This is from CNN.com-
"VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -- The Vatican on Tuesday said Christian denominations outside the Roman Catholic Church were not full churches of Jesus Christ.
The Vatican said other churches are "wounded" since they do not recognize the primacy of the pope.
A 16-page document, prepared by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which Pope Benedict used to head, described Christian Orthodox churches as true churches, but suffering from a "wound" since they do not recognize the primacy of the Pope.
But the document said the "wound is still more profound" in the Protestant denominations -- a view likely to further complicate relations with Protestants.
"Despite the fact that this teaching has created no little distress ... it is nevertheless difficult to see how the title of 'Church' could possibly be attributed to them," it said."
I can only hope that the Roman "church" continues to seperate itself from all others so that ecumenical efforts may be stopped. This article makes it clear that in Rome's eyes, the Eastern Church is no real church either. And why? Because they do not bow down to the authority of the Pope. I hope everyone else can see how crazy it is that the church is willing to condemn anyone who does not bow down to a certain MAN. Yes, the Pope the vicar of Christ who sounds remarkably like the man of lawlessness of 2 Thessalonians 2 "He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God." Vicar literally means, "in place of." Anti as in antichrist can also mean either "against" or "in place of." Thus vicar of Christ and Antichrist can be synonymous terms. When Christ ascended He only had one to come in His place. It was no man but the third person of the trinity, the Holy Spirit.
2 comments:
this is the best news i've heard in a long time.
You're right Krista, hopefully this will give greater attention to exactly how big the rift is between Protestantism, Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy. The Pope's move, as bold as it was, was certainly needed in a syncretistic society. I think, coming from our point of view, that the people who needed this message the most were us Protestants... this kinda thing should shock us into the reality that our beliefs are not the same at all. I think we need more of these kind of messages, only I hope the pope is bold enough not to back down from them if the drive-by media really racks him for it.
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