Feeneyism

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Christian theory on salvation

title: "Feeneyism" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["catholic-church-in-the-united-states"] description: "Christian theory on salvation" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feeneyism" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Christian theory on salvation ::

Feeneyism, also known as the Boston heresy, is a Christian theological concept associated with the Jesuit priest Leonard Feeney. Feeneyism advocates an interpretation of the dogma extra Ecclesiam nulla salus ("outside the Church there is no salvation") claiming that only Catholics who are baptised with water can go to heaven. Feeneyism's denial of the doctrines of baptism of desire and baptism of blood, is considered a heresy by the Catholic Church.

In 1949, the Supreme Congregation of the Holy Office produced a document to correct the errors of Feeney's interpretation. The document stated: "this dogma (extra Ecclesiam nulla salus) must be understood in that sense in which the Church itself understands it." After refusing to recant his claims, Leonard Feeney was excommunicated from the Catholic Church in 1953 by Pope Pius XII, although he later reconciled with the church in 1972, a few years before his death.

Leonard Feeney

Main article: Leonard Feeney

Feeney was Catholic priest and a member of the Jesuit order. He co-founded the group known as the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary with Catherine Goddard Clarke. Feeney was also the editor of The Point, which ran a mixture of theological and political articles, some of them branded anti-semitic by Feeney's critics. He was described by the ADL as "Boston's homegrown version of Father Charles Coughlin" for his antisemitism.

Robert F. Kennedy, then a Harvard undergraduate, met with Archbishop Richard Cushing of Boston requesting Feeney's removal. In 1949, Cushing declared Feeney's St. Benedict's Center off-limits to Catholics. That same year Boston College and Boston College High School dismissed four of the center's members from the theology faculty for spreading Feeney's views in the classroom.{{cite news |newspaper=Harvard Crimson |first=Laurence D. |last=Savadove |title=Father Feeney, Rebel from Church, Preaches Hate, Own Brand of Dogma to All Comers – One-Time Jesuit Plans To Use Ex-Harvard Men to Spread Idea |date=December 6, 1951 |access-date=2014-03-25 |url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1951/12/6/father-feeney-rebel-from-church-preaches/}}{{cite book |title=Robert Kennedy: His Life |author-link=Evan Thomas |first=Evan |last=Thomas |page=51 |chapter=Tough |date=February 5, 2013 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=9781476734569 |access-date=2014-03-25 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ofXSLln9a3QC&q=robert+kennedy+father+feeney&pg=PA51}}

Around this time, Fr. Feeney began speaking on Boston Common, gathering large crowds of up to 2,000 people to his public meetings, both supporters and hecklers. According to The Harvard Crimson, Feeney declared that in Catholic majority Boston, he wanted to "rid our city of every coward liberal Catholic, Jew dog, Protestant brute, and 33rd degree Mason who is trying to suck the soul from good Catholics and sell the true faith for greenbacks". Feeney would frequently throw visceral barbs back at his hecklers, describing them as "sexually degenerate, fairy, lewd, obscene, dirty, filthy, rotten, pawns, pimps, and frauds".

On 4 February 1953, the Holy Office declared him excommunicated "on account of grave disobedience to Church Authority, being unmoved by repeated warnings". The Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary later split in two, one of which became the Still River Branch, in good standing with the Catholic Church; the other is a schismatic group that holds to Feeney's views on Salvation.

Decades later, Feeney reconciled with the Catholic Church in 1972 without any recantation from his part.

Doctrine

Feeney's interpretation of the doctrine extra Ecclesiam nulla salus ("outside the Church there is no salvation") is that only Catholics can go to heaven and that only those baptised with water can go to heaven. As such, Feeneyism opposes the doctrines of baptism of desire and baptism of blood. Feeney rejected what was the definition of the Catholic Church of baptism of desire at the time, i.e. the idea that people who openly affiliated with the Catholic Church as well as those spiritually linked to the Catholic Church through an implicit desire could be saved.

Condemnation of Feeneyism

Feeney's interpretation of extra Ecclesiam nulla salus was widely condemned by the Catholic Church and is still condemned to this day. In a 1949 letter to Cardinal Cushing, Archbishop of Boston, the Holy Office condemned Feeney's teaching that only those formally baptized in the Catholic Church can be saved. The Holy Office affirmed that those baptized by their desire can be saved. This letter was sent by Cardinal Francesco Marchetti Selvaggiani to Cardinal Cushing. This letter stated among other things: ::quote[attribution="invincible ignorance]] God accepts also an implicit desire, so called because it is included in that good disposition of soul whereby a person wishes his will to be conformed to the will of God. These things are clearly taught in that dogmatic letter which was issued by the [[Sovereign Pontiff]], [[Pope Pius XII]], on June 29, 1943, ''[[Mystici Corporis Christi"] salvation]]. Therefore, that one may obtain eternal salvation, it is not always required that he be incorporated into the Church actually as a member, but it is necessary that at least he be united to Her by desire and longing. However, this desire need not always be explicit, as it is in catechumens; but when a person is involved in [[Invincible ignorance (Catholic theology) ::

This letter is referenced in a footnote of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, in its section "Outside the Church there is no salvation", paragraph 847, as well as in a footnote in Lumen gentium.

Feeneyite groups

References

References

  1. "No Salvation Outside the Church".
  2. (October 14, 1974). "Feeney Forgiven". [[Time Magazine]].
  3. "Our History". [[Sisters of Saint Benedict Center]].
  4. Blakeslee, Spencer. (2000). "The Death of American Antisemitism". Praeger, Greenwood Publishing Group.
  5. (2016-08-17). "Faith was integral to Bobby Kennedy's life and politics".
  6. (2009-09-14). "Augustine. Aquinas. Luther. Bobby Kennedy?!".
  7. Schlesinger, Arthur Meier. (2002). "Robert Kennedy and His Times". Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
  8. Feldberg, Michael. (2012). "American Heretic: The Rise and Fall of Father Leonard Feeney, S.J.". American Catholic Studies.
  9. The Holy See. "ACTA APOSTOLICAE SEDIS COMMENTARIUM OFFICIALE ANNUS XXXX V - SERIES II - VOL. XX".
  10. (31 January 1978). "FATHER LEONARD FEENEY DIES AT 80". [[National Catholic News Service]].
  11. Madrid. (2004). "More Catholic Than The Pope: An Inside Look At Extreme Traditionalism". [[Our Sunday Visitor]].
  12. (1978-02-01). "Leonard Feeney, Jesuit Priest, 80; Ousted in Dispute Over Salvation". The New York Times.
  13. Mick, Lawrence E.. (2007). "Baptism". Liturgical Press.
  14. Feldberg, Michael. (2012). "American Heretic: The Rise and Fall of Father Leonard Feeney, S.J.". American Catholic Studies.
  15. Carey, Patrick. (2007). "Avery Dulles, St. Benedict's Center, and No Salvation outside the Church, 1940-1953". The Catholic Historical Review.
  16. (2019-01-17). "Why is the Vatican taking action against the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary?".
  17. (August 8, 1949). "Letter of the Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office".
  18. (2019-04-03). "Archbishop Richard J. Cushing".
  19. St Ignatius. (December 1993). "The Companion to The Catechism of the Catholic Church: A Compendium of Texts Referred to in The Catechism of the Catholic Church". Ignatius Press.
  20. "Library : Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus: Father Feeney Makes a Comeback".

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