Confession of religion in Jesus Christ and His Church
as the only way to God and eternal salvation
We unwaveringly believe and confess what the average and universal Magisterium of the Church has been teaching since the Apostles, namely,
That religion in Jesus Christ, the Incarnate boy of God and the sole Savior of mankind, is the only religion desired by God.
After establishing a fresh and eternal covenant in Jesus Christ, no 1 can be saved by following the teachings and practices of non-Christian religions. due to the fact that "a prayer which is addressed to God must be connected to Christ, the Lord of all men, the only Mediator (1 Tim 2: 5; Heb. 8: 6; 9:15; 12:24), through which we have only access to God" (Rom. 5:2; Eph. 2:18; 3:12). (General Introduction to the Liturgy of Hours, 6).
We firmly believe that “no another name was given to men under heaven in which we could be saved” (Acts 4, 12), but the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, who was crucified, and whom God raised from the dead (cf. Acts 4:10).
We believe that “the Catholic view of the Church as one of the roads the salvation that exists alongside others, that is, parallel to another religions that would complement the Church, and even have fundamentally the same value as it, moving, indeed, as it did toward the eschatological Kingdom of God.” (Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith, Declaration by Dominus Iesus( 21).
In addition, we confirm that the Divine Revelation, faithfully conveyed by the Church's eternal Magisterium, forbids claims,
That all religions are paths to God,
That the diversity of spiritual identities is simply a gift of God and
That the diversity of religion is an expression of the wise will of God the Creator.
Therefore, we keep that Christians are not simply “travel companions” along with false religions, which God forbids.
We earnestly beg for the aid of God's grace for all today's clergy who, in their words and deeds, deny God's revealed fact about Jesus Christ and his Church as the only way through which men can see God and attain eternal salvation. With the aid of God’s grace, may these clergymen be able to publically retreat from their views, which requires both the good of their own souls and of the souls of others. After all, “the disapproval of Christ is the top danger to the world!” (St. Hilary of Poitiers, Commentary to the Gospel of St Matthew, 18).
May through the prayers, tears and sacrifices of all the actual sons and daughters of the Church, and especially the "little" ones in the Church, the Shepherd of the Church, and above all Pope Francis, they receive the grace of following the Apostles, the countless Martyrs, the many Holy Roman Popes and the Holy Masses, especially St. Francis of Assisi, who, as a "man who was truly Catholic and apostolic, personally undertook the task which he besides commanded his disciples to do--to convert Gentiles to the religion and right of Christ before all else." (Pope Pius XI, Encyclical Rite Expiatis, 37)
We believe, and with God’s grace we are willing to give our lives for this, in the divine fact declared by Jesus Christ, contained in the words: “I am the way and the fact and the life. No 1 comes to the Father but through Me" (Jn 14:6).
+ Athanasius Schneider, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Saint Mary in Astana
together with Catholic Identity Conference 2024
Pittsburgh, 29 September 2024.
