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Pope Declares Catholicism The One True Christian Religion

Digby again. Raw Story has the Pope saying take that, you heretic Cal Thomas:

The Vatican set itself on a collision course with other Christian faiths Tuesday, reaffirming the primacy of the Roman Catholic Church in a corrective document which it said was designed to clear up recent "erroneous" doctrine. The document's central claim, that only the Catholic Church is "the one true Church of Christ", is likely to revive a debate which has dogged the Vatican's relationship with rival Christian denominations for decades.

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  • Display: Sort:
    With a hat tip to (5.00 / 2) (#1)
    by oculus on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 05:21:03 PM EST
    desertswine on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 01:03:08 PM PDT?  

    I did not see it (5.00 / 2) (#2)
    by Big Tent Democrat on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 05:22:26 PM EST
    But thanks to desertswine also.

    Parent
    Shucks... (5.00 / 1) (#4)
    by desertswine on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 05:39:31 PM EST
    The pope is a wingnut? (5.00 / 1) (#9)
    by Edger on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 06:07:44 PM EST
    Wow. Who knew?

    Anybody (5.00 / 1) (#38)
    by aj12754 on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 08:14:19 AM EST
    who's been watching the Vatican for the last 20 years knew.

    Parent
    Twenty Years hell... (5.00 / 1) (#49)
    by rdandrea on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 11:12:49 AM EST
    It was in my Baltimore Catechism 50 years ago.

    But still, it's REALLY gonna hurt James Dobson's feelings.

    Parent

    Edgar Allen Pope (5.00 / 1) (#12)
    by Dadler on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 07:12:27 PM EST
    Fall of the House of Usher You Out of Heaven.

    no wonder the catholic church (5.00 / 2) (#15)
    by Jen M on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 07:42:30 PM EST
    is hemorrhaging members. Most don't want to revert so many centuries.

    This is a surprise? (5.00 / 3) (#20)
    by kst on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 10:22:47 PM EST
    I'm afraid I don't see why this is a big deal.  If you believe the Roman Catholic Church is the One True Church, then you're Catholic, and the Pope's statement is redundant.  If you don't, you're not, and it's irrelevant.  (I'm not.)

    OT Sorta (5.00 / 1) (#23)
    by squeaky on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 10:30:01 PM EST
    I wonder what is up with Blair converting to the one true religion.

    Parent
    Closet Catholic for 30 Years (5.00 / 1) (#27)
    by squeaky on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 10:59:48 PM EST
    Because it was inconvienent to be Catholic and the British Prime Minister at the same time.

    Guardian


    Parent

    Ah. (none / 0) (#28)
    by Edger on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 11:07:43 PM EST
    It was the principle of the thing.

    Parent
    No (none / 0) (#29)
    by squeaky on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 11:15:05 PM EST
    They don't want it to appear as if they are taking orders from the pope as opposed to the electorate.

    Catholic political leaders have always denied it - but the recent antics of some bishops in the US during the 2004 presidential campaign when they threatened to deny John Kerry communion because of his support for abortion rights and, recently, Cardinal Keith O'Brien's warning that he would do the same in Scotland, have tended to confirm old suspicions......

    ......The criticism of Ruth Kelly when she was education secretary because of her membership of the lay sect Opus Dei - at a time when the novel The Da Vinci Code had made the group more widely known - also showed that the old prejudice could still be deployed. Mr Blair probably thought he could do without the extra hassle.

    Guardian

    Parent

    I was being sarcastic with ::principle;: (none / 0) (#31)
    by Edger on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 11:25:38 PM EST
    I Know (5.00 / 1) (#33)
    by squeaky on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 11:35:32 PM EST
    They don't need principal. A certain amount of piety and ritual can still guarantee them a place in eternal bliss.  

    Parent
    Absolution (none / 0) (#26)
    by Edger on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 10:59:19 PM EST
    is miraculous I hear. Blair needs a miracle.

