Is Feeneyism Catholic? - Society of St. Pius X

A NSWER TO OBJECTIONS 107
received by baptism of desire. Now to be in Christ necessarily
means to be in His Mystical Body, the Church, which is the Catholic
Church. One must never forget that the actual graces of God
given before the conversion precisely lead towards Jesus Christ
and His Church; if one follows these actual graces with docility,
he will succeed in finding Jesus Christ and His Church.
Thus we must conclude that the interior union with Christ
and His Church by faith, hope and charity is absolutely necessary
in re–in fact. But the exterior union with the Church is necessary
at least in voto–in desire, when one does everything he can to
have the exterior union with the Church, and when this exterior
union is prevented by an obstacle uncontrollable and irremovable
by his will. If that obstacle was not irremovable, and if he would
neglect to remove it, then he would be guilty of this, and thus lose
the grace of his baptism of desire.
Hence it is absolutely false to say: “Both Archbishop Lefebvre
and Fr. Laisney think of the Church in the spiritual, invisible
sense, to the exclusion of the visible sense, whenever her necessity
for salvation is considered.” 157
But the reason for Bro. Robert Mary’s error is that for him, “it
is the sacramental character alone that incorporates one into the
Roman Catholic Church.” 158 No, not alone! It is only one of the
bonds of the Church, and not the most important, since it can be
had even outside the Church, even in hell! As a matter of fact, of
the six bonds of the Church, it is the only one that remains in hell:
indeed, no supernatural virtue remains there, nor the profession
of the Catholic Faith, nor the submission to the Roman Pontiff;
only the sacramental character! To pretend that “it is the sacramental
character alone that incorporates one into the Roman
156 St. Augustine, De Vera Religione, 11. In this passage, St. Augustine insists on
the devotion of these good men “to keep and defend the Catholic Faith,”
and on the example of “their affection and sincere charity.” Knowing how
much St. Augustine stresses the importance of belonging to the unity of the
Church, against the schism of Donatus, this passage reinforces the primacy
of the interior union, sufficient to be “crowned by the Father” when
exceptional circumstances prevent the exterior union. The application to the
modern crisis of the Church and to the situation of Archbishop Lefebvre is
left to the reader!
157 Bro. Robert Mary, op. cit. p.217.
158 Bro. Robert Mary, op. cit. p.204.