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rpp
Guest
No. It was Pius XII who in 1953 I believe, excommunicated Father Feeney. When he did so, he sent a letter of explanantion. I cannot find the link just now, but, if I recall correctly, the letter cited both Eusebius and St. Augustine. Feeney was eventually reconciled and returned to the Priesthood.
The teaching about the condition where salvation outside the church is possible was not as clearly defined as it was in Lumen Gentium (16 - 21). A more concise and precise explanation can be found in the Catechism in the section about Baptism.
The key word in the distortion that I described is that savation can be expected. The implication being someone who has the opportunity but chooses not become Catholic can still **expect **salvation despite the fact that they hasve rejected the Church. This is in contrast to those people who have never heard the Gospel.
The person who publicaly taught this distorion to me was a (wacky) nun who said she was convinced her agnostic/atheist brother-in-law was going to Heaven. She also used this to justfy ceasing all preaching, missionary and ministerial activites. Her basic attitude was that because of this teaching, the Cahtolic Church should just shutter the doors and die a quiet death. Why, because teaching the Gospel will lead some people to reject and then they are in trouble of not getting to Heaven.
A seperate but related distortion is the idea that no one goes to Hell or that Hell does not, in fact, exist. She taught this distortion too. Which made no logical sense considering what she said previously.
(That is the problem with the Modernist heresies, they do not work logically. In fact, that is one of the tests you can make to help determine if a teaching valid. Is it logically consistent with everything else the Church teaches and has always taught.)