puis vs rahner

Implicit Desire for Baptism vs. Rahner’s “Anonymous Christian”

In the above video, I read the following two question out of the Catechism of Pope St. Pius X:

27 Q. Can one be saved outside the Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Church?
A. No, no one can be saved outside the Catholic, Apostolic Roman Church, just as no one could be saved from the flood outside the Ark of Noah, which was a figure of the Church.

29 Q. But if a man through no fault of his own is outside the Church, can he be saved?
A. If he is outside the Church through no fault of his, that is, if he is in good faith, and if he has received Baptism, or at least has the implicit desire of Baptism; and if, moreover, he sincerely seeks the truth and does God’s will as best he can such a man is indeed separated from the body of the Church, but is united to the soul of the Church and consequently is on the way of salvation.

The ordinary way of salvation is by water baptism and acceptance of Christ and everything taught by the traditional Magisterium of the Catholic Church as well as confession (should a mortal sin befall the person who has been baptized.)

The extraordinary way of salvation would be such that a non-Catholic could be saved if he had 1) Invincible ignorance (not only did not know about the Catholic Church but also could not have known about the Catholic Church) and (not or but and) 2) Seeking the truth in good will during his or her life.  Such a person would hopefully be given perfect contrition at the end of one’s life by the Holy Spirit and this grace would be tantamount to implicit baptism by desire, namely, Jesus Christ saves the person and makes him a Catholic before cardiac arrest.

Notice that explicit desire for baptism probably means that a person is seeking water baptism.  Perhaps that person dies before baptism but still has the Catholic faith.  This should suffice for salvation.  Implicit desire for baptism seems to imply a life of invincible ignorance of the Catholic faith (never could have known Christ or His Church) but still sought the truth aggressively in one’s life with a good will.  In seeking the truth of conscience, that person is in some sense seeking Christ.  This is very different from Karl Rahner’s heretical idea of an “anonymous Christian.” Why?  First, Pope St. Pius X is clear that only Christ can save the person who has an implicit (or explicit) desire for baptism.  Secondly, the Pope would quickly admit this is a more dangerous pathway of speculative salvation than the normal way of salvation (see two paragraphs up.)

Does this mean a non-Catholic could look at the abuse scandals and the doctrinal scandals of 2020 and have automatic invisible ignorance? Maybe, but I wouldn’t want to bank on it if my salvation depended on it.

Another way the teaching of Pope St. Pius X on “Implicit desire for baptism” is different from Karl Rahner is that Pope St. Pius X does not teach that a “good life” transmits grace, but that baptism by explicit desire (if one wanted a water baptism and couldn’t find it) or baptism by implicit desire (seeking the truth wholeheartedly and living with a good will) may cause God at the end of one’s life to impart the grace of baptism-by-desire to that person as sanctifying grace.  But again, all of this is speculative whereas when water is poured over your head with the three persons of the Trinity, there is no speculation.  As St. Peter writes in the Bible: “Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you.”—1 Pt 3:21

So, in summary, the only way a non-Catholic can be saved is by being ignorant of the Catholic Church and by seeking the truth in such good-will of heart that it is somehow mystically tantamount to an implicit desire for baptism.  And also notice how rare “living a good life” has become these days (maybe always?)  Lying has become part-and-parcel of the average American life in 2020.  Sin and darkness have filled the planet so fully right now that it is rare to find even Catholics who refrain from lying.  Can we really bank on “good will” without grace?  Of course not.  Furthermore, we must remember that St. Thomas Aquinas taught that a supernatural end (heaven) is beyond the reach of a good natural life (extremely rare anyway!)  Why?  Because the supernatural good of heaven can not be attained without grace.   This is where Pope St. Pius X is different from Karl Rahner.

Good people don’t go to heaven.  Only saints go to heaven.  If occasionally God uses “baptism by implicit desire” to save someone at the end of his life, then God be praised!  But for each person who is saved, it is only by God applying the merits of the Passion, death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ to a soul (ordinarily by the sacraments.). This is what makes someone holy (the root word of “saint.”)  Even after water baptism we must “strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.“—Heb 12:14

 https://padreperegrino.org/2020/11/extraecc/

posted by Fred Martinez @ 12:16 PM