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BOOK II, CHAPTER
THREE THOSE OUTSIDE
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH ARE LOST
FOREVER If anyone abide not in
Me, he shall be cast forth as a branch, and shall wither, and they shall
gather him up and cast him into the fire, and he burneth.
(St. John 15:6) The most Holy Roman Church believes, professes,
and teaches that none of those who are not within the Catholic Church, not
only pagans, but also Jews, and heretics, and schismatics,
can ever have a share in eternal life, but that they will go into the
everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels unless before death
they shall have entered into the Church; and that so important is the unity
of this ecclesiastical body that only those abiding within this unity can
profit from the Sacraments of the Church unto salvation, and that they alone
can receive an eternal reward for their fasts, their almsgiving, their other
works of Christian piety and duties of a Christian soldier. No one, let his almsgiving be as great as it may be, no one,
even if he pour out his blood for the name of Christ, can be saved unless he
abide within the bosom and unity of the Catholic Church. (Pope
Eugene IV) He who is separated from the body of the Catholic
Church, however praiseworthy his conduct may otherwise seem, will not be
saved. (Pope Gregory XVI)
Not one man of those outside the faith and
obedience to the Pontiff of the Romans can finally be saved. (Pope
Clement VI) Whoever does not preserve this unity does not
preserve the law of God, does not preserve the faith of the Father and Son,
and does not have life and salvation. (Pope Pius XII) We must believe that the Roman Catholic Church is
the only true Church; hence, they who are out of our Church, or they who are
separated from it, cannot be saved. (St. Alphonsus
Maria Liguori)
Outside the fold of the Holy Roman Church there
is no salvation. (Ven. Pope Pius IX)
This is the Holy Church, the One Church, the True
Church, the Catholic Church, fighting against all heresies! He will not have
God for his Father who refuses the Church for his Mother. No one can find
salvation except in the Catholic Church. Outside the Church, you can find
everything except salvation. You can have dignities, you can have Sacraments,
you can sing "Alleluia," answer "Amen," have the Gospels,
have faith and preach it, too. But never can you find salvation except in the
Catholic Church (St. Augustine)
No one can be saved outside the bosom and unity
of the Catholic Church. (Council of Florence) Outside this communion, as outside the Ark of
Noah, there is absolutely no salvation for mortals; for the rule of Cyprian
and Augustine is certain: that man will not have God for his Father who would
not have the Church for his Mother. (St. Peter Canisius) Our Lord said that whoever would not listen to
the Church should be regarded as a heathen. He said that there was to be but
one flock and one shepherd, and He appointed St. Peter to be head of that
flock. My friend, there are not two ways of serving
Our Lord; there is only one good way, and it is to serve Him as He wishes to
be served. (St. John Mary Vianney) Oh, how much are worldlings
deceived who think to go to Heaven by the wide way that only leadeth to perdition! The path to Heaven is narrow, rough, and full of wearisome ascents, nor can
it be trodden without great toil. And therefore, wrong is their way, gross
their error, and assured their ruin who, after the testimony of so many
thousands of saints, will not learn where to settle their footing! Wrestle no
longer against the struggles of your own conscience and the forcible
admonitions God doth send you. Embrace His mercy before the time of rigor,
and return to His Church lest He debar you His Kingdom. He cannot have God
for Father who refuseth to possess the Catholic
Church for Mother. (St. Robert Southwell) The exaltation of Holy Church is our exaltation,
for in no other place do souls receive life than in that Church. No one can
attain to joy in the beauty of God without the help of that sweet Bride, for
we must all pass through the gate of Christ Crucified, and that gate is found
nowhere but in the Church. (St. Catherine of Siena) Hold most firmly and do not doubt at all: not
only all the pagans, but also all the Jews and all the heretics and schismatics who terminate this present life outside the
Catholic Church will go into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and
his angels. (St. Fulgentius) To that Church alone, and to those whom she
embraces in her bosom and holds in her arms, appertains the invocation of
that Divine Name, outside which there is no other name under Heaven given to
men whereby we must be saved. (Catechism of Trent) O Mary, Mother of Mercy and Seat of Wisdom!
Enlighten the minds enfolded in the darkness of ignorance and sin, that they may clearly recognize the Holy, Catholic, Apostolic, Roman
Church to be the only true Church of Jesus Christ, outside which neither sanctity
nor salvation can be found. (Pope Pius XII) REFERENCES BOOK
II, CHAPTER THREE
2. Gregory XVI: "Perlatum Ad Nos,"
PTC:186; "Summo Jugiter,"
PTC:158 3. Clement VI: "Super Quisbudam," DNZ:570 b,1 4. Pius XII: "Meninisse Juvat,"
PTC:1547 ff. 5. Alphonsus Maria: CAS p.57 7. Augustine: "To the People
of Caesaria," Sermon VI, CSL I-II, p.526 ff., Vienna: C. Gerold's Son; PL 43:695; JUR cf. vol. III: 1535 &
1858; GOH p.10 8. Florence: "Decree for the Jacobites," DNZ:714 9. Peter Canisius: CATECHISM, "Creed":
Art.9; GOH p.13-14 10. John
Mary: SPIRIT OF THE CURE D'ARS, Bowden, 1864 12.
Catherine: SCS pp.200, 201, 380 13. Fulgentius: "On the Faith, to
Peter," ch.38, PL 65:704 |