Baptism of Desire
&
Baptism of Blood

 
Catholic Doctrine Answers the “Feeneyite” Error
 
by
 
+ Gordon Cardinal Bateman
March 23, 2000
 
approved by Pope Pius XIII

There are those who claim that there are no such things as Baptism of Desire and Baptism of Blood, and that Baptism of Water is the only means of salvation.  This is a serious error.  The Church does indeed teach that Baptism of Desire and Baptism of Blood are means of salvation to those who through no fault of their own have not received Baptism of Water, but who have the efficacious (working on it) desire to enter the Catholic Church or who give their life for the name of Our Blessed Lord, Jesus Christ. The Council of Trent when defining justification made it clear that the desire spoken of here has to do with the desire to receive the Sacrament of Baptism, not some kind of independent entities excluding the Baptism of Water. This doctrine has been given much clarification by Pope Pius IX and again by Pope Pius XII.   It is addressed again at this time to crush the recent proliferation of the error that Baptism of Desire and Baptism of Blood do not exist, and to put this new resistance to these truths, to rest. 

The Feeney Error 

The chief architect of this error is Fr. Leonard Feeney.  Fr. Feeney, a Jesuit priest, was excommunicated in 1953 by the Vatican for his belief and teaching that one could be saved only by Baptism of Water.  In 1958, Fr. Feeney, along with a Brother Francis, founded the St. Benedict Center in Harvard, Massachusetts, USA.  The excommunication was purged in 1972 by the Novus Ordo Church, an act which that false religion, of course, had no authority to perform.  Fr. Feeney died in 1978.  His followers are called “Feeneyites,” and even today, they continue to spread the errors of his teachings. 

The Council of Trent 

The Council of Trent, in the sixteenth century, stated the baptism of desire very clearly, albeit without defining the limits of the doctrine. 

Those who would proclaim the “Feeneyite” error have misquoted the Council of Trent to support their own cause.  They do this by leaving out one critical phrase given in the sixth session, chapter four.  The English and Latin texts are given here: 

The English: 

“This translation however cannot, since the promulgation of the Gospel, be effected except through the laver of regeneration or its desire, as it is written: Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” John 3:5 
The Latin: 
“Quae quidem translatio post evangelium promulgatum sine lavacro regenerationis aut eius voto fieri non potest, sicut scriptum est: Nisi quis renatus fuerit ex aqua et Spiirtu Sancto, non potest introire in regnum Dei.” John. 3:5 
The Feeneyites while quoting or using the above quotations from the Council of Trent discard the Latin phrase:  “aut eius voto.”  They also discard the English: “or its desire.”  Once that is done, they have denatured the statement of the Council of Trent, leaving it to say what they want said, namely: “…except through the laver of regeneration” without any words added. 

This trickery of words is the same tactic used in the Protestantism of Martin Luther, but in reverse.  In order to make his Lutheran religion, Martin Luther added a word to the Sacred Scriptures. Scripture says: “We are saved by faith.”  He added one word to that statement, and that made the foundation for his entire religion.  The word he added was “alone.”  He said that: “We are saved by faith alone.” Martin Luther went berserk over adding the word, alone, and the “Feeneyites” go berserk over removing the phrase “or its desire.”  Both acts cause disasters! 

San Simeon 

There is a feast in the Church where San Simeon was the victim of Jewish ritual murder.  He had not been baptized, but his death for Christ (the meaning of ritual murder) was and is accepted by the Church as the baptism of blood. 

The heretics go about like a loose canon saying that God knows from all eternity, which persons are of good will.  Hence, He would certainly send such persons a missionary.  Those without good will need not have a missionary.  Just how do these Feeneyites understand the words of the Last Gospel of the Mass where it says that  “He illumines every man that comes into this world”?   It is not necessary to know how God does that, but it is sure that He does it, missionary or no missionary. 

Soul of the Church – a misused term 

Many authors find it hard to explain a union with the Church without the actual reception of the Baptism of Water.  They use the term “soul of the church,” and that is most unfortunate.    That expression must be eliminated.  Instead, there is a proper way to express the Catholic doctrine that: “Outside the Church there is no salvation.”  Then where is salvation?  “Inside the Church there is salvation.” 

In the most simple of terms it goes this way:  “Outside the laver of regeneration, or its desire there is no salvation.”  Put it the other way round, it is stated like this: “Inside the laver of regeneration or its desire there is salvation.” 

No Pope can question the infallible teachings of his predecessors.  A Pope will not prove again what has been proved before, lest it seem that he has any doubts in matters of faith and morals.  All that is done is to repeat former teachings and clarify points that still may be obscure. 

The Catholic Church and Salvation 

From the book The Catholic Church and Salvation by Msgr. Joseph Clifford Fenton, (Imprimatur May 12, 1958, before the death of Pope Pius XII), on pages 55-56, it is written: 
“Those who correspond with the graces He offers them will receive the answer to their prayers.” 
This, then, is the teaching which Pope Pius IX insisted that the Bishops of the Catholic Church should give to their people, to keep them away from false doctrines which could ruin their spiritual lives. 

Singulari Quidem 

“Singulari Quidem” (March 17, 1856) by Pope Pius IX, brings out the following teachings much more clearly and explicitly than previous ecclesiastical declarations on the necessity of the Church for salvation: 
  1. It is a ruinous error to imagine that one can have grounds of hope, that people now dead, and those who had not entered into the Church in any way during the course of their lives, are saved. 
  2. The dogma that there is no salvation outside the Catholic Church is in no way opposed to the truth that God is all-merciful and all-just.
  3. The doctrine that no one is saved outside the Catholic Church is a truth revealed by God through Jesus Christ, and a truth which all men must believe with the assent of divine faith.  It is Catholic dogma. 
  4. Invincible ignorance, of the true Church or of anything else, is not considered by God as a sin.  The dogma that there is no salvation outside the Catholic Church in no way implies that invincible ignorance is sinful. 
  5. It is an impious and deadly error to hold that salvation may be attained in any religion. (Added: This is the heresy held and taught by Vatican II ). 
  6. It is not within the field either of our competence or of our rights to search out the way in which God’s mercy and His justice operates in any given case of a person ignorant of the true Church or of the true religion.  We shall see how these divine attributes have operated in the light of the Beatific Vision itself. 
  7. It is the business of the Church to work and to pray that all men will attain salvation in the Church. 
  8. God is never outdone in generosity.  The person who tries to come to Him will never be forsaken.  As a matter of fact, the movement toward God, like all good things, originates from God Himself.” 
 
 
     March 23, 2000