Bishop McKenna tells us that baptism of desire = Jews who reject Christ can be saved

By Bro. Peter Dimond, O.S.B.

-12/3/04- Apparently someone informed Bishop McKenna that we have been posting things about him on our website because we received a letter from him a few days ago.  In the letter, Bishop McKenna’s words reveal what we have been saying all along: that we did answer his letter, thus proving him to be a liar.  Further, Bishop McKenna’s recent letter more fully explains and exposes his belief in salvation outside the Church, and that Jews who reject Christ can be saved.  I will quote from his letter and interject my comments where appropriate:

Bishop Robert McKenna, to Bro. Peter Dimond, Nov. 25, 2004: “1.  If you sent me the answer to my ‘Unanswered Letter,’ I never received it.  I find no date on it in the 30 pages lately sent to me which include it.  If you in fact mailed it to me, why did you not send it certified as in previous correspondence?  And if not sent by certified mail, why did you not allow in the 30 pages of vituperation for the possibility of my not having received your answer?”

[My comment]:  First, he asks that if we did send the letter why we didn’t send it by certified mail.  We did send both letters by certified mail, and we have signatures that they both arrived and were received at his church!  Thus, Bishop McKenna is either again directly lying or is in such a diabolical fog because of his bad will that he doesn’t have the slightest clue what is going on. Second, Bishop McKenna says that he finds “no date” on the letters containing the 30 pages sent to him.  The first letter to him was dated March 10 and the second letter, answering all five of his questions, was clearly dated April 15, 2004 and received at his place by certified mail on April 26, 2004.  Thus, again Bishop McKenna is either directly lying or is in such a diabolical fog because of his bad will that he doesn’t have the slightest clue what is going on. Related Article: An Unanswered Letter? – Our letter “debate” with Bishop McKenna on Baptism of Desire Third, notice that McKenna acknowledges that I sent him 30 pages worth of response (in two letters), proving again that he personally received our response and that what we have maintained all along about fully responding to him is true, and that what he and many others have publicly maintained is false and a lie.  Yet, this dishonest apostate has the audacity to spread far and wide his questions as if we did not answer them.  What injustice… what bad will.  But we know that in dealing with McKenna, one is not fighting against flesh and blood, but against the evil principalities and powers (i.e., the evil spirits) which dominate him (Ephesians 6:12), and possess him to go on a crusade to stamp out the belief that you must be born again of water and the Spirit and be a Catholic to be saved.  I continue with McKenna’s response:

Bishop Robert McKenna, to Bro. Peter Dimond, Nov. 25, 2004: “2. I answer your ‘one simple question’ regarding Fr. Denis Fahey’s saying, ‘The Jews, as a nation, are objectively aiming at giving society a direction which is in complete opposition to the order God wants.  It is possible that a member of the Jewish Nation, who rejects Our Lord, may have the supernatural life which God wishes to see in every soul, and so be good with the goodness God wants, but objectively, the direction he is seeking to give to the world is opposed to God and to that life, and therefore is not good. If a Jew who rejects our Lord is good in the way God demands, it is in spite of the movement in which he and his nation are engaged.’ “Fr. Fahey in these words is in fact recognizing Baptism of Desire.  I repeat them, emphasizing what you ignorantly overlook, with (in parentheses) his implications: “The Jews, as a nation, are objectively aiming at giving society a direction which is in complete opposition to the order God wants.  It is possible that (subjectively) a member of the Jewish Nation, who (objectively) rejects Our Lord, may (subjectively) have the supernatural life which God wishes to see in every soul (Sanctifying Grace), and so be good with the goodness God wants, but objectively, the direction he is seeking to give to the world is opposed to God and to that life, and therefore is not (objectively) good. If a Jew who rejects our Lord is (subjectively) good in the way God demands (and therefore, by Baptism of Desire, in the State of Grace), it is in spite of the movement in which (objectively) he and his nation are engaged.’ I could not agree more with what Fr. Fahey says…”

Comment: There you have it, ladies and gentlemen.  Fr. Fahey taught that a Jew who rejects Our Lord can be in the state of grace (and therefore be saved).  Bishop Mckenna acknowledges this and fully agrees with it and states explicitly that “Fr. Fahey in these words is in fact recognizing Baptism of Desire.”  This is as heretical as it gets.  Baptism of desire, according to Bishop McKenna and many other false traditionalists, means that certain Jews who reject Christ can be saved.  This is formal heresy and a denial of the central truth of the Gospel.

