The Magisterium Has Spoken on The Necessity of Membership in the Body of the Church: Analysis of Pius XII's Encyclical Mystici Corporis Christi

I was recently asked to do my homework and seek the 'living magisterium' on the topic of baptism of desire (BOD). I consulted all the encyclicals I could find on the subject of the past two centuries, starting with Leo XII's Ubi Primum of 1824 and concluding with Pius XII's Ad Apostolum Principis of 1958 .

The advocates of BOD all talk about context, so I will comply and try to demonstrate that the context of one of the encyclicals that they love to quote (Pius XII's Mystici corporis Christi of 1943) favors the literal reading of EENS. I have decided to quote extensively so as to demonstrate the spirit of the document and the author's intentions.

The entire encyclical can be found online at:
http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Pius12/P12MYSTI.HTM

I encourage all readers to read the whole text, although to forestall the charges of twisting the Pope's words, I usually quote several sentences or even whole paragraphs (#).

The Identity of the Church

Pius XII's encyclical Mystici corporis Christi calls in #3 the Church to be "the only haven of salvation". In #5 Pius XII "trusts" that those who are "without the fold of the Church" will be guided by "divine grace" to "share in the same union and charity". Does that latter statement refer to some 'imperfect union' that Lumen Gentium and Unitatis Redintegratio referred to? No, it speaks of the Pope's wish for those "without the fold" to become members of the Catholic Church. The encyclical speaks of this later.

#13 leaves no doubt that the Church of Christ IS the Roman Catholic Church, which IS the mystical Body of Jesus Christ:

"If we would define and describe this true Church of Jesus Christ -- which is the One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic Roman Church -- we shall find nothing more noble, more sublime, or more divine than the expression 'the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ'"

The Manner of Entry into the Church

#18 speaks clearly of the way one joins and remains united with the Church:

"the Savior of mankind out of His infinite goodness has provided in a wonderful way for His Mystical Body, endowing it with the Sacraments, so that, as though by an uninterrupted series of graces, its members should be sustained from birth to death"

and

"Through the waters of Baptism those who are born into this world dead in sin are not only born again and made members of the Church, but being stamped with a spiritual seal they become able and fit to receive the other Sacraments."

#22 reaffirms the above:

"Actually only those are to be included as members of the Church who have been baptized and profess the true faith, and who have not been so unfortunate as to separate themselves from the unity of the Body, or been excluded by legitimate authority for grave faults committed."

And this is reiterated in another sentence from the section:

"As therefore in the true Christian community there is only one Body, one Spirit, one Lord, and one Baptism, so there can be only one faith."

Note "THE true Christian community", "ONE Baptism".

Pius XII stresses the fact that the sacrament of Baptism is the way of entry into the Church in #27: "He also determined that through Baptism [27] those who should believe would be incorporated in the Body of the Church". The footnote to this quote refers the reader to ... John 3:5 so we are back to water baptism.

The fact that we are "united" to the Body of the Church through the sacrament of Baptism is brought out very clearly in #30:

"He entered into possession of His Church, that is, of all the members of His Mystical Body; for they would not have been united to this Mystical Body through the waters of Baptism except by the salutary virtue of the Cross, by which they had been already brought under the complete sway of Christ."

Who Is Outside the Church?

Pius XII reasserts Council of Florence's teaching on who is OUTSIDE the Church in #23:

"For not every sin, however grave it may be, is such as of its own nature to sever a man from the Body of the Church, as does schism or heresy or apostasy."

Ergo schism, heresy or apostasy 'severs' a man from the Body of the Church so that converts from Eastern Orthodoxy, Anglicanism or Calvinism (let alone Islam or Judaism) have to 'abjure' errors and repeat the entire profession of faith.

Holy Spirit is the Soul of the Church

But then one might say that those not members of the Body of the Church could be united to its soul. However, this document defines the soul of the Church in #57:

"Finally, while by His grace He provides for the continual growth of the Church, He yet refuses to dwell through sanctifying grace in those members that are wholly severed from the Body. This presence and activity of the Spirit of Jesus Christ is tersely and vigorously described by Our predecessor of immortal memory Leo XIII in his Encyclical Letter Divinum Illud in these words: 'Let it suffice to say that, as Christ is the Head of the Church, so is the Holy Spirit her soul.'"

And the Holy Ghost 'perfects' the members of the Body as we read in #77:

"This communication of the Spirit of Christ is the channel through which all the gifts, powers, and extraordinary graces found superabundantly in the Head as in their source flow into all the members of the Church, and are perfected daily in them according to the place they hold in the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ."

Call on Non-Catholics to Join the Church

So what is the conclusion that Pius XII makes:#91?

