In his 1863 encyclical on the “promotion of false doctrines,” Quanto Conficiamur Moerore, Blessed Pius IX clearly set forth the Catholic Church’s immutable teaching on the subject of “invincible ignorance”:

“Here, too, our beloved sons and venerable brothers, it is again necessary to mention and censure a very grave error entrapping some Catholics who believe that it is possible to arrive at eternal salvation although living in error and alienated from the true faith and Catholic unity. Such belief is certainly opposed to Catholic teaching. There are, of course, those who are struggling with invincible ignorance about our most holy religion. Sincerely observing the natural law and its precepts inscribed by God on all hearts and ready to obey God, they live honest lives and are able to attain eternal life by the efficacious virtue of divine light and grace. Because God knows, searches and clearly understands the minds, hearts, thoughts, and nature of all, His supreme kindness and clemency do not permit anyone at all who is not guilty of deliberate sin to suffer eternal punishments.”

Pope Pius IX began by emphasizing that it is a “grave error” to “believe that it is possible to arrive at eternal salvation although living in error and alienated from the true faith and Catholic unity.” In various ways, we hear nearly the opposite from Francis and most of the bishops today.

Thus, “invincible ignorance” does not save souls: living a virtuous, sinless life is what saves some souls who are invincibly ignorant.

After stating the Church’s teaching on the need for souls to practice the true Catholic Faith, Pope Pius IX discussed the exception related to “invincible ignorance.” Non-Catholics are not saved by their invincible ignorance; rather, if they truly are invincibly ignorant about Catholicism then they do not incur guilt for failing to join the Catholic Church. According to Pope Pius IX, God mercifully spares souls from eternal punishments so long as they fulfill certain conditions: “Sincerely observing the natural law and its precepts inscribed by God on all hearts and ready to obey God, they live honest lives and are able to attain eternal life by the efficacious virtue of divine light and grace.” Thus, “invincible ignorance” does not save souls: living a virtuous, sinless life is what saves some souls who are invincibly ignorant.

Why does the Church teach that God can mercifully save souls who are invincibly ignorant about the need to practice the Catholic Faith? We know the Church is not encouraging anyone to remain invincibly ignorant because, among other reasons, anyone who would actually heed the Church’s teaching on this topic could scarcely be “invincibly ignorant” about the Church. Instead, the Church teaches about invincible ignorance to help us understand that, as Pope Pius IX wrote, God’s “supreme kindness and clemency do not permit anyone at all who is not guilty of deliberate sin to suffer eternal punishments.” So the true purpose is to help us appreciate God’s mercy and goodness.

Every educated Catholic knows that part of the Church’s mission is to overcome the ignorance of those who do not know about the need to become Catholic, as we can see from the last line in the Gospel of St. Matthew:

“And Jesus coming, spoke to them, saying: All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. Going therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world.” (Matthew 28:18-20)

If we believe that God is good, it should go without saying that the Church’s mission of teaching souls to be Catholic does not make it more difficult for those souls to be saved if they convert to Catholicism. As such, if someone were to suggest that people might be better off living in invincible ignorance so they would not be guilty of failing to follow the Church’s teaching, we should recall the extraordinary difficulty of fulfilling the conditions Pope Pius IX described for being saved outside the Church: not only being invincibly ignorant, but also living a virtuous and sinless life, with a readiness to obey God. Although God alone judges souls, it seems extraordinarily difficult for someone who would reject the Church to nonetheless lead such a virtuous life without the aid of the Church’s sacraments and holy teaching.

The Church could never use the concept of “invincible ignorance” to refrain from teaching souls about the need to be Catholic.

All of this should make it clear that the Church could never use the concept of “invincible ignorance” to refrain from teaching souls about the need to be Catholic. In addition, these considerations help us better understand what a grave evil it is when the Church’s ostensible representatives foster the impression that souls do not need to be Catholic to please God and save their souls. Indeed, Pope Pius IX condemned the following errors related to this in his Syllabus of Errors from 1864:

“15. Every man is free to embrace and profess that religion which, guided by the light of reason, he shall consider true.”

"16. Man may, in the observance of any religion whatever, find the way of eternal salvation, and arrive at eternal salvation.”

“17. Good hope at least is to be entertained of the eternal salvation of all those who are not at all in the true Church of Christ.”