    Parent
    There is a lot of precedent for (none / 0) (#52)
    by oculus on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 01:06:11 PM EST
    adult's choosing to become Catholic in England.  

    Parent
    All catholics (5.00 / 2) (#25)
    by dkmich on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 10:52:17 PM EST
    are taught that from day one.  When my grandfather died many moons ago, the priest from the local parish refused to go into the cementary because it was Lutheran.   Anyday now, the Pope will dance with rattle snakes in his spiffy red shoes.  

    Parent
    Amen you are so right (none / 0) (#22)
    by timber on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 10:29:55 PM EST
    And I being a Catholic see nothing wrong with the pope's statement.

    That is why I dont understand the big fuss.

    Parent

    Re: This is a surprise? (none / 0) (#37)
    by kst on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 04:00:04 AM EST
    The headline writer for cnn.com has missed the point.  The headline on their front page currently says, "Vatican stresses inferiority of Protestants".  The document talks about the claimed inferiority of Protestant churches, not of their members.

    Parent
    many years ago (5.00 / 2) (#21)
    by cpinva on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 10:26:31 PM EST
    when my wife and i were planning to be married again, in the catholic church (more to make my father happy, then anything else), we were required to undergo "pre-marital counseling", with the young priest who was to marry us. during the course of one session, i noted that jesus was a jew (my mom is jewish), so it seemed just a tad hypocritical to use him as an example for christians. quickly, showing his jesuit training, the priest shot back, "yeah, but he converted on the cross!"

    i nearly fell out of my chair laughing! if only the church had more priests like this guy, i might still be going to mass regularly.

    Really? (5.00 / 1) (#30)
    by TomStewart on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 11:23:40 PM EST
    Does Mitt know? Because Mormon's have been calling themselves the one true church since Joseph Smith peered into a top hat and started translating the Golden Plates.

    And he got to have a bunch of chicks! The Pope doesn't get any. Doesn't seem like that great a religion to me.

    The Pope doesn't get any? (none / 0) (#32)
    by Edger on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 11:30:00 PM EST
    Somehow I think the pope gets all he wants, as often as he wants.

    Parent
    Shhhhhhhh! (none / 0) (#34)
    by TomStewart on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 12:11:27 AM EST
    Was that blaspheming? (none / 0) (#35)
    by Edger on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 12:13:41 AM EST
    If I turn up dead make sure they carve "Thank God I Died An Atheist" on my headstone, will you?

    Thanks, Tom. ;-)

    Parent

    Okay... (none / 0) (#36)
    by TomStewart on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 03:21:09 AM EST
    but you're really relying on my spelling capabilities...

    Parent
    Okay (none / 0) (#39)
    by jimakaPPJ on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 08:48:05 AM EST
    How about:

    Here lies an atheist

    All dressed up  

    And no place to go

    (Source not remembered)

    Parent

    You hearing the voices again? (none / 0) (#43)
    by Edger on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 09:42:23 AM EST
    No one was talking to you.

    Parent
    The devil made me do it!! (1.00 / 1) (#44)
    by jimakaPPJ on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 10:20:03 AM EST
    Religion ::is:: handy isn't it? (5.00 / 1) (#46)
    by Edger on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 10:26:15 AM EST
    Invented a 'devil' that makes you do things against your will to allow you to shirk responsibility for yourself.

    Parent
    Then, of course, (5.00 / 1) (#48)
    by Edger on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 11:00:02 AM EST
    after having invented a 'devil' to encourage people to shirk responsibility for themselves, that same religion offers them unconditional discharge for their crimes.

    But only if they agree to hand over their minds to the "one true church".

    Hell of a deal.

    Parent

    It's pretty much (none / 0) (#50)
    by Edger on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 11:36:31 AM EST
    the same deal Scooter Libby got.

    Parent
    What a relief (none / 0) (#3)
    by Militarytracy on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 05:35:15 PM EST
    I was afraid I wasn't going to figure it out before I coughed up the ghost.

