Is Feeneyism Catholic? - Society of St. Pius X

38 IS F EENEYISM C ATHOLIC?
died in infancy.” They have the Beatific Vision, and they see the
great Queen, but not move in as part of the Mystical Body of
Christ…I say: If a child dies after having received baptism, he
dies as the son of God, but not yet as the child of Mary… 50
The emphasized words are at least offensive to the pious ear.
Do they mean that one could go to heaven without being “part of
the Mystical Body of Christ”? The Church rather taught that by
baptism one was incorporated into the Mystical Body of Christ,
and thus became not only a son of God, but also a child of Mary.
Our Lady gave birth not only to the Head (Christ) but also to the
members of His Mystical Body: there is not a single member of
His Body whose Mother she is not.
Fr. Feeney should have applied to baptism the explanation
beautifully exposed by St. Thomas. The reader will notice that St.
Thomas refers to baptism of desire. In this passage, St. Thomas
makes clear that the reality contained in the sacrament (res sacramenti)
is absolutely necessary, in both cases of baptism and Eucharist;
yet before the reception of the exterior sign (sacramentum
tantum), the reality of the sacrament can be had by the desire of it.
Whether the Eucharist is necessary for salvation?
(Summa Theologica, III, Q.73, A.3)
In this sacrament, two things have to be considered, namely,
the sacrament itself and the reality contained in it. 51 Now it was
stated above that the reality of the sacrament is the unity of the
Mystical Body, without which there can be no salvation; for
there is no entering into salvation outside the Church, just as in
the time of the deluge there was none outside the Ark, which
signified the Church, according to I Pet. 3:20, 21. And it has
been said above (ST, Q.68, A.2, see p.73), that before receiving
a sacrament, the reality of the sacrament can be had through the
very desire 52 of receiving the sacrament. Accordingly, before the
50 Rev. Fr. Leonard Feeney, M.I.C.M., Bread of Life, (Still River, MA: Saint
Benedict Center, 1974) pp.97, 98.
51 Res sacramenti=the grace signified and produced by the sacrament.
52 Ex ipso voto, the very term used by the Council of Trent, thereby giving to
St. Thomas Aquinas the approbation of an infallible Council. Some
followers of Fr. Feeney claim that the Council of Trent did not uphold this
teaching of St. Thomas on baptism of desire: Bro. Francis, “Reply to
Verbum,” Res Fidei, February 1987, p.9. We see here how false this claim is.