Bearing in mind that these propositions were condemned by Pius IX as heretical, would anyone be surprised to find one or more in the statements of Francis or his collaborators? Of course not — through his words and deeds he has frequently promoted these heresies condemned by Pius IX, all of which tend to foster invincible ignorance when they come from the ostensible authorities of the Catholic Church.

Conversely, what do we think Francis and his collaborators would say about the following passage from Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre’s The Mystery of Jesus?:

“The mere fact of conceding that it is a human right to be able to think whatever you like, as is done in the declaration on religious liberty [Vatican II’s Dignitatis Humanae], leads to the abandonment of the missionary spirit. Make no mistake. It is completely erroneous to think that if someone thinks otherwise than I do, if he has another religion than mine, he is free to do so. No, he not free, and we must tell him, however sorry we may be, that he is wrong, that he is not in possession of the truth. One day you will be judged on your thoughts, your behavior, and your attitude: you had better convert. And this holds, not only for ideas, but also for morals, for everything.” (p. 81)

These words are striking, but they are in perfect conformity with the mission Our Lord entrusted to the Church and the constant teaching of the Church up until Vatican II. And, as we can plainly read, Archbishop Lefebvre expressed that the failure to heed these words is not punishment in this life, but in eternity. For one with the Faith, telling souls that they should remain outside the Church is truly sinister.

Why do Francis, Tucho, Cupich, and the rest ignore Vatican II’s Dignitatis Humanae by exerting extreme psychological coercion to prevent Catholics from following their consciences?

Looking again at Archbishop Lefebvre’s statement, we can see that it refers to Vatican II’s declaration on religious liberty, Dignitatis Humanae, which contains a discordant assortment of statements from both the liberal and conservative Council Fathers and theologians. So, for instance, we can find the following at the beginning of the document, which was evidently added to pacify the conservative Council Fathers:

“First, the council professes its belief that God Himself has made known to mankind the way in which men are to serve Him, and thus be saved in Christ and come to blessedness. We believe that this one true religion subsists in the Catholic and Apostolic Church, to which the Lord Jesus committed the duty of spreading it abroad among all men. Thus He spoke to the Apostles: ‘Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have enjoined upon you’ (Matt. 28: 19-20). On their part, all men are bound to seek the truth, especially in what concerns God and His Church, and to embrace the truth they come to know, and to hold fast to it.”

Setting aside the ambiguous expression that the true religion “subsists” in the Church, we see that this statement is generally consistent with what Pope Pius IX wrote. However, it is the declaration’s theme of religious freedom, as introduced in the opening sentence, that forms the foundation of the liberal aspect of the declaration:

“A sense of the dignity of the human person has been impressing itself more and more deeply on the consciousness of contemporary man, and the demand is increasingly made that men should act on their own judgment, enjoying and making use of a responsible freedom, not driven by coercion but motivated by a sense of duty.”

Perhaps tellingly, Cardinal Víctor Manuel “Tucho” Fernández cited this sentence in his recent heretical declaration, Dignitas Infinita. Later in Vatican II’s declaration on religious liberty, we learn that the freedom from coercion introduced in the document’s first sentence encompasses freedom from psychological coercion:

“They are also bound to adhere to the truth, once it is known, and to order their whole lives in accord with the demands of truth. However, men cannot discharge these obligations in a manner in keeping with their own nature unless they enjoy immunity from external coercion as well as psychological freedom.”

Here is Archbishop Lefebvre’s response to this absurd notion of freedom from psychological coercion:

“It speaks, not of physical constraint, but of moral constraint. Now, when Our Lord said, ‘If you refuse belief, you will be condemned,’ wasn’t that psychological constraint? The threatened condemnation is hell. Is it not a rather rude constraint to say, either this or hell? It is indeed a moral constraint that causes the one to whom it is addressed to tremble: It is the fire of hell for all eternity if you do not believe. Would Our Lord not have the right to do it? According to the principles of the Declaration on Religious Liberty, one is free to follow his conscience: no constraint.” (Archbishop Lefebvre, Against the Heresies, pp. 271-272)

Archbishop Lefebvre was, of course, absolutely correct, as we can see today as those who follow Vatican II’s teaching on religious liberty refuse to tell souls that they must convert to Catholicism, which Vatican II itself identified as “the one true religion.” We see this most clearly in the prohibition on proselytism, which began long before we heard of Jorge Bergoglio.

