Saturday, July 07, 2007

Coming Vatican doctrinal document will reaffirm role of Church

The Vatican will soon release a new doctrinal document, addressing the unique role of the Catholic Church in God's plan for salvation, according to informed sources in Rome.

The new document, to be released from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, will address questions about the teaching of the Second Vatican Council, in Lumen Gentium (doc), that the Church founded by Christ "subsists in the Catholic Church."

Questions about how the true Church "subsists" in the Catholic Church have drawn a series of answers from the Vatican-- most recently the declaration Dominus Iesus (doc), which was released in 2000 with the approval of Pope John Paul II and signed by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.

The document to be released on July 10 will repeat and reinforce the fundamental message of Dominus Iesus that the Church founded by Jesus Christ exists fully in the Catholic Church alone.

The document will critique the notion that other religious bodies may also represent the Church founded by Christ, and caution against the "ecclesial relativism" that Pope Benedict has criticized in the past.

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith will release the document on July 10, reports indicate.

The plan for release of the document has not yet been confirmed by the Vatican.

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