Doctrinal Beliefs

For those who have been following the attacks on the Faithful Catholics of the Saint Benedict Center, attacks falsely accusing the members of heresy, here is a statement of their adherence to the Catholic Faith, pure ad undiluted, issued yesterday.

From Catholicism.org

Saint Benedict CenterRichmond, New HampshirePalm Sunday, A.D. 2019

• The members of the Saint Benedict Center believe with Divine and Catholic Faith all those things contained in the Word of God, written or handed on, that is, in the one Deposit of Faith entrusted to the Church, and at the same time proposed as divinely revealed either by the Solemn Magisterium of the Church or by its Ordinary and Universal Magisterium which is manifested by the common adherence of the Christian faithful under the leadership of the Sacred Magisterium, avoiding any doctrines whatsoever contrary to them. (cf. can. 750, § 1 of the Code of Canon Law [“CIC”]).
• We embrace and retain each and everything which is proposed definitively by the Magisterium of the Church concerning the doctrine of Faith and Morals, that is, each and everything which is required to safeguard reverently and to expound faithfully the same Deposit of Faith. None of us rejects any proposition which is to be held definitively. (cf. can. 750, § 2 CIC).
• All members of the Saint Benedict Center affirm as heresy any pertinacious denial or pertinacious doubt, committed after baptism has been received, of a truth proposed by the Magisterium to be believed with Divine and Catholic Faith (cf. can. 751 CIC).
• We believe and profess to be a dogma of Divine and Catholic Faith that Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus, “Outside the Church there is No Salvation.”
• We affirm that the dogma “Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus” must be interpreted according to the official doctrine of the Church (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church [“CCC”], nn. 846-848; Declaration Dominus Iesus [“DI”], nn. 20-22).
• We affirm that all salvation comes from Christ through the Church, which is the Body of Christ, the Sacrament of Salvation (cf. CCC, n. 846).
• We affirm that those who, through no fault of their own, do not know Christ [“Evangelium Christi”] and His Church have the possibility of obtaining [“consequi possunt”] eternal salvation (cf. CCC, n. 847). This proposition is affirmed in conjunction with all of the other conditions sine qua non for salvation explicitly narrated in the Epistula ad Archiepiscopum Bostoniensem of 8 August 1949 referenced in footnote n. 342 of the same Catechism, which themselves are referenced as extracted from the Encyclical Letter Mystici Corporis Christi of Pope Ven. Pius XII, namely: 1) “perfecta caritate” and 2) “fidem supernaturalem” (cf. Hebr. XI: 6; Conc. Trid., Sess. VI, cap. 8, DS, n. 1532) with the term, “fidem” as defined by Pope Bl. Innocent XI in his Decree of 2 March 1679 condemning proposition n. XXIII (cf. DS, n. 2123; can. 754 CIC). Such souls can and must be united to Jesus Christ through his Mystical Body, the Catholic Church (cf. John 10:9, John 14:6, Acts 4:12, Rom. 8:9; Lateran IV, cap. 1, The Catholic Faith: DH 802; Boniface VIII, Unam Sanctam: DH 870; Florence, Cantate Domino: DH 1351.)
• We affirm that the Church certainly has a perennial obligation and sacred right to evangelize all men (cf. CCC, n. 848).
• We affirm that all must hold that the Church is necessary for salvation (cf. DI, n. 20).
• We affirm that this doctrine must not be set against the universal salvific will of God (cf. DI, n.20).
• We affirm that for non-Christians, salvation in Christ is accessible [“patens”] by virtue of a grace, which, coming from Christ and communicated by the Holy Spirit, has a relationship with the Church, and is bestowed by God in ways known to God Himself (cf. DI, n. 20-21). Since Dominus Iesus, n. 21 in its footnote n. 83, expressly references the Decree of the Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, Ad Gentes, n. 7, we likewise affirm the remainder of the perennial teaching proposed therein: “Oportet igitur ut ad Eum, per praedicationem Ecclesiae agnitum, omnes convertantur, et Ipsi et Ecclesiae, quae Corpus Eius est, per Baptismum incorporentur” […] “Etsi ergo Deus viis sibi notis homines Evangelium sine eorum culpa ignorantes ad fidem adducere possit, sine qua impossibile est Ipsi placere […],” translated, “All, therefore, must be converted to Him, made known by the Church’s preaching, and through Baptism be incorporated into Christ and into His Church, which is His body.” […] “Even if, therefore, God in ways known to Himself can lead men ignorant of the Gospel without their fault to the Faith, without which it is impossible to please Him” […].
• Dialogue with members of other religions can never substitute the mission of the Church, called to bring salvation to all (cf. DI, n. 22).
• According to Pope Bl. Pius IX per his Allocution, Singulari quadam of 9 December 1854, “Tenendum quippe ex fide est extra Apostolicam Romanam Ecclesiam salvum fieri neminem posse, hanc esse unicam salutis arcam, hanc qui non fuerit ingressus, diluvio periturum; sed tamen pro certo pariter habendum est, qui verae religionis ignorantia laborent, si ea sit invincibilis, nulla ipsos obstringi huiusce rei culpa ante oculos Domini. Nunc vero quis tantum sibi arroget, ut huiusmodi ignorantiae designare limites queat iuxta populorum, regionum, ingeniorum, aliarumque rerum tam multarum rationem et varietatem? […] ulterius inquirendo progredi nefas est.”, translated, “For, it must be held to be of the Faith that outside the Apostolic Roman Church, no one can be saved; that this is the only ark of salvation; that he who shall not have entered therein will perish in the flood; but, on the other hand, it is equally necessary to hold for certain that they who labor in ignorance of the true religion, if it be invincible, will not be held as guilty of this condition before the eyes of the Lord. Now, on the contrary, who would arrogate so much to himself as to mark the limits of such an [invincible] ignorance, due to the nature and variety of peoples, regions, innate dispositions, and of so many things […] it is against the Divine Will [“nefas”] to proceed further in inquiry.”
• It is “nefas” (translated, “against the Divine Will” or “criminal”) according to Pope Bl. Pius IX, to attempt to uncover whether or not a non-Catholic is in a state of invincible ignorance or not regarding our most holy religion. For this reason, per the Decree Ad Gentes, n. 7, of the Second Vatican Council, we profess that “[A]ll must be converted to Him, made known by the Church’s preaching, and all must be incorporated into Him by baptism and into the Church which is His body. For Christ Himself “by stressing in express language the necessity of faith and baptism (cf. Mark 16:16; John 3:5), at the same time confirmed the necessity of the Church, into which men enter by baptism, as by a door. Therefore those men cannot be saved, who though aware that God, through Jesus Christ founded the Church as something necessary, still do not wish to enter into it, or to persevere in it.”(17) Therefore though God in ways known to Himself can lead those inculpably ignorant of the Gospel to find that faith without which it is impossible to please Him (Heb. 11:6), yet a necessity lies upon the Church (1 Cor. 9:16), and at the same time a sacred duty, to preach the Gospel. And hence missionary activity today as always retains its power and necessity.”

Nota bene: The above Doctrinal Beliefs, and any other proposition, article, writing, or document pertaining to Faith or Morals uploaded to Catholicism.org are asserted by the Saint Benedict Center as being a) subject to the truths proposed for our belief by the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, and b) not in opposition to the same. If any other text posted on this website be in opposition to what is contained in this document, the Saint Benedict Center affirms that said text is posted for purposes of historical reference and research.

This document is subject to being updated for purposes of clarity and depth.