ROMAN CATHOLIC LEADERS SEND LETTER TO POPE, ACCUSING HIM OF HERESIES
leader of the church. This has, in part, led to Roman Catholic leaders
charging the Pope with heresy, as you will see in this article.
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
A letter twenty-five pages long laid out the perceived heresies
committed, taught or espoused by Pope Francis, was signed by 40 Roman
Catholic Leaders and delivered to him to consider. Nearly two weeks
later, the Pope has not responded and those Roman Catholic leaders have
made their letter public, conjoining it with the “Feast of Our Lady of
Ransom.” The letter accuses the Pope of seven different heresies, most
dealing with human sexuality and receiving the sacraments.
Entitled, “Correctio Fillialis de Haeresibus Propogatus,” the
document has three main parts. The first part of the document specifies
that the clergy signing the letter are not arguing with papal
infallibility, because “the Church teaches that a pope must meet strict
criteria before his utterances can be considered infallible.” The letter
specifies that the Pope hasn’t said that his heretical viewpoints are
officially the dogmatic teaching of the church, and so the writers
specify they’re not challenging his papal infallibility.
The second part of Correctio Fillialis de Haeresibus Propogatus
specifies which heresies are taught by Pope Francis in his Amoris
laetitia, a “post-synodal apostolic exhortation” (position paper)
published by him in 2016. The Roman Catholic leaders allege that the
Pope expressed or implied these heresies in the Amoris laetitia. These
particularly deal with Francis’ departure from Romish orthodoxy by his
lighter views on adultery and fornication.
The third part of Correctio Fillialis de Haeresibus Propogatus
accuses the Pope of falling for the encroachments of “modernism” and
[drum-roll please], the influence of Martin Luther on Pope Francis. No,
not Karl Marx…Martin Luther.
You can find the document, here.
Accusing Francis of being influenced by Luther, the document says…
In the second place, we feel compelled by
conscience to advert to Your Holiness’s unprecedented sympathy for
Martin Luther, and to the affinity between Luther’s ideas on law,
justification, and marriage, and those taught or favoured by
Your Holiness in Amoris laetitia and elsewhere necessary in order that
our protest against the seven heretical propositions listed in this
document may be complete; we wish to show, albeit in summary form, that these are not unrelated errors, but rather form part of a heretical system. Catholics need to be warned not only against these seven errors, but also against this heretical system as such, not least by reason of Your Holiness’s praise of the man who originated it [emphasis ours].
The document then lists specific homilies given by Pope Francis in
which he spoke sympathetically of Luther, as evidence that he had been
influenced by the Reformer.
This development really is fascinating. First, the letter accuses
Francis of heresy, while still clinging to the dogma of papal
infallibility through a loophole in interpretation that is altogether
unclear. Secondly, it is worth noting that Protestants are not the only
ones seeing Francis being a leftist, and these Romanists are very
politely – but very clearly – calling out their own Pope for his
positions on social issues. Third, in typical Romish fashion, these
Papists blame Martin Luther for Francis’ drift left.
There is no word about how the letter was delivered to the Pope, as
to whether it was the Vatican postal service or it was nailed to his
door.
[Update: The Vatican has blocked its internet servers from accessing the website collecting signatures for Correctio Fillialis de Haeresibus Propogatus so that it cannot be accessed by anyone in the Vatican City]
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indispensable truth arising out of the Reformation was the rediscovery
that salvation is a gift solely of God’s grace and is not earned or
merited. This is one of the Five Solas of the Reformation, Sola Gratia
or “grace alone.” If you were living during or even before the
Reformation, most likely you would have been deceived about the truth of
God’s grace because of the false teachings of the Catholic Church. You
would have been taught that works, keeping the law, and the sacraments
were necessary for salvation. To complicate matters, the Catholic Church
forbade personal ownership of the Bible in 1229 at the Council of
Toulouse. This continued for hundreds of years. William Tyndale in 1536
was burned at the stake for translating the Bible into English. As a
result of these egregious laws, many would remain in spiritual darkness,
not knowing the truth of God’s amazing grace. But then the Reformers,
equipped with the supreme authority of the Scriptures, confronted the
Catholic Church’s authority and their deceptive teachings, God began to
set souls free. To comprehend the great doctrinal divide between the
Bible and Roman Catholic’s teaching on grace, we have provided four key
areas to equip you in your evangelistic encounters and future
discussions on grace. It should be noted, that those who reject Rome’s
teaching on grace will be eternally condemned through multiple anathemas
declared at the Council of Trent.
1) Proclaim God alone is the exclusive source of grace.
When saving grace is discussed in the Bible, it references God alone as
the sole source and never references any other mediator, person, rite
or ritual (Romans 3:24-26; 5:15, Acts 11:23, Hebrews 10:29). Below are several examples of Roman Catholic teachings that are contrary to Scriptures on grace. The numbers in parenthesis are paragraph numbers from the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Rome teaches a different source and medium for grace: RCC teaches that
the sacraments confer the grace of God and are necessary for salvation
(1127-1129, 1131). RCC condemns anyone who denies the necessity of the
sacraments (Trent, Session 7, Canon 4).
