Editor, Times-Union: I was surprised at Laura Parker's response to Mrs. Kurosky's March 8 letter. I understood Mrs. Kuroksy's letter not as an insult to Christians, but rather as an act of charity.
It is illogical to believe that the teachings of Christ are open to different interpretations, or as in many cases completely disregarded as in ignoring the laws of divorce, etc. If God is infallible then so are his teachings, which are not only found in the Bible, but also come from tradition which dates from the apostles onward.
As for the Vatican II experiment, every change made at the Mass did nothing to glorify our Lord. On the contrary, each change has removed the reverence due to him. Where once parishioners kneeled in humility, the faithful stand. The sacred host was once carefully placed on the tongue, where it is now passed out with little regard to its nature and by the unconsecrated hands of Eucharistic "ministers." In an interview a couple of years before her death, Mother Teresa was asked what she thought was the worst atrocity occurring in the world at that time. She replied, "Communion in the hand." The changes made at Vatican II, which by the way was NOT a dogmatic council, defied the warnings and dogmas laid down by previous popes. We must not forget that obedience to the papacy not only includes the present pope, but to teaches of the past popes and councils. The importance of keeping the Tridentine Rite in Latin is for the sake of preservation. As Latin is a "dead" language, the Mass is preserved from the evolution of the vernacular, i.e., the purity of meaning is safeguarded. As in the years before Vatican II, missals are available in Latin/vernacular. Let's face it, it worked very well until the 1960s.
Since Vatican II, the number of seminarians has declined by 90 percent, baptisms have fallen by 46 percent, marriages have decreased by 27 percent and Mass attendance has dropped from 74 percent of weekly catholic attendees in 1958 to a mere 25 percent in 2000, according to a Gallup Poll.
It is interesting that Laura Parker believes that ALL who believe in Christ are saved. Who knows and fights Christ more than Satan?
Melissa Waikel Milford via e-mail
Dogma
Editor, Times-Union: It appears I was remiss in that I did not cite the dogmatic teachings that are binding on all the faithful if they want to remain Catholic. I was trying to keep my letter simple so I used a charming little book for children titled "Know Your Mass" by Father Francis Demetrius Manousos with an imprimatur from none other than the esteemed Cardinal Francis Spellman. Other than that, the book "Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma" by the highly respected theologian Dr. Ludwig Ott is one that I often use to double-check facts.
The official teaching of the one true church is "extra quam nullus omnino salvatur." It has been taught formally since the year 430 A.D., before that through tradition and more recently, "As against modern religious indifferentism, Pius IX declared: 'By Faith it is to be firmly held that outside the Apostolic Roman Church none can achieve salvation'" ("Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma," page 312). This is not merely my opinion; it is a solemnly defined teaching of the holy Catholic Church. The teaching does allow for invincible ignorance, but one cannot choose to be invincibly ignorant; once a choice is made, the invincibility issue no longer applies.
It's a shame that Mrs. Parker missed this aspect of the faith in her "solid Catholic upbringing."
