QUANTO CONFICIAMUR MOERORE
ENCYCLICAL OF POPE PIUS IX
AUGUST 10, 1863
To Our Beloved Sons, S. R. E. Cardinals and to Our Venerable Brothers, the Archbishops and Bishops of Italy.
Our Beloved Sons and Venerable Brothers, Greetings and Apostolic Benediction.
How much cause we have to grieve over the most cruel and sacrilegious war brought upon the Catholic Church in almost all regions of the world during these turbulent times, and especially declared upon unhappy Italy before our very eyes many years ago by the Piedmontese Government and stirred up more violently day by day, each of you, our beloved sons and venerable brothers, easily understands. In the midst of our great distress, however, as long as you keep watch with us, we are deeply comforted and consoled. Although you are, indeed, most deplorably harassed by every grave injustice possible, torn away from your own flock, exiled and even cast into prison, nevertheless, with your profound virtue you have never neglected to speak and to write in ardent defense of the teachings of God, his Church, and this Apostolic See.
Consequently, we give thanks because you fervently rejoice to suffer insult in the name of Jesus. We extend to you merited praise in the words of our most saintly predecessor, Leo: "May you endure with all your heart the trials of your love, which you have undergone in reverence for the Catholic faith; may I accept the sufferings inflicted upon you as if I were bearing them myself. I know, however, that it is a cause of joy rather than of sorrow that with the strength of our Lord, Jesus Christ, you have persevered invincible in your evangelical and apostolic teaching . . . And when the enemies of the Christian faith were tearing you away from your respective churches, rather than being contaminated by their impiety, you preferred to endure the injustice of undergoing exile."[1]
Would that we could announce the end of such terrible calamities besetting the Church! Never will there be grief enough over the corruption of morals so extensively increasing and promoted by irreligious and obscene writings, theatrical spectacles and meretricious houses established almost everywhere; by other depraved arts and monstrous portents of every error disseminated in all directions; by the abominable impurities of all vices and crimes growing constantly and the deadly virus of unbelief and indifferentism spread far and wide; by contempt for ecclesiastical authority, sacred things, and laws and by the outrageous plundering of Church possessions; by the bitter and constant abuse of consecrated Church officials, of the students of religious communities, of virgins dedicated to God; by the diabolical hatred of Christ, his Church, teaching, and of this Apostolic See. These and almost innumerable other evils perpetrated by the embittered enemies of the Catholic Church and faith, we are daily compelled to lament.
All these agonies seem to prolong and delay that most yearned for time when we shall see the full triumph of our most holy religion, of justice, and of truth. This triumph cannot fail us, however, even if it is not given us to know the time destined for it by almighty God. Even though our heavenly Father permits his holy Church to be afflicted and plagued by various tribulations and distresses while serving during this most miserable and earthly pilgrimage, nevertheless, because it has been founded by Christ, the Lord, upon an immovable and most firm rock, it cannot be shaken or overthrown by any force or violence. Rather, "it is strengthened, not weakened by persecutions. The Lord's vineyard is always clothed with a richer harvest, for while each grain dies singly, it is born again many fold."[2]
That is what we see happening, beloved sons and venerable brothers, even in these most sorrowful times as a special blessing from God. For although the immaculate Spouse of Christ may be vehemently troubled at the present time by the work of the wicked, yet she is triumphing over her enemies. Yes, indeed, she is conquering her enemies and shines wonderfully bright with your unparalleled faithfulness, love, and respect towards us and this Chair of Peter, and with your outstanding constancy and that of the other venerable brothers, the bishops of the whole Catholic world. She shines with many pious works of Christian charity multiplying rapidly each day; with the light of blessed faith illuminating many regions evermore each day; with the exceptional love and devotion shown by Catholics towards the Church itself, towards us, and this Holy See; with the eminent and immortal glory of martyrdom. You know, in fact, how in Tonkin and especially in the regions of Cochin China, bishops, priests, laymen and even peaceful women themselves, and young boys and girls, emulating the martyrs with their unconquerable spirit and heroic virtue, disdained the most inhuman torture, and greatly rejoiced to pour out their lives for Christ. All these joys should be no slight consolation to us and to you in the midst of the overwhelming anguish that torments us.
Now, since our Apostolic Office demands we carefully and zealously defend the cause of the Church committed to us by Christ, we condemn those who attack and despise the Church itself, its sacred laws, ministers, and this Apostolic See. Hence, with this letter, once more we confirm, proclaim and condemn totally and singly that which in many consistorial allocutions and in our other Letters we have been forced to deplore, declare and condemn.[3]
Here, too, our beloved sons and venerable brothers, it is again necessary to mention and censure a very grave error entrapping some Catholics who believe that it is possible to arrive at eternal salvation although living in error and alienated from the true faith and Catholic unity. Such belief is certainly opposed to Catholic teaching. There are, of course, those who are struggling with invincible ignorance about our most holy religion. Sincerely observing the natural law and its precepts inscribed by God on all hearts and ready to obey God, they live honest lives and are able to attain eternal life by the efficacious virtue of divine light and grace. Because God knows, searches and clearly understands the minds, hearts, thoughts, and nature of all, his supreme kindness and clemency do not permit anyone at all who is not guilty of deliberate sin to suffer eternal punishments.