Rome teaches grace is dependent on man: The “ordained priesthood” is
needed to guarantee grace is dispensed through the sacraments (1120).
RCC condemns anyone who denies the priesthood (Trent, Session 23, Canon
1-8).
received through a rite: It says saving grace comes through the medium
of water in the rite of infant baptism and through the faith of others,
not the infant (1263, 1266, 1279, 1253-1255). Rome condemns anyone who
denies infant baptism (Trent, Session 7, Canon 13).
Rome teaches grace is received through a ritual: Eucharistic grace and
the forgiveness of sin is dispensed and received through the repeated
ritual of the Eucharistic Sacrifice (1325, 1367, 1371, 1390, 1402,
1407). Rome condemns anyone who denies the Eucharist remits sins (Trent,
Session 13, Canon 5).
2) Proclaim God’s grace is a gift through the Instrument of faith alone.
Saving grace (same as justifying grace) is given directly to the
individual and can only be received through genuine faith in Christ
alone (Ephesians 2:4-9, Romans 3:21-28; 4:16-25; 5:1-2). The Bible
teaches that grace cannot be merited or earned by our works (2 Timothy
1:8-11, Titus 3:5-7, Galatians 2:16). Rome teaches the exact opposite as seen below.
3) Share how God justifies by His grace alone
(Romans 4-5). Rome claims those being baptized (usually infants)
receive “baptismal grace” and the “grace of justification.” Rome
also teaches that those who receive the sacrament of baptism are made
righteous (1446, 1992, 2020). It condemns anyone who believes that
saving grace and God’s righteousness are received through faith alone
(Trent, Session 6, Canon 9, 12, 14, 15).
4) Reveal how God’s saving grace is an irrevocable gift. Saving grace can never be lost (Romans 8:28-39; 11:29, John 6:39; 10:27-30, 2 Corinthians 1:21-22, Jude 1:24).
Since it is not a work of man, but solely a work of God, it follows
that you can not lose what you did not earn. We must remember the basis
of saving grace is Christ’s cross-work, which is perfect, and
permanently enduring (Hebrews 7:27, 9:12, 10:10, 10:14). Rome denies this.
Rome teaches that mortal sin can destroy justifying grace (1446, 1855,
1861). It says justifying grace can only be restored through the
sacrament of penance and reconciliation (1422, 1440, 1446). Rome
condemns anyone who believes their salvation is secure (Trent, Session
6, Canon 16).
would be negligent if I did not mention saving grace also instructs us
to “deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly,
righteously and godly in the present age” (Titus 2:11-12). We also need
to shine the light of the Gospel more than ever because the darkness of
apostasy is spreading through the ecumenical movement. Many are trying
to reverse the Reformation and undermine the exclusivity of the Gospel.
They need to be less focused on signing unity accords with Catholics to
save a dying culture and more concerned with proclaiming the Gospel to
save dying souls.
in Wittenburg 500 years ago this month, he ignited a theological
firestorm that would burn throughout Europe. As a Roman Catholic monk,
Luther’s greatest desire was to become right with God, yet his religion
offered no peace or assurance. This led him to begin a diligent study of
God’s Word and it was there that he discovered the only way a condemned
sinner could be justified by a holy and righteous God. Luther’s study
of Scripture revealed the glorious doctrine of justification that had
been concealed and corrupted by religious traditions for over 1000
years. The Bible declares the justification of sinners can only be
accomplished by a divine exchange – the imputing of man’s sins to
Christ, and the imputing of Christ’s righteousness to sinners (2 Cor. 5:21).
The only way condemned sinners can be justified is through the
sin-bearing, substitutionary death of Christ who satisfied divine
justice.
the gates of heaven open and close. Those who get justification wrong
also get the Gospel wrong, and those who die embracing a false gospel
will pay for that mistake forever. The doctrine of Justification
declares the inflexible righteousness of God as a Judge who must punish
every sin, that has ever been committed, by everyone who has ever
lived. It also declares His love, mercy, and grace in providing His only
Son to be crucified as a substitute for sinners.
and distorted the biblical doctrine of Justification and condemned those
who believe it. Yes, they have pronounced 33 anathemas from the Council of Trent on
anyone who believes that they are justified by grace alone, through
faith alone, in Christ alone. Since this has eternal consequences, we
have provided 10 contrasts between the biblical Doctrine of
Justification and the corrupted doctrine that continues to be taught by
Rome. To print a copy of these 10 contrasts click here. The numbers in parenthesis are paragraph numbers from the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
says re-justification must be merited by making satisfaction for sins
through works of mercy, prayer, service to neighbors, etc. (1459, 1460,
2027).
righteousness that justifies the ungodly sinner is an alien
righteousness that was accomplished outside of and apart from man. It is
the completed righteousness of Jesus Christ and is given as a gift from
God apart from any merit or work of man. His perfect righteousness is
imputed at the moment the redeemed is united with Christ by faith. The
righteousness of Christ is our passport into heaven! No one will enter
into glory without it (2 Peter 3:13).