De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

  “A Catholic priest comments” I have received an email from a Catholic priest who asked if I would post the following message:   In the comments I noticed the following from Andy.   Dear Mark, I found your site after following Gavin Ashenden and his pilgrimage for a couple of years. I love Catholic unscripted and the writings of all three of you. I’m not a Catholic, I am a Christian. A member of an “Ecclesial Community” as Gavin put it in episode 14 ( quoting Benedict, I believe).  Anyhow, thanks so much for your writings and I pray you continue to contend for the faith…. Regards, Andy   Presumably when Andy describes himself as a member of an “Ecclesial Community”, he is referring to  Dominus Iesus  the Declaration of the CDF issued on 6 August 2000 by Cardinal Ratzinger: Dominus Iesus  paragraph 17 states:   On the other hand,  the ecclesial communities which have not preserved the valid Episcopate and the genuine and integral substan...

The Second Vatican Council distinguished between “Churches” and “Ecclesial Communities” separated from the Roman Apostolic See ( Unitatis Redintegratio , chapter 3). What is the basis for this distinction? Why is it important? What implications do degrees of communion have for reception of the sacraments in the Catholic Church in union with the Apostolic See? ~Auctore Deo~ Introduction Today Christianity resembles the one garment of the Lord torn between disputing parties. As much as anything else, this of itself forms a major obstacle for many to belief. Without a proper ecclesiology; if we don't understand Church, what, or where the Church is, then the whole proclamation of the faith goes awry. Over emphasis on the wrong kind of ecumenism leads to a relativist ecclesiology which equates the One True Church of Jesus Christ to Protestant theologies which don’t even hold to the divinity of Our Lord. The sacraments are denigrated and lose their potency because they b...