Pope Benedict: Protestant Faith 'Not a proper Church'

[A Turkish protesting against the rants of Pope Benedict in Istanbul] On 24 May, 2007, I have entered an article which was titled: "Pope Benedict XVI: Freak or Fanatical?", you can read it here. The Pope who is is known for his unabashed and abrasive language, has torn into his fellow Christians after dismissing Prophet Muhammad [Peace Be Upon Him] and Islam as nothing more than "evil and inhuman", drawing ire from across the Muslim Globe and all well-meaning civilised societies. Read it here.

Pope Benedict XVI was described as "tone-deaf" due to his provocative statements that ignore the beliefs, realities and sensitivities of other people. In his recent visit to Brazil, the pope had said on the last day of his May 9-13 trip that "Christianity was not imposed by a foreign culture," drawing a sharp reaction from leaders of indigenous groups to whom the remark smacked of revisionism. His apparent refusal to appreciate that Christianity was shoved down their throats by brute force didn't go down with the locals. He has apologised since then.

Now, a document issued by the Vatican with the full authority of the Pope has dismissed the Protestant and Orthodox faiths as “not proper Churches.” Pope Benedict’s recent statement appears to be at odds with attempts to soften his image as a doctrinal hard-liner and to present him as a more human figure reaching out to other faiths. And it risks undermining his own efforts for Christian unity.

Anglican leaders reacted with dismay, accusing the Roman Catholic Church of paradoxical behaviour. They said that the new 16-page document outlining the “defects” of non-Catholic churches constituted a major obstacle to ecumenism. The document said that the Orthodox Church suffered from a “wound” because it did not recognize the primacy of the pope. The wound was “still more profound” in Protestant denominations, it added.

It was “difficult to see how the title of ‘Church’ could possibly be attributed to them,” said the statement from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Roman Catholicism was “the one true Church of Christ.” The language echoes earlier statements by the same body, headed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger until he became pope.

Protestants at the extreme evangelical end of the Anglican spectrum accused Rome of a “lust for power”, while welcoming the honesty of the document. Lambeth Palace, the office of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, was more diplomatic. A spokesman issued a statement that lacked any formal welcome, describing the document as “significant.”

Vatican sources said that the document was an attempt to resolve “confusion” caused by the apparent conflict between the pope’s assertion on his election two years ago that Christian unity was a priority and his insistence in “Dominus Iesus,” issued in 2000 when he was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger - that Anglican, Protestant and Orthodox Christians did not belong to “proper” churches.

Father Augustine Di Noia, a senior doctrinal official at the Vatican, insisted that the Catholic Church was not “backtracking on ecumenical commitment. But it is fundamental to any kind of dialogue that the participants are clear about their own identity. That is, dialogue cannot be an occasion to accommodate or soften what you understand yourself to be.”

Vatican officials insist that the pope’s attachment to bedrock traditional values is compatible with dialogue with other Christians. Tuesday’s document said that such dialogue remained “one of the priorities of the Catholic Church.”

The document said that the Second Vatican Council’s opening to other faiths -- including “ecclesial communities originating with the Reformation” -- had recognized there were “many elements of sanctification and truth” in other Christian denominations, but had also emphasized that only Catholicism was fully Christ’s Church. The document said that other Christian faiths “lack elements considered essential to the Catholic Church.”

The disappointment of the Anglicans was evident in the response of Canon Gregory Cameron, Dr. Williams’s former chaplain in Wales and a leading canonical lawyer and scholar who is now ecumenical officer of the Anglican Communion. Richard Owen and Ruth Gledhill.

Source: Agencies, TODAY'S ZAMAN and The AustralianAs he submits to God's Will, and surrenders to the Creator, he is rid of selfishness and conceit. And when, O Nanak, he is merciful to all beings, only then shall he be called a Muslim.”