POPE JOHN XXIII
From AD LIMINA TALKS , PAGES 57,67,68. "On the opening day of Vatican II, John XXIII said, `The greatest concern of the Ecumenical Council is this: that the sacred deposit of Christian doctrine should be more effectively guarded and taught.'"
Pope John XXIII's Declaration of Faith, made at the opening of Vatican II "I accept firmly and I receive heartily the apostolic traditions and the other methods and rules of the Church. I also acknowledge the Holy Scripture, in the sense in which our holy mother, the Church, has accepted them still. To the Church belongs the judgment concerning the true meaning and explanation of the Holy Scriptures. I will never interpret the Scriptures nor will I explain it otherwise than according to the unanimous consent of the Fathers.
"I confess also that there are, in the proper and true sense of the term, seven sacraments of the New Alliance, which have been instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ, and which are necessary for mankind's salvation, though they are not necessarily for each individual, namely: baptism, confirmation, eucharist penitence the extreme unction, ordination and marriage: and, among them, baptism, confirmation and ordination cannot be renewed without sacrilege. I accept also and give my approval to all rites proclaimed by the Church, when these sacraments are solemnly practiced.
"I do accept entirely all that has been decided and declared at the Council of Trent, concerning the original sin and justification.
"I do also confess that in the Mass, a true and redeeming sacrifice is operated for the living and for the dead; that, in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist, the body and blood, as well as the soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ are really and truly present. . . I confess also that the whole Christ and the real sacrament are present even under one kind.
"I firmly believe that there is a purgatory and that the souls that are therein find help in the prayers of the believer.
"I also firmly believe that we must venerate and pray to the saints who are reigning with Christ; that they bring, for us, prayers unto God, and that it is necessary to venerate their remains. I also firmly believe that we must possess and keep images of Christ, of the Mother of God ever virgin, as well as of the other saints; and that we must testify to them the respect and reverence which they deserve.
I accept also without any doubt and I confess all the other things which have been transmitted, decided and declared by the Holy Council of Trent, and by the Ecumenical Council at Vatican, specially concerning the primacy of Rome's bishop and his infallible magistry.
"As well, I do condemn and regret and bring anathema to all that is in contradiction with faith, and all the false doctrines which the Church has condemned and anathematized. This true Catholic Faith, out of which no one can be saved, where I here freely confess and to which I am firmly attached, I am decided to confess constantly and keep pure and without mixture, till the last breath of my life." Signed by each member of Vatican II. Quoted in DOREA, Jan-Mar. 1991. (Robert Champagne, Box 2284, Sherbrooke, PQ J1J 3Y3.)
