Pope on Church in Need – Aid for members of the “Body of Christ”

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Religious freedom is essential and not an option, according to Pope Leo XIV. The Pontiff described this freedom as a “cornerstone of every just society.” However, according to the teachings of the Church of Rome, every “free believer” would have to find themselves, at some point, somehow, in the Roman Catholic Church.

Pope speaks of the “Body of Christ”

Last Friday, Pope Leo XIV received a delegation from the aid organization “Aid to the Church in Need” in the Vatican. Founded in 1947 by the Roman Catholic Church, the organization focuses on the worldwide persecution of Christians and aims to provide support to affected Christians. Aid to the Church in Need is organized as a foundation under pontifical law.

In his address, the head of the Roman Church emphasized the right to religious freedom. This is not an option, but the essence of every “just society.” The Pontiff affirmed that the organization would not abandon persecuted believers, who, as individual members, belong to the one family in Christ. Therefore, the suffering of every single “member of the Body of Christ” is shared by the Church. (Source).

Actually only Catholics meant

This needs to be sorted out first. “Aid to the Church in Need” describes itself as a Catholic aid organization dedicated to assisting Christians worldwide suffering from persecution, oppression, and hardship. Pope Leo classifies Christians as a member of the Body of Christ. Thus, according to the Roman Catholic definition, these can only be Catholics of the Roman Way, for the Church itself considers itself the Body of Christ. This is clearly described in the Catholic Catechism:

CCC 789:

“The comparison of the Church with the body casts light on the intimate bond between Christ and his Church. Not only is she gathered around him; she is united in him, in his body. Three aspects of the Church as the Body of Christ are to be more specifically noted: the unity of all her members with each other as a result of their union with Christ; Christ as head of the Body; and the Church as bride of Christ.“

CCC 795:

“Christ and his Church thus together make up the “whole Christ” (Christus totus). The Church is one with Christ. The saints are acutely aware of this unity:“

CCC 820:

“Christ bestowed unity on his Church from the beginning. This unity, we believe, subsists in the Catholic Church as something she can never lose, and we hope that it will continue to increase until the end of time.“

It follows that the Christians Leo refers to as “members of the Body of Christ” must be baptized Catholics. For the “unity of the Church” is also one of Rome’s primary concerns, something many ethnic groups have literally experienced firsthand in the past. While it is “high and holy” to insist that the Catholic faith is not to be imposed on anyone, it is inevitable that the “unity of the Church” will intervene if the “unity of the Church” is deemed to be threatened.

Catholic religious freedom

What the Roman Catholic Church understands as religious freedom has less to do with actual freedom than with a clearly defined framework. One may believe what one wants, yes, but only within the bounds of what is compatible with the common good. In the spirit of unity, “divisive forces” within the “one true family of Christ” are to be rigorously rejected, even fought. And that’s the end of freedom.

Who determines what is for the common good? That is the “moral apostle” in Rome. More about “religious freedom” according to the Roman Church – here.

As so often, flowery, Christian-looking empty phrases that conform to the Roman Catholic narrative, but not to the Gospel. Everything as usual.

Church is a temple of the Holy Spirit

Because it’s just right: Contrary to the Bible, the Church also calls itself the “Temple of the Holy Spirit,” as in CCC 797:
““What the soul is to the human body, the Holy Spirit is to the Body of Christ, which is the Church.” [St. Augustine, Sermo 267, 4: PL 38, 1231D] “To this Spirit of Christ, as an invisible principle, is to be ascribed the fact that all the parts of the body are joined one with the other and with their exalted head; for the whole Spirit of Christ is in the head, the whole Spirit is in the body, and the whole Spirit is in each of the members.” [Pius XII, encyclical, Mystici Corporis: DS 3808] The Holy Spirit makes the Church “the temple of the living God””

While the catechism uses verse 16 of 2 Corinthians 6, it does not hurt to also include 1 Corinthians 6:18-19:
“Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?“

It is not the church, or rather the institution, that is the temple of the Holy Spirit, but the body of each individual human being. A “small but subtle difference.”

Then rather a “splinter” in Jesus Christ

When the head of the Church speaks of schism, it is only in the sense of a breakaway from Roman Catholic doctrine, or rather, whatever narrative seems most useful at the time. If anyone is driving wedges into society, digging trenches and erecting firewalls, it is the “movers and shakers” of the Roman Catholic Church. Splinters are much easier to keep under control than a stronghold of larger, anti-Church groups.

However, this desired unity for all people in the orbit of the Roman Catholic Church will never be completed. Anyone who clings to the Word of God and remains faithful to His laws will automatically be placed on the “hit list” of this Roman Church. That’s the nature of things. For this unity is nothing other than a centrally organized rebellion against God. It would be better to follow the words of Jesus, with all the consequences:

Bible verses from King James Version (1611)