A Church united on the essential truths of the Christian faith : this is what Pope Leo wants, judging by the actions and words of the start of his pontificate.
And what truth is more fundamental for Christianity than that which sees in Jesus the only savior of all men ?
Leo recalled, in the simplest and clearest words, this primordial “creed” in the talk he gave on August 25 to a group of altar servers who had come from France :
“Who will come to save us ? Not only from our sufferings, from our limits and our mistakes, but even from death itself ? The answer is perfectly clear, and resounds in the History of 2000 years : only Jesus comes to save us, no-one else : because only he has the power to do so – He is God Almighty in person – and because he loves us. Saint Peter said it emphatically : ‘There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved’ (Acts 4:12). Never forget these words, dear friends : imprint them on your heart, and place Jesus at the centre of your lives.”
And yet, precisely over this pillar of the Christian faith, a very insidious dispute was ignited in the Church a quarter of a century ago, under the banner of interreligious dialogue and the equality of paths to salvation. A dispute that then-pope John Paul II and his guardian angel of doctrine, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, sought to resolve with the declaration “Dominus Iesus” of August 6, 2000, “on the unicity and salvific universality of Jesus Christ and the Church.”
With the result of fueling the conflict even more. “Dominus Iesus” was contested at all levels : pastoral, theological, hierarchical. It was criticized by illustrious cardinals like Walter Kasper, Edward Cassidy, Carlo Maria Martini.
Nor did the dispute settle down in the subsequent years. So much so that in 2005, in the preconclave following the death of John Paul II, Cardinal Giacomo Biffi felt it his duty to “bring to the attention of the next pope” precisely “the incredible incident of ‘Dominus Iesus’.” And he explained the reason as follows :
“That Jesus is the only necessary Savior of all is a truth that for over twenty centuries – beginning with Peter’s discourse after Pentecost – it was never felt necessity to restate. This truth is, so to speak, the minimum threshold of the faith ; it is the primordial certitude, it is among believers the simple and most essential fact. In two thousand years this has never been brought into doubt, not even during the crisis of Arianism, and not even during the upheaval of the Protestant Reformation. The fact of needing to issue a reminder of this in our time tells us the extent of the gravity of the current situation.”
The 2005 conclave elected Benedict XVI, who had written and signed “Dominus Iesus.” But even he was unable to quell the dispute. Still in 2014, two years after his resignation from the papacy and in the reign of Francis, many – to name one of the many, Church historian Alberto Melloni – continued to give credence to the “fake news” according to which the document had been written by coarse curial stenographers, rashly allowed to act by John Paul II and Ratzinger.
With Ratzinger, who instead reported in writing this incontrovertible background, from the hermitage to which he had retired after his resignation from the papacy :
“In the face of the firestorm that had developed around ‘Dominus Iesus,’ John Paul II told me that he intended to defend the document unequivocally at the Angelus [of Sunday, October1, 2000 – ed.]. He invited me to write a text for the Angelus that would be, so to speak, airtight and not subject to any different interpretation whatsoever. It had to be completely unmistakable that he approved the document unconditionally. So I prepared a brief address : I did not intend, however, to be too brusque, and so I tried to express myself clearly but without harshness. After reading it, the pope asked me once again : ‘Is it really clear enough?’ I replied that it was….”
But what about Leo ? Clarity of expression is one of his undisputed gifts. And those few, crystal-clear words he spoke on August 25 to the French altar servers are a perfect summary of the primordial and foundational truth of the Christian faith : the certainty that “only Jesus comes to save us, no-one else.”
Leo did not cite “Dominus Iesus” in his support. He did not mention how much it has been contested. But he indicated the direction that he wants the Church to take on this decisive question….
Pope Leo: “Dear altar servers, the celebration of Mass saves us today ! It saves the world today ! It is the most important event in the life of the Christian and in the life of the Church, because it is the encounter in which God gives himself to us for love, again and again. Christians do not go to Mass out of duty, but because they absolutely need to; the need for the life of God who gives himself without asking for anything in return!…”
From Sandro Magister in diakonos
Amen. That clarity is badly needed. Our Lord Jesus did not go to the cross as one among many options. And, He came out of love for all of us, a humanity lost and doomed without Him.
