Catechism Error?

[Rence]

There is a lot more to say about it.

No one has a “right” to go to perdition. Hell is a punishment, not a right.

Being Catholic is not a prerequisite for Heaven. Non-Catholics can be saved too, according to the Catechism.

Choosing a false religion jeopardizes one’s immortal soul. That is totally clear from scripture as well as over a thousand years of Church teaching, going back to the Fathers.

If we have the right to choose another religion, then we have the right to practice another religion. If the right is God-given, it follows that being a Catholic is not required for salvation.

Being a Catholic is NOT required for salvation…

There is another possibility, though it does considerable violence to Catholic logic.

We have a right to choose mortal sin. Therefore, all sin is rightful, and by extension, no effort to suppress sin is rightful.

This is anarchy.

Finding Christ via a religion other than Catholicism is not anarchy.

There is a third possibility. These recent statements are meant only in the context of civil rights, and convey no moral lesson other than to reinterpret, temporarilly, in the unique prevailing circumstances, the precept that one should be charitable to one’s neighbor.

If the last is the case, it is troubling, because it seems somewhat out of step with the way the Church usually has taught.

You can’t force Catholicism on people. They have the right to choose their religion, and no one has the right to take their rights away from them.

 

[promethius]

Being Catholic is not a prerequisite for Heaven. Non-Catholics can be saved too, according to the Catechism.

That is an incorrect interpretation of the Catechism. People who are not members of the church visible might be saved, but only because they are members of the church invisible.

In other words, the only people in heaven are catholics and they were saved by catholic truth.

At any rate, the mode of salvation for these people includes invincible ignorance… which is a shaky gamble to make when it comes to the eternal disposition of the soul.

You can’t force Catholicism on people. They have the right to choose their religion, and no one has the right to take their rights away from them.

This, however, I agree with. You can force someone to go through the physical motions of a sacramental and liturgical action, but you cannot force their conversion or belief because they have a right to disbelief or wrong belief.

We have the right to choose hell, in essense. It’s a part of the fact that God gave us free will. No matter how much we try to FORCE people NOT to exercise other religions or to practice ours, we will not convert one soul in that way (and we may actually do HORRIBLE damage to conversions, as the spanish inquisition did)

 

[Warrenton]

Being Catholic is not a prerequisite for Heaven. Non-Catholics can be saved too, according to the Catechism.

 

[Warrenton]

We have the right to choose hell, in essense

It’s the other way round. “In essence” we do not have the right, that is why there is punishment. What he have is an ability. An ability is not a right. Failing to observe that distinction is leading to confusion.

 

[promethius]

It’s the other way round. “In essence” we do not have the right, that is why there is punishment. What he have is an ability. An ability is not a right. Failing to observe that distinction is leading to confusion.

Incorrect, rights only apply to the actions of man. God is not bound to honour rights. I point you to my previous post on this thread where I clarified that:

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?p=8522154#post8522154

Because God is not bound to honor rights, God is free to render us unto consequences for our actions.

Again, I highlight that “a right” and a moral right are not synonyms, and therein lies your confusion on this subject.

 

[Warrenton]

Again, I highlight that “a right” and a moral right are not synonyms, and therein lies your confusion on this subject.

You might be “right.”

I re-read your post and agree with it.

Rence said we have a “right” to choose hell. I understood you to say that “in essence” we have a right to choose hell.

Mainly, I disagreed with Rence. I only disagreed with you regarding terminology. I did not think we differed on the basic concepts.

Do we disagree?

 

[Rence]

I never said you could force Catholicism. You can’t force people to obey the law either, but disobeying the law is not a right.

And not choosing Catholicism isn’t against the law. People have the right to choose their own religion.

 

[ANNE_2]

I’m not sure how this thread got away from the OP’s question, but, as expected you will find the correct answers in the “Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition”.

CCC - " 1033 We cannot be united with God unless we freely choose to love him.
But we cannot love God if we sin gravely against him, against our neighbor or against ourselves: “He who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.”
Our Lord warns us that we shall be separated from him if we fail to meet the serious needs of the poor and the little ones who are his brethren.
To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God’s merciful love means remaining separated from him for ever by our own free choice.
This state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed is called “hell.” "

CCC - " 1861 Mortal sin is a radical possibility of human freedom, as is love itself. It results in the loss of charity and the privation of sanctifying grace, that is, of the state of grace.
If it is not redeemed by repentance and God’s forgiveness, it causes exclusion from Christ’s kingdom and the eternal death of hell, for our freedom has the power to make choices for ever, with no turning back.
However, although we can judge that an act is in itself a grave offense, we must entrust judgment of persons to the justice and mercy of God. "

CCC - " 1731 Freedom is the power, rooted in reason and will, to act or not to act, to do this or that, and so to perform deliberate actions on one’s own responsibility.
By free will one shapes one’s own life.
Human freedom is a force for growth and maturity in truth and goodness; it attains its perfection when directed toward God, our beatitude. "

CCC -** " **2104 All men are bound to seek the truth, especially in what concerns God and His Church, and to embrace it and hold on to it as they come to know it.
This duty derives from the very dignity of the human person.
It does not contradict a “sincere respect” for different religions which frequently "reflect a ray of that truth which enlightens all men, " nor the requirement of charity, which urges Christians “to treat with love, prudence and patience those who are in error or ignorance with regard to the faithB].”

Civil law is man-made law, and should not be confused with God’s law.
Everyone must seek the truth.