1st, let's remind ourselves of the Church's excommunication of those who believe Sola Fide (Faith Alone):
Council of Trent, Session 6, Canon 9:
Canon 9. If anyone says that the sinner is justified by faith
alone,[114] meaning that nothing else is required to cooperate in order to
obtain the grace of justification, and that it is not in any way necessary
that he be prepared and disposed by the action of his own will, let him be
anathema.
The recent statements of the Catholics who signed the document are done
for the purposes of ecumenical dialogue, not as an attempt to profess
fully the dogmatic definitions of the Church. Their agreement to the following statement is confusing language
and is not to be embraced as a truly Catholic definition of justification.
I quote:
"We understand that what we here affirm is in agreement with what the Reformation traditions have meant by justification
by faith alone (sola fide)."
This is confusing language and is not to be accepted for any reason.
This statement is attempting to redefine Sola Fide in terms that both
Catholics and Evangelicals can agree with...by grace alone, by Christ alone,
through the unmerited Gift of faith as sons of the Most High. This is a good
attempt towards unity but falls short due to the lack of doctrinal clarity.
Signees ..
Father James J. Buckley (Loyola College in Maryland)
Father J.A. Di Noia, O.P. (Domincan House of Studies)
Father Avery Dulles, S.J. (Fordham University)
Father Thomas Guarino (Seton Hall University)
Dr. Peter Kreeft (Boston College)
Father Matthew L. Lamb (Boston College)
Father Eugene LaVerdiere, S.S.S. (Emmanuel)
Father Francis Martin (John Paul II Institiute for Studies on Marriage and Family)
Mr. Ralph Martin (Renewal Ministries)
*Father Richard John Neuhaus (Religion and Public Life)
Mr. Michael Novak (American Enterprise Institute)
Father Edward Oakes, S.J. (Regis University)
Father Thomas P. Rausch, S.J. (Loyola Marymount University)
Mr. George Weigel (Ethics and Public Policy Center)
Dr. Robert Louis Wilken (University of Virginia)
Initial Critique of the ECT Document...The Gift of Salvation....by JohnD'Arcy
Last modified: December 9th, 1997.