Pope Eugene IV, Council of Florence, “Cantate Domino,” 1441, ex cathedra: “The Holy Roman Church firmly believes, professes and preaches that all those who are outside the Catholic Church, not only pagans but also Jews or heretics and schismatics, cannot share in eternal life and will go into the everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels, unless they are joined to the Church before the end of their lives; that the unity of this ecclesiastical body is of such importance that only those who abide in it do the Church’s sacraments contribute to salvation and do fasts, almsgiving and other works of piety and practices of the Christian militia productive of eternal rewards; and that nobody can be saved, no matter how much he has given away in alms and even if he has shed blood in the name of Christ, unless he has persevered in the bosom and unity of the Catholic Church.” Pope Eugene IV, Council of Florence, Sess. 8, Nov. 22, 1439, ex cathedra: “Whoever wishes to be saved, needs above all to hold the Catholic faith; unless each one preserves this whole and inviolate, he will without a doubt perish in eternity.– But the Catholic faith is this, that we worship one God in the Trinity, and the Trinity in unity... Therefore let him who wishes to be saved, think thus concerning the Trinity. “But it is necessary for eternal salvation that he faithfully believe also in the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ...the Son of God is God and man...– This is the Catholic faith; unless each one believes this faithfully and firmly, he cannot be saved.” 1 John 5:11-12: “And this is the testimony, that God hath given to us eternal life.  And this life is in his Son.  He that hath the Son, hath life.  He that hath not the Son, hath not life.” “And he said to them [the Jews]: You are from beneath, I am from above.  You are of this world, I am not of this world.  Therefore, I said to you, that you shall die in your sins: for if you believe not that I am he, you shall die in your sin.” (John 8:23-24)

So, we address a public question to Fr. Casimir Puskorius of the CMRI, the managing editor of the CMRI’s magazine. (I will send this to him directly via e-mail to make sure that he receives it).  Fr. Puskorius, do you reject what Bishop McKenna says as heretical?  Again, is it heretical for Bishop McKenna and Fr. Fahey to teach that Jews who reject Christ can be saved?  (Please don’t mock God and give the bad willed and dishonest answer that Jews can be saved if they convert.  This is a common tactic of heretics who want to avoid answering this question.  We all know and no one denies that Jews who convert can be saved.  We are asking about what Fr. Fahey says and Bishop McKenna agrees with, namely, that Jews who reject Christ can be saved and can have baptism of desire while rejecting Christ.)  If you refuse to denounce Bishop McKenna’s statement as blatantly heretical, then your silence will convict you as agreeing with it.

“He that believeth in the Son hath life everlasting: but he that believeth not the Son, shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.” (John 3:36) “Jesus saith to them: I am the way, and the truth, and the life.  No man cometh to the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6) “Amen, Amen, I say to you: he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up another way, the same is a thief and a robber… I am the door.” (John 10:1, 9) “For God so loved the world, as to give His only begotten Son: that whosoever believeth in Him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting.” (John 3:16) “And when he [the Paraclete] is come, he will convince the world of sin, and of justice, and of judgment.  Of sin indeed: because they have not believed in me.” (John 15:8-9) “For this was I born, and for this came I into the world, that I should give testimony to the truth: every one who is of the truth, heareth my voice.” (John 18:37) “Now this is life everlasting, that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” (John 17:3)

To assert that one can attain salvation while rejecting Jesus Christ is to say that one can attain salvation while rejecting salvation itself.  It is one of the worst heresies that one could utter.