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I feel that being a Roman Catholic is a wonderful gift that my parents fostered in me and one that Christ nurtures in me today. I have received so much from our church, not the least of which are the privileges of the Holy Sacraments and the regular wisdom provided by a highly educated priest who has been ordained in an unbroken line from Christ to Saint Peter and on and on. The Roman Catholic church is a cherished home for me, no matter where on earth I might be.

Feeling as deeply as I do about our church, it is a frequent temptation to take pride in it as if it were a religion in and of itself but it is not. First and foremost we are Christians. In my opinion, Our Precious Lord does not appreciate the numerous sects and schisms that man has made in His church and surely He encourages us to help heal them rather than make them deeper.

 

Actually, what really needs to change is the group name since The Catholic Church comprises BOTH Latin Rites and Eastern Rites. By making a group titled "Roman Catholic" we exclude our Eastern Catholic brothers and sisters who are very much in communion with the Pope. Sadly, lots of Latin Rite aka Roman Catholic are ignorant of this and mistakenly think all Byzantine Rite Catholics belong to the "Orthodox Church".

Fun fact, did you know that the Maronite Eastern Catholics do not have an Orthodox counterpart because they never left communion with Rome during the Great Schism!


There is also no teaching or rule that Icons are only reserved for Eastern Rites, and, sure the Orthodox Counterparts will say Catholics appropriate them but we can just a validly say the Orthodox appropriated them from the Catholic Church.

 

The Catholic Church is the One, True, and Holy Church founded by Christ and it is the only true expression of the Christian Faith. This expression encompasses both Latin and Eastern Rites in communion with the Bishop of Rome, the Pope.

All others are schismatic sects or heretical sects. Now whether their members are formal heretics or schismatics is a different story since that depends on the individuals themselves.

 

You know much more than I about Eastern Catholics and their history. Thank you for sharing that and thanks for sparking an interest in me to learn more.

I know and have known some beautiful protestants whom I am sure will make it to heaven. The Catholic church may be a Ferrari for the journey to heaven and the protestant church may be a Prius but both can get there. I hope to be very careful not to cause any Christian to lose their faith through an argument about the primacy of the Catholic church, better they get to heaven in a Prius than not at all.

Christ drew people to himself with humility, kindness, understanding and an unwavering love for the Father. Christ also admonished Peter for drawing his sword and cutting off the temple guard's ear. I am keenly aware that I am often tempted to argue for God when what He wants from me is understanding and humility.

 

We must see all in the truth. If we are Catholics we must believe in ALL what Catholic Church teaches. So we can read in the Cathechism of Catholic Church that only in our Church we have the fullness of faith and the best means of salvation. And Orthodox Churches are the nearest in belief and practise. Much further from the fullness are Protestants.

Now is the war in Ukraine. Which weapon would you like to have as a soldier to survive - not only you but your fellow soldiers and your country, nation? What are you choosing? - a pistole, a gun , a 30 years old tank or missile? Or a club? Or maybe the newest most modern proven in another wars tanks, missiles...

This is on the earth but much more important is our spiritual war because our destination is either everlasting hell or everlasting heaven. That's why is important to use the best means which gives Catholic Church and I wish that all people could use the best most effective means because their chances grow then.

The above was something rather doctrinal but as far as I have read in Protestant and Orthodox theologies - I haven't found there such effective means to fight with pmo as I've found in Catholic theology on grace. And this is no more theory or doctrine for me but real everyday life.

 

God is not a respector of persons meaning human respect is not something He is concerned about. I'm not trying to be harsh, but your analogy regarding the Ferrari and the Prius is not accurate and is a heretical position. There is no salvific value in any Heretical church nor in any Schismatic sect. Just because God is merciful and extends that mercy towards the invincibly ignorant does not equate to that person being saved through their heretical or schismatic church, rather they are being saved in spite of their heretical church or schismatic sect. Only the Catholic Church saves because Only The Catholic Church is Christ Himself. Rejecting the Catholic Church is rejecting Christ Himself.

Also clearly being Catholic doesn't mean one cannot be damned either, but to say different Churchs lead to the same end is grave error.

Hiding the truth to protect someone's feelings and false faith isn't humility. It's harmful.

https://www.catholic.com/magazine/o...ally-no-salvation-outside-the-catholic-church

 

There are many good Christians out there who are being led away from the church by past and present leaders of their faiths. Equally, there have been, and continue to be, some Catholic church leaders whose selfish, sinful or misguided faith poisons peoples opinion of our beautiful church. Those who originated the misleading of these masses and those who used their positions of authority in our church to abuse others will be judged very harshly by God. However, those who have been led astray are innocent sheep. I am sure Our Lord will not condemn the sheep for being led astray and I am sure there will be severe punishment for those that led them.

If there are protestants or others who have an open mind to conversion, I will happily point them in the right direction. However, there are many who are completely close minded to the idea of becoming Catholic and I strive to show Christian kindness to them. We won't remove the taint some sinners have brought on our church with vitriol and sternness. Our Lord brought people to himself with humility and kindness. He even treated his enemies this way. He admonished St. Peter when he cut off the guard's ear, even though the guard was going to arrest him. The guard later became a great Christian as did the leader of the Roman soldiers who crucified Him.

Let us pray for the people of other faiths, that God will have mercy on them and open their eyes to the truth. Also, may God bless you richly and completely for your strong faith.

 

What you are saying does not excuse you from proclaiming the dogma that the Catholic Church is necessary for salvation. I get what you're saying and I agree those who have been the ones to cause grave scandal will have to answer for those they led astray, but their scandal does not excuse you from the duty of proclaiming the fullness of the truth which is the Catholic Faith. It just means you need to evangelize and learn to navigate through the tough seas. Furthermore, no Christian can use scandal as an excuse to not join the Church, I mean, the Church has been rocked by scandal from the beginning with Judas and etc. Did their scandal invalidate Christ's gospel? Nope. So no Protestant could use scandal as evidence against the Truth of the Church's dogmas, which are Christ's dogmas since the Catholic Church is Christ.

Whether the protestant is close minded or open minded it, likewise, does not exempt you from proclaiming what is true. We are called to share the good news. What the individual does with it is between them and God.

And of course you should be doing this with charity and humility, but hiding truth is neither charitable or humble. It's also sad the you see this as being vitriol or sternness. Do you think your Protestant friends would spare you what they believe to be the truth in order to protect your feelings? I would hope not since those would not be truly loving friends. I'm sure they would tell you in the most loving way possible the truth, even if it hurt your feelings. We must do likewise.

 

Sorry, I just don't believe the Catholic church provides the only way to salvation. I think it provides the best way but not the only way. I would rather encourage someone to love Christ than risk discouraging that by attacking their faith.

I have been attacked (verbally) by protestants before and I have explained to them, as best I can, about the fallacies they hold about our church. At those times, I did not manage to change the opinion of a single one of them but I probably made them more entrenched in their beliefs and so it is with me. If someone attacks our church, it will not dissuade me but rather it will cause me to be further convinced of our faith.

I will evangelize with kindness and understanding to the best of my ability. In this way, I hope others become interested in our faith. I doubt very seriously that I could debate them into joining the church. Indeed, I think it would have the opposite effect.

 

I will not talk about the rest of what you posted because if you don't believe the infallible doctrine that there is no salvation outside of the Catholic Church, then it's clear you need to work on evangelizing yourself, brother.

 

May God bless you and keep you. May you obtain a place in heaven and a level of holiness far greater than mine as long as mine is as good as God wishes it to be.