"[N]othing more glorious, nothing nobler, nothing surely more honorable can be imagined than to belong to the Holy, Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Church, in which we become members of one Body as venerable as it is unique; are guided by one supreme Head; are filled with one divine Spirit; are nourished during our earthly exile by one doctrine and one heavenly Bread, until at last we enter into the one, unending blessedness of heaven."

But what about those 'outside the fold'? Should they remain where they are? No, Pius XII in his fatherly charity makes this appeal to us, members of the Body:

#96:"And first of all let us imitate the breath of His love. For the Church, the Bride of Christ, is one; and yet so vast is the love of the divine Spouse that it embraces in His Bride the whole human race without exception. Our Savior shed His Blood precisely in order that He might reconcile men to God through the Cross, and might constrain them to unite in one Body, however widely they may differ in nationality and race. True love of the Church, therefore, requires not only that we should be mutually solicitous one for another [184] as members of the same Body, rejoicing in the glory of the other members and sharing in their suffering, [185] but likewise that we should recognize in other men, although they are not YET joined to us in the Body of the Church, our brothers in Christ according to the flesh, called, together with us, to the same eternal salvation."

Notice that the Pope makes a link between 'joining the Body of the Church' and 'eternal salvation' and that those 'outside' are called to join as they are not YET members of the Body.

Notice further how in #102 Pius XII stresses that when 'enlightened by the truth of the Gospel' the non-Catholics can return to the 'fold of the Church':

"We must earnestly desire that this united prayer may embrace in the same ardent charity both those who, not yet enlightened by the truth of the Gospel, are still without the fold of the Church, and those who, on account of regrettable schism, are separated from Us, who though unworthy, represent the person of Jesus Christ on earth."

Staying Outside the Church Is Not A Safe Option

I hope that by now we can see Pius XII's intention and the context of the much-abused quote from #103, referring to those who "by an unconscious desire and longing they have a certain relationship with the Mystical Body of the Redeemer". We will actually see that the quote is followed by Pius XII's plea that the non-Catholics "enter into Catholic unity". I think it is clear that Pius XII is far from assuming that non-Catholics are safe where they are with regard to their salvation:#103:

"As you know, Venerable Brethren, from the very beginning of Our Pontificate, We have committed to the protection and guidance of heaven those who do not belong to the visible Body of the Catholic Church, solemnly declaring that after the example of the Good Shepherd We desire nothing more ardently than that they may have life and have it more abundantly. [194] Imploring the prayers of the whole Church We wish to repeat this solemn declaration in this Encyclical Letter in which We have proclaimed the praises of the "great and glorious Body of Christ," [195] and from a heart overflowing with love We ask each and every one of them to correspond to the interior movements of grace, and to seek to withdraw from that state in which they cannot be sure of their salvation. [196] For even though by an unconscious desire and longing they have a certain relationship with the Mystical Body of the Redeemer, they still remain deprived of those many heavenly gifts and helps which can only be enjoyed in the Catholic Church. Therefore may they enter into Catholic unity and, joined with Us in the one, organic God of Jesus Christ, may they together with us run on to the one Head in the Society of glorious love. [197] Persevering in prayer to the Spirit of love and truth, We wait for them with open and outstretched arms to come not to a stranger's house, but to their own, their father's home."

Sacramental Baptism and Desire for It Required

Could Pius XII refer to the deathbed conversions invisible to the world, or does he encourage public return to the Faith through either sacramental baptism or abjuration of heresy? The above paragraph is followed by the following words in #104:

"Though We desire this unceasing prayer to rise to God from the whole Mystical Body in common, that all the straying sheep may hasten to enter the one fold of Jesus Christ, yet We recognize that this must be done of their own free will; for no one believes unless he wills to believe. [198] Hence they are most certainly not genuine Christians [199] who against their belief are forced to go into a church, to approach the altar and to receive the Sacraments; for the "faith without which it is impossible to please God" [200] is an entirely free "submission of intellect and will." [201] Therefore whenever it happens, despite the constant teaching of this Apostolic See, [202] that anyone is compelled to embrace the Catholic faith against his will, Our sense of duty demands that We condemn the act."

Clearly, the references are to the sacramental baptism as only a water baptism could be forced. Pius XII follows earlier popes (E.g. Benedict XIV, Denz. 1481) in condemning forced baptism or conversion--thus, ironically showing that the convert's DESIRE for sacrament is indispensable for the sacrament itself. In this regard, I think Pius XII fully validates the term 'baptism of desire' as he opposes 'forced baptism' lacking the element of 'desire'.

