ranged from the reader who wondered why such an article was �even published on a Catholic Web Site�, to others which used the term �schismatic� in reference to all Protestant Christians. Some objected to my use of the term, "orthodox' to distinguish those Lutherans who adhered to what C.S. Lewis would have called "Mere Christianity" by accepting the fundamentals of the Christian faith and those who have succumbed to heresy. Others wanted to bring up the obvious, that these communities erred in their inital division with the Catholic Church. I agree, after all, I am a Catholic by choice. That was not the point of the article. Rather, it was the recent sad turn of events. Something similar happened when I reported on the assault on the basics of Christian doctrine within the Anglican/ Episcopal communities.

I begin with words from Pope Benedict XVI from his first Papal message: �Nourished and sustained by the Eucharist, Catholics cannot but feel encouraged to strive for the full unity for which Christ expressed so ardent a hope in the Upper Room. The Successor of Peter knows that he must make himself especially responsible for his Divine Master's supreme aspiration. Indeed, he is entrusted with the task of strengthening his brethren (cf. Lk 22: 32). With full awareness, therefore, at the beginning of his ministry in the Church of Rome which Peter bathed in his blood, Peter's current Successor takes on as his primary task the duty to work tirelessly to rebuild the full and visible unity of all Christ's followers. This is his ambition, his impelling duty.�

He has placed the commitment to the full communion of the Church at the forefront of his Papacy. This is evident in his love, respect and repeated overtures toward our Orthodox brethren, whom we recognize as a Church and whose priesthood and Sacraments we also recognize. However, this love is also evident in his outreach to the separated Christians of the Reformation communities of the West. On the 4th anniversary of the death of his predecessor, John Paul II, Pope Benedict reminded us of John Paul�s passionate commitment to the full communion of the Church. That teaching is summarized in the Encyclical Letter �May they be One� (Ut Unum Sint).

The letter is rooted in an ecclesiology of communion. John Paul II wrote: �It happens for example that, in the spirit of the Sermon on the Mount, Christians of one confession no longer consider other Christians as enemies or strangers but see them as brothers and sisters. Again, the very expression �separated brethren� tends to be replaced today by expressions which more readily evoke the deep communion � linked to the baptismal character � which the Spirit fosters in spite of historical and canonical divisions. Today we speak of "other Christians", "others who have received Baptism", and "Christians of other Communities". The Directory for the Application of Principles and Norms on Ecumenism refers to the Communities to which these Christians belong as "Churches and Ecclesial Communities that are not in full communion with the Catholic Church. The broadening of vocabulary is indicative of a significant change in attitudes" There is an increased awareness that we all belong to Christ.�(#42)

John Paul also wrote: �Relations between Christians are not aimed merely at mutual knowledge, common prayer and dialog. They presuppose and from now on call for every possible form of practical cooperation at all levels: pastoral, cultural and social, as well as that of witnessing to the Gospel message. Cooperation among all Christians vividly expresses that bond which already unites them, and it sets in clearer relief the features of Christ the Servant". This cooperation based on our common faith is not only filled with fraternal communion, but is a manifestation of Christ himself. Moreover, ecumenical cooperation is a true school of ecumenism, a dynamic road to unity. Unity of action leads to the full unity of faith: "Through such cooperation, all believers in Christ are able to learn easily how they can understand each other better and esteem each other more, and how the road to the unity of Christians may be made smooth. In the eyes of the world, cooperation among Christians becomes a form of common Christian witness and a means of evangelization which benefits all involved." (#40)

I am a "revert" to the Catholic Church. I wandered back home after my wayward teenage years to again embrace my Catholic faith. ...

I, too, am concerned for Lutherans, Anglicans, Protestants, etc. because they are not in full communion with Rome and are therefore by their very nature schismatic and heretical. This lack of communion is made painfully clear when they formally embrace practices condemned by the Catholic Church, particularly abortion and homosexuality. Heretic and schismatic are harsh words indeed when the Church is trying to "tone down" the teaching that only the Roman Catholic Church has the "fullness of Christ". Very few, is any, Christian denominations show us the same ecumenical "courtesy", however. Many don't even consider us Christians because of our teaching on the Mother of Christ, child baptism, Holy Orders, the Eucharist, confession, papal infallibility, etc. Catholics will forever have to deal with sharing the Faith while respecting the beliefs of others. Perhaps the writer, and the Church itself, feels that other Christian denominations have more in common with Catholics than atheists, agnostics, humanists, etc., but I disagree. I have often found other non-Catholic Christians to be extremely anti-Catholic.

Emma | 8/27/2009

The teachings you quoted can be dangerous if not understood in the context of the Sacred Tradition and the constant teaching of the Magisterium.

Whatever bonds are held in common with members of schismatic churches, the Catholic church remains the only ark of salvation:

"The Catholic Church alone is keeping the true worship. This is the font of truth, this is the house of faith, this is the temple of God; if any man enter not here, or if any man go forth from it, he is a stranger to the hope of life and salvation� Furthermore, in this one Church of Christ, no man can be or remain who does not accept, recognize and obey the authority and supremacy of Peter and his legitimate successors." - Pope Pius XI, Mortalium Animos

Surely, we cannot charge an infant baptised in a protestant church with schism, but once that child gains the faculty of reason and culpably fails to enter the Catholic Church, he will be "a stranger to the hope of life and salvation". Cooperation with protestant communities in the realm of public policy is legitimate, but we must never compromise the Catholic doctrine when engaging in ecumenical activities. Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus is a dogma Divinely revealed.

Paul G. | 8/27/2009

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