But it can expand on past teachings? without changing them?
For example, the doctrine of no salvation outside the Church?
Pope St. Gregory the Great, quoted in *Summo Iugiter Studio, *590-604:
“The holy universal Church teaches that it is not possible to worship God truly except in her
and asserts that all who are outside of her will not be saved.”**
Pope Innocent III, Eius exemplo, Dec. 18, 1208:
“By the heart we believe and by the mouth we confess the one Church, notof heretics, but
the Holy Roman, Catholic, and Apostolic Church outside of which we believe that no one is saved.”
Pope Clement VI,
Super quibusdam, Sept. 20, 1351:
“In the second place, we ask whether you and the Armenians obedient to you believe that
no man of the wayfarers outside the faith of this Church, and outside the obedience to the Pope of Rome,
can finally be saved.”
Pope Leo XII,
Ubi Primum (# 14), May 5, 1824:
“It is impossible for the most true God, who is Truth itself, the best, the wisest Provider, and the Rewarder of good men,
to approve all sects who profess false teachings which are often inconsistent with one another and contradictory,
and to confer eternal rewards on their members… by divine faith we hold one Lord, one faith, one baptism…
This is why we profess that there is no salvation outside the Church.”
Pope Gregory XVI,
Mirari Vos (# 13), Aug. 15, 1832: “With the admonition of the apostle, that ‘there is one God, one faith, one baptism’ (Eph. 4:5), may those fear who contrive the notion that the safe harbor of salvation is open to persons of any religion whatever. They should consider the testimony of Christ Himself that ‘those who are not with Christ are against Him,’ (Lk. 11:23)and that they disperse unhappily who do not gather with Him.
Therefore, ‘without a doubt, they will perish forever, unless they hold the Catholic faith whole and inviolate (Athanasian Creed).”
Pope Pius IX, *Ubi primum *(# 10), June 17, 1847: “
For ‘there is one universal Church outside of which no one at all is saved; it contains regular and secular prelates along with those under their jurisdiction,
who all profess one Lord, one faith and one baptism.”
Pope Innocent III,
Fourth Lateran Council, Constitution 1, 121
a:
“THERE IS INDEED ONE UNIVERSAL CHURCH OF THE FAITHFUL, outside of which nobody at all is saved, in which Jesus Christ is both priest and sacrifice.”
**However, according to the **“Reflections on Covenant and Mission,” a joint Catholic-Jewish document, “A deepening appreciation of the eternal covenant between God and the Jewish people . . . lead
to the conclusion that campaigns that target Jews for conversion to Christianity are no longer theologically acceptable in the Catholic Church.”
And, according to Walter Cardinal Kasper, president of the Pontifical Commission for the Religious Relations with the Jews, "the Church believes that Judaism . . . is salvific for [the Jews] because God is faithful to his promises.”
So it looks like the Church has expanded on its previous teaching on this???
It was expanded, but not changed. There still is no salvation outside the Church.
Lumen gentium:… “For such people [those who do not formally enter the Church, as in LG 16] salvation in Christ is accessible by virtue of a grace which, while having a mysterious relationship to the Church, does not make them formally part of the Church.”
We underline the word “formally” to indicated that there may be something less than formal membership, which yet suffices for salvation. A similar thought is found in LG #14 which says “they are fully incorporated” who accept all its organization. . . . ." We will show presently that there can be a lesser, or substantial membership, which suffices for salvation.<
ewtn.com/library/SCRIPTUR/EXTRAECC.TXT
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