The document not only offended ecumenical operatives worldwide, but has been met with trepidation by a cardinal within the highest echelon of the Vatican hierarchy. Cardinal Edward Idris Cassidy, the Vatican’s chief of world wide ecumenism, reacted with a rare display of public disagreement. (Cardinal Cassidy has had a strong personal influence in the development of heretical ECT documents.) Catholic World News reported...

"Cardinal Edward Cassidy, the president of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, has indicated that the recent Vatican statement Dominus Jesus would have been presented differently if it had been prepared by that Council. Cardinal Cassidy, who was attending an ecumenical conference in Lisbon, told the Italian daily Il Messaggero that ‘those of us whose ears are more attuned to the nuances of dialogue’ would have produced a different sort of document. As it stands, the cardinal remarked, Dominus Jesus has provoked negative reactions from some partners in ecumenical dialogue."

Other members of the Roman Catholic hierarchy have expressed dismay...

"...the document has been like a bomb being dropped into the middle of the cross-faith relations we are trying to build." "The tone and timing of this document published by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith could not have been expressed at a worse time."

Criticism notwithstanding, the Roman pontiff has continued to state his strong support of ‘Dominus Iesus’ as an official decree that "must be firmly believed." The turmoil in the world of ecumenism is obvious, with various news services reporting ongoing reaction and attempts at damage-control on a daily basis.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

VATICAN, Oct. 2, 00 (CWNews.com) -- Responding to criticisms of
Dominus Jesus-- the statement published on September 5 by the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith-- Pope John Paul II has
emphasized that the document has his full approval, and that it
should not be an obstacle to ecumenical dialogue....

...The purpose of the new Vatican document, the Pope said, is to clarify
the basis for ecumenical dialogue. "A dialogue without foundation is
destined to degenerate into plain verbosity," he observed.

Christians of other denominations should also understand the
purpose of Dominus Jesus, the Pope said. The document teaches, as a
matter of faith, that the fullness of the means to salvation can be
found only in the Catholic Church....

Former Roman Catholic priest Richard Bennett has called Dominus Iesus a "kiss of death" for ecumenists. Bennett says ‘Dominus Iesus’ leaves ecumenical operatives such as Charles Colson in "no man’s land"...

"Clearly, the numerous ecumenists of the ‘Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification’ of last year and the signers and endorsers of ECT 1 & 2 are now... in no man’s land. Did Charles Colson and his fellow-ecumenists really believe that the pope would simply fade into the shadows and allow ‘evangelicals’ to exercise themselves independently of his will?"

"...It has been but a short time since Charles Colson... held aloft the ECT and declared, ‘Peace in our time.’ It has been barely long enough for the ink of the signatories to dry; yet the folly of their deeds, apparent to many before, has now been made apparent to all...."

Salvation available for non-Christians, too, pope says.

The more the pope says about ‘Dominus Iesus,’ the worse it gets!

"...He explained that Dominus Jesus-- following the teaching of Vatican II--
does not claim that non-Christians cannot be saved; rather the
Church teaches that all salvation flows through Christ, and thus
through his Mystical Body which is the Catholic Church." (CWN 10/2/00)

Some ecumenists deceptively interpret such statements to mean that the pope is saying lost people can come to faith in Christ and be saved. But what the pope is actually saying is what he has already spoken in previous Vatican statements... that Catholicism teaches there is an undiscovered mystery about how God gives salvation to some who do not trust in Christ as Savior. This alien "salvation" is said to somehow flow from Christ to the Catholic Church and then on to some non-Christians, who because of their good works and ignorance of Catholic doctrine, are then accepted by God as worthy of salvation.

Taken in the context of the entire ‘Dominus Iesus’ document, which maintains historic Catholic teaching regarding the necessity of the Catholic Church as "the universal sacrament of salvation," what the pope is saying is that for some individuals, faith in Christ is not absolutely necessary for salvation... saving faith may be expressed by other individuals who are faithful to the teachings of the Catholic Church, and then this "faith" is somehow passed on to deserving lost persons, whether they are aware of it or not.

The present pope has publicly stated that he shares a common spiritual bond with those of other faiths, particularly Muslims. He may be right, but this common spiritual bond is not what he thinks it is... it is certainly NOT the bond of Christ, but rather a common bond of spiritual deception.

Nothing surprising, really; Error begets error begets error begets error...

Of course, this is no stretch if you think about Catholicism’s foundational belief in sacramental grace, particularly baptismal regeneration. You see, Roman Catholic teaching is that individuals are "incorporated in Christ" as a result of entering the Catholic Church "through Baptism as through a door" (from ‘Dominus Iesus’).

Sound confusing... well, it’s supposed to be. You see, Roman Catholicism is purposed to be "mystical" and beyond the understanding of every-day folk.... but that subject will wait for another day. For now it is enough to know that...

Colossians 2:8-10