Notice the discrepancy. The first bolded quote says that one cannot attain eternal life if they are living in error and alienated from the True faith and Catholic unity.
Orthodox Christians also believe in the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Faith, which we believe is the True Orthodox Church, which has maintained the Holy Faith once delivered by Christ to His Apostles for all peoples and for all times (the very definition of Catholic, which is universally taught to every generation).
The second bolded blue quote contradicts the first quote, and introduces the error of invincible ignorance. From whence did this teaching come? Christ did not teach this to His Apostles, nor is it found in the Bible. Apparently, it originated with Thomas Aquinas. However, this is a serious error which has guided all recent popes unto this day. Pope Francis now teaches that atheists of good will can enter heaven, Jews of good will can enter heaven, and even Muslims and Buddhists can enter heaven. This is the pan-heresy of syncretism and ecumenism: that men of good will can be saved. It leads to a feel good religion of the Anti-christ.
The first Pope to use the term officially seems to have been Pope Pius IX in the allocution Singulari Quadam (9 December 1854) and the encyclicals Singulari Quidem (17 March 1856) and Quanto Conficiamur Moerore (10 August 1863). The term, however, is far older than that. Aquinas, for instance, uses it in his Summa Theologica (written 1265–1274),[2] and discussion of the concept can be found as far back as Origen (3rd century). When and how the term was taken by logicians to refer to the very different state of persons who deliberately refuse to attend to evidence remains unclear, but one of its first uses was in the book Fallacy: The Counterfeit of Argument by W. Ward Fearnside and William B. Holther.[3]
QUANTO CONFICIAMUR MOERORE (continued)
8. Also well known is the Catholic teaching that no one can be saved outside the Catholic Church. Eternal salvation cannot be obtained by those who oppose the authority and statements of the same Church and are stubbornly separated from the unity of the Church and also from the successor of Peter, the Roman Pontiff, to whom "the custody of the vineyard has been committed by the Savior." [4] The words of Christ are clear enough: "If he refuses to listen even to the Church, let him be to you a Gentile and a tax collector;"[5] "He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you, rejects me, and he who rejects me, rejects him who sent me;"[6] "He who does not believe will be condemned;"[7] "He who does not believe is already condemned;"[8] "He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters."[9] The Apostle Paul says that such persons are "perverted and self-condemned;"[10] the Prince of the Apostles calls them "false teachers . . . who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master. . . bringing upon themselves swift destruction."[11]
The Orthodox also believe this statement from Saint Cyprian of Carthage, a bishop of the 3rd century, at a time before the Great Schism of 1054 A.D. "Outside the Church there is no salvation," because the Church is the Bride of Christ, and was established by Christ.
9. God forbid that the children of the Catholic Church should even in any way be unfriendly to those who are not at all united to us by the same bonds of faith and love. On the contrary, let them be eager always to attend to their needs with all the kind services of Christian charity, whether they are poor or sick or suffering any other kind of visitation. First of all, let them rescue them from the darkness of the errors into which they have unhappily fallen and strive to guide them back to Catholic truth and to their most loving Mother who is ever holding out her maternal arms to receive them lovingly back into her fold. Thus, firmly founded in faith, hope, and charity and fruitful in every good work, they will gain eternal salvation.
Taking care of the basic physical needs of the poor is important, but charity also requires that we preach the Truth, which is Christ, in love too as we are to instruct the ignorant.
Unfortunately, the Pope does not recognize the heretical errors of the past, which have split Rome from the Holy Catholic and Orthodox Church. Rome remains in schism and in heresy to this day. As a result of the loss of grace, Rome has increased its errors with increased papal powers (1870 dogmas of Papal Supremacy and Papal Infallibility), with changes in the Ancient Holy Canons in 1917 and again in 1983, with continual liturgical changes from 600 A.D., with altar girls and female Eucharistic ministers, with the addition of a Protestant Lutheran Mass in 1963, called the Novus Ordo, with the desecration of this Mass with clown and beer "liturgies" that are in no way divine, with the tampering of all the sacraments, and with the adulteration of the sacred texts used during the "Mass," so that gender inclusive language is used leading to the confusion of the faithful.
Just after my son made his first holy communion in 1992, a year later the choir at St. James Catholic Church sang, "Her Name is Jesus." Immediately, we left and started our long search for the True Church. We found ourselves in the Melkite Eastern Catholic Church because some of our friends had heard that the Melkites were part of the Orthodox Church ... At our first meeting with a Melkite priest on August 1, 1993, he told us that the Melkites believed that the Orthodox Church was not heretical. Therefore, we asked him if we could attend Catechism Classes at St. Sophia's Greek Orthodox Cathedral. He did not object, so we started our inquiry into Orthodoxy. Finally, we left the Melkite Church in September 1995, and were received into the Orthodox Catechumenate on October 1, 1995, The Feast of the Holy Protection of the Theotokos.