The Magisterium Has Spoken from which There Is No Appeal to the Fathers or Theologians

Pius XII did not write the encyclical to open the possibilities for investigating all types of 'unknown ways' of entering the Church. In his later encyclical "Humani Generis" he noted that the definitions of the boundaries and structure of the Church were under fire in his time:

#18: "What is expounded in the Encyclical Letters of the Roman Pontiffs concerning the nature and constitution of the Church, is deliberately and habitually neglected by some with the idea of giving force to a certain vague notion which they profess to have found in the ancient Fathers, especially the Greeks."

Where did this assault come from? Actually, 'Catholic' theologians as we read in the warning of Pius XII in #21 of Humani Generis (Denz. 2314):

"This deposit of faith our Divine Redeemer has given for authentic interpretation not to each of the faithful, not even to theologians, but only to the Teaching Authority of the Church. But if the Church does exercise this function of teaching, as she often has through the centuries, either in the ordinary or in the extraordinary way, it is clear how false is a procedure which would attempt to explain what is clear by means of what is obscure. Indeed, the very opposite procedure must be used. Hence Our Predecessor of immortal memory, Pius IX, teaching that the most noble office of theology is to show how a doctrine defined by the Church is contained in the sources of revelation, added these words, and with very good reason: "in that sense in which it has been DEFINED by the Church."
Many defenders of the BOD claim that literal reading of the EENS dogma is not "the sense in which the Church HAS UNDERSTOOD the term". However, Pius XII reminds us of the hierarchy of sources--in case the common consent of theologians clashes with the papal encyclicals or conciliar DEFINITIONS, the latter are to be used.

What I'm only asserting by this lengthy illustration with a key papal encyclical on the Church is that the faithful have a recourse to the solid teaching of the magisterium on the subject and it is not wise to follow many theologians who come up with hypotheses even if those are based on an impressive list of the Fathers if the magisterium HAS SPOKEN on the subject.

Pius XII has recognized the problem that the clear teaching on the Body of the Church has been made obscure by modern theologians, both non-Catholic and Catholic.

Mystici corporis Christi, #8: "But the chief reason for Our present exposition of this sublime doctrine is Our solicitude for the souls entrusted to Us. Much indeed has been written on this subject; and we know that many today are turning with greater zest to a study which delights and nourishes Christian piety. (...) Nevertheless, while We can derive legitimate joy from these considerations, We must confess that grave errors with regard to this doctrine are being spread among those outside the true Church, and that among the faithful, also, inaccurate or thoroughly false ideas are being disseminated which turn minds aside from the straight path of truth."

Would Pius XII express his 'solicitude for the souls entrusted' to the Pope by stressing that there are ways to be saved outside the Catholic Church? Why did He then affirm on many occasions in the space of one encyclical the importance of membership of the Body of the Church for salvation?

Let's be of the same spirit as Pius XII was. I welcome all corrections as to the possible mistakes I may have made reading this encyclical.

Obligation of Lay Catholics to Spread the 'Light of Undefiled Faith' (Leo XIII)

In case some of BOD advocates jump at me as a layman for appealing to a papal encyclical to reassert the established dogma, I'll resort to the defense that another encyclical, Sapientiae christianae' by Leo XIII, offers. Firstly, the lay faithful are encouraged to propagate the Faith as well:

#16: "All faithful Christians, but those chiefly who are in a prominent position, or engaged in teaching, we entreat, by the compassion of Jesus Christ, and enjoin by the authority of the same God and Savior, that they bring aid to ward off and eliminate these errors from holy Church, and contribute their zealous help in spreading abroad the light of undefiled faith.''[16] Let each one, therefore, bear in mind that he both can and should, so far as may be, preach the Catholic faith by the authority of his example, and by open and constant profession of the obligations it imposes. In respect, consequently, to the duties that bind us to God and the Church, it should be borne earnestly in mind that in propagating Christian truth and warding off errors the zeal of the laity should, as far as possible, be brought actively into play."

Secondly, the only safe way for the lay Catholics to ward off errors is not make direct references to the Fathers, or to the Scripture itself, but rather to papal pronouncements on how to interpret the above. So asserts Leo XIII in the same encyclical (#24):

"Wherefore it belongs to the Pope to judge authoritatively what things the sacred oracles contain, as well as what doctrines are in harmony, and what in disagreement, with them; and also, for the same reason, to show forth what things are to be accepted as right, and what to be rejected as worthless; what it is necessary to do and what to avoid doing, in order to attain eternal salvation. For, otherwise, there would be no sure interpreter of the commands of God, nor would there be any safe guide showing man the way he should live."

Personally, I must admit I was impressed with the defense that the Magisterium provides us, lay Catholics, so that we know 'what it is necessary to do, and to avoid doing, in order to attain eternal salvation'. It appears that a single encyclical of Pius XII provides very strong defense for the 'undefiled faith'.