Catholic Fundamentalism believes “The Roman Catholic Church is the one, true faith.” and can be almost simple-minded about it.
Jesus Christ said to the first Pope: “Thou art Peter, and on this rock, I build My Church.” He did not say those words to Martin Luther, Henry VIII, John Calvin, Joseph Smith, or any who founded their own belief systems. Jesus Christ only said those those words to Peter.
The last word in Jesus’ sentence, “Thou art Peter, and on this rock, I build My Church.”, is “Church”. He did not choose to say “Church” is different than the singular He used when He said “My Church”.
Smarter schismatics recognize the difficulty. “We are not in the only Church that is led by a living link to Peter, the first Pope. How are we going to get people to take us seriously enough to give us money?” To give themselves at least the appearance of validity, they add their own meaning to Jesus’ words, and conclude: “The word ‘Church’ applies to all denominations who say that they are ‘Christian’. What Jesus actually meant to say was that ‘All Christian Churches are part of ‘My Church’.”
That is worse than silly. A church calling itself “Christian”, but whose leadership says “Abortion is acceptable.” is opposed to The Roman Catholic position, “Willfully participating in an abortion brings automatic excommunication.” The Church in obedience to Peter’s successors is separate from those whose congregations do not follow Peter’s successors.
One Church cannot have two disparate beliefs. The Body of Christ is not divided against itself. Schisms, by definition, have beliefs and doctrines that differ from those of The Roman Catholic Church. So, schisms are not part of the Body of Christ.
If schisms are not part of the Body of Christ, they are separated from it. May we conclude that schisms are like amputated limbs? May we wonder why anyone would want to be part of an amputated limb?
Catholic Fundamentalism believes “The Roman Catholic Church is the one, true faith.” and can be almost simple-minded about it.