Vatican II’s prophets of religious liberty have fostered worldwide invincible ignorance but they have not done anything that could possibly help souls fulfill the conditions Pope Pius IX identified as necessary for souls in the state of invincible ignorance to be saved.

It is demonically ironic, then, that we now see Francis and his collaborators approving of essentially every religious belief in the world other than Traditional Catholicism. Why do Francis, Tucho, Cupich, and the rest ignore Vatican II’s Dignitatis Humanae by exerting extreme psychological coercion to prevent Catholics from following their consciences?

If we really want to open our eyes, we should reflect on the reality that for roughly sixty years since Vatican II, Paul VI and his successors, and most of the bishops, have done so much to show the world that souls do not need to be Catholic to please God or save their souls. They have, in other words, fostered an environment in which souls are ignorant — and perhaps even invincibly ignorant depending on the circumstances — of their need to become Catholic. Such an environment naturally has the related effect of causing Catholics to doubt both whether they (a) should remain Catholic, and (b) must follow the teachings of the Church.

Should we rejoice that Vatican II has ushered in this condition of staggering invincible ignorance? Obviously not, for various reasons. Vatican II’s prophets of religious liberty have fostered worldwide invincible ignorance but they have not done anything that could possibly help souls fulfill the conditions Pope Pius IX identified as necessary for souls in the state of invincible ignorance to be saved: “Sincerely observing the natural law and its precepts inscribed by God on all hearts and ready to obey God, they live honest lives and are able to attain eternal life by the efficacious virtue of divine light and grace.” These false shepherds have instead told souls they are just fine keeping their own religious beliefs, whether they be Protestant, Muslim, Buddhist, etc. Believe anything you want, Francis tells us, so long as it is not rigid, backward Traditional Catholicism.

We must also consider that fostering conditions of invincible ignorance has not exactly been beneficial for spreading God’s truth and grace throughout society. If souls try to cooperate with God’s grace to follow the one true religion to the best of their abilities, they will spread truth and goodness to their families, communities, nations, and the entire world. But we obviously do not see the same proliferation of truth, goodness, and beauty when the false shepherds convince souls that they do not need to practice the Catholic Faith that is the wellspring of those benefits.

Finally, we must consider that all of this constitutes a great offense against God. We have been given the one true religion not only to save our souls but to honor and love God. It is such an astonishingly foul and damnable sin for our false shepherds to deprive souls of the religion that allows us to properly honor God.

We can no longer tolerate a situation in which those with the truth are the only ones who must be silent, as others propagate the most ridiculous and wicked lies. Our remedy, as Archbishop Lefebvre wrote, is to do our part to promote the reign of Christ the King.

At this late stage, it seems that all confirmed Catholics have a greater duty than ever to defend the Church’s immutable teaching that God wants all souls to be Catholic. We should recognize that many of the voices trying to promote invincible ignorance are not merely mistaken — at least some of these people, and likely the most vocal of them, are dedicated enemies of Our Lord Jesus Christ. We can no longer tolerate a situation in which those with the truth are the only ones who must be silent, as others propagate the most ridiculous and wicked lies. Our remedy, as Archbishop Lefebvre wrote, is to do our part to promote the reign of Christ the King:

“The only remedy is to reflect, meditate, and be convinced of the necessity of the social reign of our Lord Jesus Christ, of His reign over us not only as persons, but also in society. Be assured that if you tell yourself that you want to live according to the law and the morality that our Lord has taught us, and by His grace, love and sacraments, but that out in the world you must accept freedom of morals and free-thinking, then sooner or later you will be contaminated. . . . Our Lord Jesus Christ must reign, not only in our homes, but also outside and in all of society. Everyone belongs to Him. Everyone will be judged by Him” (Archbishop Lefebvre, The Mystery of Jesus, p. 81)

We who have the unadulterated Catholic Faith must be the ones to share it with others. Today, any Traditional Catholic child who has passed his or her First Communion test knows far more about the Faith than Francis and most of the bishops. We may not be able to have influence over any other portion of our world, but we can absolutely tell the truth about our Catholic Faith. And when we do this, God can use our humble efforts to help establish the reign of Christ the King, which is the one thing that the demonic globalists and their minions in the Vatican fear most. Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us!

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