Yours Truly:
The schismatical and heretical churches as such are in no way united to the Catholic Church. … A member of a false group (the body of the false group) can possibly be united to the soul of the one true Church. But the body itself of the false group is not in any way united to the one true Church.
Japhy:
May I ask, how come? Could you elaborate for me?
Simply put, the heretical and schismatic sects are not in any way united to the Catholic Church because they are separated from it. The Church of Christ has a perfect unity, which cannot be broken apart, as Pope Leo XIII said:
**Pope Leo XIII: **“This unity cannot be broken nor the one body divided by the separation of its constituent parts. … 'The Church [says St. Cyprian who he is quoting] cannot be divided into parts by the separation and cutting asinder of its members. What is cut away from the mother cannot life or breathe apart” (
Satis Cognitum).
The encyclical I just quoted from is long, but very good. It deals with the unity of the Church. As the Pope explains, we are not to ask how the Church might possibly be one, but how He who founded it willed that it should be one:
Pope Leo XIII: “[T]he Church of Jesus Christ is one, and no Christian can deny it. But in judging and determining the nature of this unity many have erred in various ways. … For this reason the entire case must be judged by what was actually done. We must consequently investigate not how the Church may possibly be one, but how He who founded it willed that it should be one” (ibid.).
The Church is one through both faith and government. Heretics are separated from the faith, and schismatics from the government, since they reject the office of the Pope.
Now, we’ve discussed the exception of one who might be a visible member of a sect, but who is united to the soul of the Catholic Church. This exception is possible only if they have not fallen into heresy, or rejected the office of the Pope. Once the individual does this, he cannot be united to the soul of the Church, since a rejection of the body will cut him off from the soul.
But such an exception cannot be made for the heretical sect, or schismatic group as such. Why? Because they are objective, and do not allow for a subjective exception. What I mean is, these groups are separated from the Catholic Church for a reason - either they deny certain dogmas or they deny the office of the Pope. They are false sects as such (because of what they teach), and the sect as such cannot be excused through any ignorance, as can an individual member.
These groups have certain teachings that are false. Since it is the teaching of the group as such that is false, there is no way to say that the false group is united to the Church through some kind of “invincible ignorance”. Maybe a member can be, but that is only because they are not adhereing to what the false sect teaches.
Pope Leo XIII: Jesus Christ did not… institute a Churh to embrace several communities similar in nature, but in themselves distinct".
Remember, the Church of Jesus Christ is one, and the unity cannot be broken apart. When a group separates itself from the unity, it only affects the group that left. The unity of the One True Church remains perfectly intact. The perfectly united Church just becomes smaller. Any group, such as the Orthodox, who reject the Pope as the head of the Church, which they do, are not part of the Church of Jesus Christ. Having been cut away, they have become a false Church, even if they retain some of the teachings and sacraments of the One True Church of which they are not a part. All heresies have maintained some of the teachings and most have retained the sacraments, but this does not mean they remain part of the Church. It just means that, when they left the Church, they took with them certain “elements” that do not belong to them. The reason “elements of the one Church” exist outside the Church is because they were stolen when these groups separated from the Church.
**Pope Leo XIII: **"The Church, founded on these principles and mindful of her office, has done nothing with greater zeal and endeavour than she has displayed in guarding the integrity of the faith. Hence she regarded as rebels and expelled from the ranks of her children all who held beliefs on any point of doctrine different from her own. The Arians, the Montanists, the Novatians, the Quartodecimans, the Eutychians, did not certainly reject all Catholic doctrine: they abandoned only a certain portion of it. Still who does not know that they were declared heretics and banished from the bosom of the Church? In like manner were condemned all authors of heretical tenets who followed them in subsequent ages.
"There can be nothing more dangerous than those heretics who admit nearly the whole cycle of doctrine, and yet by one word, as with a drop of poison, infect the real and simple faith taught by our Lord and handed down by Apostolic tradition" (Auctor Tract. de Fide Orthodoxa contra Arianos). (ibid’)
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