Amen! and amen!
If only Jesus saves, then anyone coming after Him proclaiming a different message must be mistaken, if not a fraud. I await a rigorous discussion of Mohammedanism along those lines.
Tom, from one lowly disciple,
Mohammed came centuries after Christ and claimed that Jesus is not Christ and God. He is a false prophet/not from God. In fact, he was led by another, evil spirit that has misled millions. But, don’t take my word for it:
“Beloved, do not trust every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they belong to God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
This is how you can know the Spirit of God: every spirit that acknowledges Jesus Christ come in the flesh belongs to God,
and every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus does not belong to God. This is the spirit of the antichrist that, as you heard, is to come, but in fact is already in the world.” 1 John 4:1-3
Thanks for your wonderful post, Deacon Anderson! A perfect explanation!
The Catholic Church has lost its center. You don’t know anything about someone who identifies as Catholic based on that fact alone. You don’t know whether he goes to Mass, believes in the Resurrection or the Eucharist, approves of gay sex, votes Democrat or Republican, or believes in universal salvation. You know nothing about someone’s beliefs or character anymore simply based on Catholic identification. That’s how bad things have gotten in the Catholic Church. Catholicism means nothing anymore. It’s degenerated into a Baby Boomer Sunday social club with donuts or pancakes in the hall after the morning religious jamboree. I visit lots of parishes for Mass. Believe me, they almost all look like retirement homes. So sad.
I pray that Pope Leo XIV’s leadership extend to bishops. In the diocese of San Diego, our emails from the chancery and reports from deanery meetings tell priests to use their time to go to the courthouse to accompany illegal immigrants, to organize synods in their parishes, collections for Gaza and other contemporary world issues. Nothing is said of promoting faith in Jesus Christ as the one Savior of the world. Pope Leo, please get the church back on track to what Jesus told His apostles to do and to have faith in Jesus alone as the Savior sent from God.
And the first step to that, Fr. Perozich, is deleting excommunicated, schismatic, and conspiracy-theory loving Carlo Maria Viganò from the list of GO TO BISHOPS on your personal website.
In John 14:6 Jesus said: I am the Way; I am Truth and Life; No one can come to the Father except through me.
These are deeply inspiring words of Pope Leo, to the French altar servers! I only wish that Pope Leo would start a return to male-only altar servers, reverent Novus Ordo Masses and modest, proper dress mandatory, and Communion on the tongue, kneeling, whenever possible. I notice that in Italy, in all televised Masses, even in big churches — not St. Peter’s Square– there is often no kneeling of the laity, after the “Sanctus” and “Agnus Dei,” and for personal prayer, after reception of Holy Communion– very sad!– possibly because in many cases, the seating is moveable chairs, with no kneelers. But that could be changed.
We had all of that prior to Vatican II, I have been praying for years for the return of the TLM, however it may never happen in my lifetime sadly, I’m a realist.
LOVE Pope Leo’s beautiful sermons and talks in Spanish, Italian and French! Here is a link to a wonderful homily that he gave in Spanish in Honduras, before he becane Pope. This really uplifted my heart! What a wonderful, enthusiastic, vivacious, heartfelt, deeply sincere missionary he was! He could convert the millions, with his Spanish preaching– “on fire” with the Holy Spirit! Here is the “X” link. English translation is provided. https://x.com/Mar90490/status/1965739131805585731
For what it’s worth – I concur. That “retirement home” look of most parishes gives me the creeps. The Catholic “brand'” has been watered down to something less than pink lemonade.
I am a gray-haired old goat. When I attend some of these Geritol liturgies, I feel young by comparison.
I dunno. Trump is saving America and the world right now. He’s doing more than Jesus, if you ask a lot of people.
Honestly, can you name one Christian who says that Trump has done more than Jesus?
Trump gets results. The Catholic Church is in decline.
Napoleon once told Cardinal Ercole Consalvi, “Your Eminence, are you not aware that I have the power to destroy the Catholic Church?” The Cardinal famously retorted, “Your Majesty, we Catholic clergy have done our best to destroy the Church for the last eighteen hundred years. We have not succeeded, and neither will you”.