1) Wikipedia, the internet encylopedia cannot produce a Catholic Church text which says Fr. Leonard Feeney was excommunicated for heresy. All the documentation refers to ‘disobedience’.
2) Wikipedia agrees Fr. Leonard Feeney held the ‘strict’ actual interpretation of the dogma. So how could he be excommunicated for heresy?
3) Wikipedia never mentions that the Letter of the Holy Office, Vatican 1949 affirms the dogma, specifically by name.
4) Wikipedia makes no mention of Vatican Council II affirming the dogma outside the Church no salvation (LG 14, AG 7)
5) If as Wikipedia says he was excommunicated for heresy then it means Pope Pius XI was fallible. Since he was contradicting many other popes. It means popes are not infallible when speaking ex cathedra and that dogmas can change or be reinterpreted.
Here is the ex cathedra dogma that Pope Pius XII affirmed as the ‘infallible teaching’.
• “There is but one universal Church of the faithful, outside which no one at all is saved.” (Pope Innocent III, Fourth Lateran Council, 1215.)
• “We declare, say, define, and pronounce that it is absolutely necessary for the salvation of every human creature to be subject to the Roman Pontiff.” (Pope Boniface VIII, the Bull Unam Sanctam, 1302.)
• “The most Holy Roman Church firmly believes, professes and preaches that none of those existing outside the Catholic Church, not only pagans, but also Jews and heretics and schismatics, can have a share in life eternal; but that they will go into the eternal fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels, unless before death they are joined with Her; and that so important is the unity of this ecclesiastical body that only those remaining within this unity can profit by the sacraments of the Church unto salvation, and they alone can receive an eternal recompense for their fasts, their almsgivings, their other works of Christian piety and the duties of a Christian soldier. No one, let his almsgiving be as great as it may, no one, even if he pour out his blood for the Name of Christ, can be saved, unless he remain within the bosom and the unity of the Catholic Church.” (Pope Eugene IV, the Bull Cantate Domino, 1441.)
-from the website Catholicism.org and “No Salvation outside the Church”: Link List,(http://nosalvationoutsideofthecatholicchurch.blogspot.com/,
The Three Dogmatic Statements Regarding EENS)
Leonard FeeneyFr. Leonard Feeney said de facto everyone needs to enter the Catholic Church for salvation and there were no exceptions. De facto we cannot specifically say that any particular person has a genuine baptism of desire or a good conscience.This was the ex cathedra dogma . The dogma is about de facto salvation.This was Pope Pius XII's teaching.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Father Leonard Feeney (b. Lynn, Massachusetts 1897-02-18 - d. Ayer, Massachusetts 1978-01-30 )[1] was a U.S. Jesuit priest who defended the strict interpretation of the Roman Catholic doctrine, extra Ecclesiam nulla salus ("outside The Church there is no salvation"), arguing that baptism of blood and baptism of desire are unavailing and that therefore no non-Catholics will be saved.[2][1] He fought against what he perceived to be the liberalization of Catholic doctrine.[1]
De jure (in principle) a non Catholic can be saved with the baptism of blood or in invincible ignorance. This however is known only to God. Only Jesus can judge such a case.Again, Pope Pius would agree with him regarding implicit salvation.
However the ordinary way to go to Heaven is Catholic Faith and the Baptism of water for all people (Ad Gentes 7, Vatican Council II,CCC 1257).
So in the Letter of the Holy Office 1949 Pope Pius XII was saying that every Jew in Boston needed to convert to go to Heaven and avoid Hell. This was also the message of Fr.Leonard Feeney and the communities he founded, the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Two of the communities have been approved by the Diocese of Worcester,USA where they have been granted canonical status.
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