    Hope you've been properly (5.00 / 1) (#5)
    by oculus on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 05:43:45 PM EST
    baptized in the one true faith or all is lost.

    Parent
    I haven't but I can convert can't I? (none / 0) (#8)
    by Militarytracy on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 06:06:07 PM EST
    Will I end up in some satellite heaven not being born properly?

    Parent
    You can convert and be baptized, but (none / 0) (#10)
    by oculus on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 06:36:50 PM EST
    there are other problems, of course, divorce, etc.  

    Parent
    You can't go to limbo (none / 0) (#11)
    by Al on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 06:58:20 PM EST
    According to the Pope, it doesn't exist any more.

    Parent
    Chubby Checker says different (5.00 / 1) (#13)
    by jondee on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 07:17:09 PM EST
    Is he a social liberal? (none / 0) (#14)
    by Edger on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 07:39:59 PM EST
    Too?

    Parent
    Social Liberal?? What he was was.. (none / 0) (#45)
    by jimakaPPJ on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 10:22:37 AM EST
    Anybody who can limbo and twist is my kinda guy.

    Parent
    Yes (none / 0) (#51)
    by Edger on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 12:42:55 PM EST
    Onward, Christian (read Catholic) (none / 0) (#7)
    by oculus on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 05:58:05 PM EST
    Soldiers.

    In other news... (none / 0) (#16)
    by jarober on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 08:07:33 PM EST
    In other news, Big Tent only just realized that the Sun rises in the east.  

    If this was a surprise to you, then you are sorely lacking in education.  

    Sun rises in the east? (none / 0) (#17)
    by Edger on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 08:16:06 PM EST
    No, it just looks that way.

    If this is a surprise to you, then you are sorely lacking in education. Don't tell the pope you clicked that link though. You'll be cooked. For eternity.

    Parent

    Starting a fund (1.00 / 1) (#18)
    by jarober on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 09:05:47 PM EST
    I'm starting a fund for the metaphor impaired.  Edger will be the charter case.

    Parent
    Quite The Contrary (5.00 / 1) (#19)
    by squeaky on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 09:47:22 PM EST
    You are the metaphor impared,

    metaphor
         n : a figure of speech in which an expression is used to refer
             to something that it does not literally denote in order
             to suggest a similarity

    Your example was sarcasm.

    Edger's was an apt comparison.


    Parent

    What it was..... (none / 0) (#40)
    by jimakaPPJ on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 08:50:06 AM EST
    What it was.....

    was correct....

    Parent

    I wonder if it surprises Cal Thomas (none / 0) (#24)
    by Big Tent Democrat on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 10:31:00 PM EST
    Cal Thomas Surprised? No. (none / 0) (#41)
    by Strick on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 08:54:53 AM EST
    Protestants have known this since Luther hammered his Bull on the church door and got excommunicated for it.  It's not news and simply doesn't matter.  

    Christians, like every other movement in history, haggle and split up over the details.  In the end, Jesus will sort us all out, and for the most part, it won't be over crap like this.  

    I think Thomas was wrong in what he said about Hillary on two counts, her being a "real" Christian and that she was conforming what she said about her beliefs for poltiical purposes, but he's entitled to think and say what he wants, too.  Eveyone else is entitled to take his comments as seriously as they want to, too.

    That said, all this talk about the Pope, heretics and Inquisitions is even more absurd than what Thomas said.  

    Parent

    The one "true" religion maybe... (none / 0) (#42)
    by Strick on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 09:30:20 AM EST
    But there may be other paths to salvation that go through the competition.

    And, as far as ecumenism is concerned, even today's document makes clear that "there are `numerous elements of sanctification and of truth' which are found outside [the Catholic Church's] structure." The Protestant churches "are deprived neither of significance nor importance in the mystery of salvation. In fact the Spirit of Christ has not refrained from using them as instruments of salvation."
     Do Protestants Have Churches?

    That seems to suggest that the Pope isn't saying you're automatically going to hell if you aren't a Catholic, doesn't it?