In my latest small group meeting the topic regarding the salvation of Roman Catholics came up. The reason being many in our group have family members and friends who are in the Roman system and they were curious on my thoughts regarding if a faithful practicing Roman Catholic can be saved.
My response was, if someone is truly following Roman Catholic doctrine and adhere to all of the Canons the RCC teaches, then they would most likely not be saved. I said that knowing that the Council of Trent pronounced anathemas to anyone who says that they are justified by faith in Christ alone. That would mean that a true follower of the RC faith would be denying the true Gospel and would therefore not have saving faith. Now after saying this the concerned individuals said they heard the same thing so that prompted them to read the catechism of the RCC. They said they could not find those anathemas anywhere and that just because the Council of Trent decided that and it's not in the catechism that was done back in the 80's under Pope John Paul II, that it isn't what the RCC teaches.
This caught me off guard as I never read the RC catechism. I've since looked at a copy of the catechism from the official Vatican website and noticed that there is no mention of the anathemas regarding justification and it seems pretty watered down. They do state their views of justification, which is very convoluted. I then researched the authority of the catechism within the RCC on the Council of Bishops website and it is represented as basically a summary of beliefs. Then I wondered well what about the Council of Trent and the decrees made there? Why are they not in the catechism and do they still hold? Were they revoked? This is where it got interesting and lead me to starting this thread. Apparently, based on everything I could find researching the topic the Council of Trent decrees are "infallible" and are "dogma" within the RCC and cannot be revoked. I went on the Vatican website and I couldn't find the Council of Trent's documents.
So if the following pronouncements are current dogma of the RCC (Sixth Session of the Council of Trent), and practicing Roman Catholics truly believe them, wouldn't that make salvation unlikely for many of them?:
CANON IX.-If any one saith, that by faith alone the impious is justified; in such wise as to mean, that nothing else is required to co-operate in order to the obtaining the grace of Justification, and that it is not in any way necessary, that he be prepared and disposed by the movement of his own will; let him be anathema.
CANON XI.-If any one saith, that men are justified, either by the sole imputation of the justice of Christ, or by the sole remission of sins, to the exclusion of the grace and the charity which is poured forth in their hearts by the Holy Ghost, and is inherent in them; or even that the grace, whereby we are justified, is only the favour of God; let him be anathema.
CANON XII.-If any one saith, that justifying faith is nothing else but confidence in the divine mercy which remits sins for Christ's sake; or, that this confidence alone is that whereby we are justified; let him be anathema.
CANON XV.-If any one saith, that a man, who is born again and justified, is bound of faith to believe that he is assuredly in the number of the predestinate; let him be anathema.
It appears that the RCC is hiding their true Dogma. I believe it's most likely due to the ecumenical movement which really seemed to pick up steam during the 80's hence the catechism being written to obfuscate what they truly teach to make it more palatable for Roman Catholics and Protestants who are trying to view Roman Catholics as brothers in Christ.
To be clear, I did hedge my comment to the small group by saying that no one knows what degree any RC believer actually adheres to the faith. I was raised RC until I was in 7th grade and by God's grace I left the Roman system after my mother left the RCC. I can't say just because some one claims to be RC that they are unsaved. I do question how someone can be born again and continue to be a practicing Roman Catholic though. This is tough stuff when people have a genuine concern for loved ones, but it's important to really discuss and not to ignore.
Does anyone have any comments, thoughts or suggestions? Is my point flawed? Let me know if you can provide any more information on the topic. I found it very interesting in how difficult it was to find information regarding the Council of Trent/Catholic Dogma within official RC websites.
My response was, if someone is truly following Roman Catholic doctrine and adhere to all of the Canons the RCC teaches, then they would most likely not be saved. I said that knowing that the Council of Trent pronounced anathemas to anyone who says that they are justified by faith in Christ alone. That would mean that a true follower of the RC faith would be denying the true Gospel and would therefore not have saving faith. Now after saying this the concerned individuals said they heard the same thing so that prompted them to read the catechism of the RCC. They said they could not find those anathemas anywhere and that just because the Council of Trent decided that and it's not in the catechism that was done back in the 80's under Pope John Paul II, that it isn't what the RCC teaches.
This caught me off guard as I never read the RC catechism. I've since looked at a copy of the catechism from the official Vatican website and noticed that there is no mention of the anathemas regarding justification and it seems pretty watered down. They do state their views of justification, which is very convoluted. I then researched the authority of the catechism within the RCC on the Council of Bishops website and it is represented as basically a summary of beliefs. Then I wondered well what about the Council of Trent and the decrees made there? Why are they not in the catechism and do they still hold? Were they revoked? This is where it got interesting and lead me to starting this thread. Apparently, based on everything I could find researching the topic the Council of Trent decrees are "infallible" and are "dogma" within the RCC and cannot be revoked. I went on the Vatican website and I couldn't find the Council of Trent's documents.
So if the following pronouncements are current dogma of the RCC (Sixth Session of the Council of Trent), and practicing Roman Catholics truly believe them, wouldn't that make salvation unlikely for many of them?:
CANON IX.-If any one saith, that by faith alone the impious is justified; in such wise as to mean, that nothing else is required to co-operate in order to the obtaining the grace of Justification, and that it is not in any way necessary, that he be prepared and disposed by the movement of his own will; let him be anathema.
CANON XI.-If any one saith, that men are justified, either by the sole imputation of the justice of Christ, or by the sole remission of sins, to the exclusion of the grace and the charity which is poured forth in their hearts by the Holy Ghost, and is inherent in them; or even that the grace, whereby we are justified, is only the favour of God; let him be anathema.
CANON XII.-If any one saith, that justifying faith is nothing else but confidence in the divine mercy which remits sins for Christ's sake; or, that this confidence alone is that whereby we are justified; let him be anathema.
CANON XV.-If any one saith, that a man, who is born again and justified, is bound of faith to believe that he is assuredly in the number of the predestinate; let him be anathema.
It appears that the RCC is hiding their true Dogma. I believe it's most likely due to the ecumenical movement which really seemed to pick up steam during the 80's hence the catechism being written to obfuscate what they truly teach to make it more palatable for Roman Catholics and Protestants who are trying to view Roman Catholics as brothers in Christ.
To be clear, I did hedge my comment to the small group by saying that no one knows what degree any RC believer actually adheres to the faith. I was raised RC until I was in 7th grade and by God's grace I left the Roman system after my mother left the RCC. I can't say just because some one claims to be RC that they are unsaved. I do question how someone can be born again and continue to be a practicing Roman Catholic though. This is tough stuff when people have a genuine concern for loved ones, but it's important to really discuss and not to ignore.
Does anyone have any comments, thoughts or suggestions? Is my point flawed? Let me know if you can provide any more information on the topic. I found it very interesting in how difficult it was to find information regarding the Council of Trent/Catholic Dogma within official RC websites.