September 5, 2000 (David W. Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061-0368, fbns@wayoflife.org) - The Roman Catholic Church has reaffirmed its superiority over all other churches. In a letter to Catholic bishops throughout the world, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, head of the Vaticanâs Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, warned against calling non-Catholic denominations "sister churches." The note, which was sent out on June 30, was approved by John Paul II and is described as "authoritative and binding."

The same sentiment was also stated in a document titled "Dominus Iesus, on the Unicity and Salvific Universality of Jesus Christ and the Church," which was published on September 5. It states that Catholics must "firmly believe" in the "unicity" (unique nature) of the Catholic Church and must believe that the church founded by Christ and the Roman Catholic Church are one and the same. Though other churches may contain "many elements of sanctification and truth," they "derive their efficacy from the very fullness of grace and truth entrusted to the Catholic Church."

The documents state that churches apart from Rome "are not Churches in the proper sense," that Rome is the "mother of all the particular Churches," and that the Pope of Rome is the supreme head.

Many ecumenical leaders, such as George Carey, the Church of Englandâs Archbishop of Canterbury, have expressed surprise at these declarations. The Ecumenical News Service, for example, has a lengthy article containing quotations from many of these. There is nothing surprising here, though. Note the following statements from the Vatican II Documents:

"This is the SOLE Church of Christ which in the Creed we profess to be one, holy, catholic and apostolic, which our Saviour, after his resurrection, entrusted to Peterâs pastoral care. ... This Church, constituted and organized as a society in the present world, subsists in the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the bishops in communion with him" (Vatican II, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, chap. 1, 8, p. 329).

"For it is through Christâs Catholic Church ALONE, which is the universal help towards salvation, that the fulness of the means of salvation can be obtained. It was to the apostolic college alone of which Peter is the head, that we believe that our Lord entrusted all the blessings of the New Covenant, in order to establish on earth the one Body of Christ into which all those should be fully incorporated who belong in any way to the people of God" (Vatican II, Decree on Ecumenism, chap. 1, 3, p. 415).

Words could not be plainer. Throughout its sordid history, the Roman Catholic Church has claimed to be the one true Church of Jesus Christ and its Pope the supreme head of that church. That is why it persecuted, tormented, and killed Christians who refused to submit to its authority.

ECUMENICAL ACTIVITIES TO LEAD ALL CHURCHES BACK TO UNITY WITH ROME

To its credit, when it embarked upon the ecumenical course following the Vatican II Council in the 1960s, Rome stated plainly that it had no intention of changing its dogmas and that its goal was to bring "separated" Christians into unity with the Vatican. Note the following statement from Vatican II:

"The term Îecumenical movementâ indicates the initiatives and activities encouraged and organized, according to the various needs of the [Roman] Church and as opportunities offer, to promote Christian unity. ... THE RESULTS WILL BE THAT, LITTLE BY LITTLE, AS THE OBSTACLES TO PERFECT ECCLESIASTICAL COMMUNION ARE OVERCOME, ALL CHRISTIANS WILL BE GATHERED IN A COMMON CELEBRATION OF THE EUCHARIST, INTO THE UNITY OF THE ONE AND ONLY CHURCH, WHICH CHRIST BESTOWED ON HIS CHURCH FROM THE BEGINNING. THE UNITY, WE BELIEVE, SUBSISTS IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AS SOMETHING SHE CAN NEVER LOSE" (Vatican II, Decree on Ecumenism, chap. 1, 4, p. 416).

For Protestant ecumenical leaders to suddenly express surprise that Rome claims absolute supremacy over all other churches exposes their gullibility.