Pratt-falls: Mormons about Catholics, Catholics about Mormons

I tip my biretta  o{]:¬)  to Defensor Veritatis for the link to Mormon 2 Catholic in which its writrix provides quotes she unearthed from under the rock of a Mormon site called Mormon Quotes.   Remember, folks, to put on your best glasses when reading, ’cause you don’t want to miss a word.  I really like this one she found (emphasis mine):

Q. Who founded the Roman Catholic Church? A. The Devil, through the medium of Apostates, who subverted the whole order of God by denying immediate revelation, and substituting in the place thereof, tradition and ancient revelations as a sufficient rule of faith and practice. Q. Did the great Protestant Reformers restore the Church of Christ to the earth? A. No: for they had no inspired Apostles, Prophets, or Revelators among them, without which the Church could not be restored. Q. But did not the first Protestant Reformers receive their ordination and authority from the Catholics? A. Yes: and in this manner they received all the authority that their mother church was in possession of; and the mother having derived her authority from the Devil, could only impart that which his Satanic majesty was pleased to bestow upon her.

Author: Orson Pratt
Source: The Seer
Page: 205

Yessirie, there it is.  I like how Pratt falls into the use of calling the Church "mother" and "she", don’t you?  BB: Protestants are also pretty much hosed as well.

On the other hand, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faither under Cardinal Ratzinger made an official statement, approved by Pope John Paul II (now deparated to his own planet, perhaps), about Mormon "baptism".  It is a worth reading in its entirety.

RESPONSE TO A ‘DUBIUM’
on the validity of baptism conferred by
«The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints»,
called «Mormons»

Question: Wheter the baptism conferred by the community «The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints», called «Mormons» in the vernacular, is valid.

Response: Negative.

The Supreme Pontiff John Paul II, in the Audience granted to the undersigned Cardinal Prefect, approved the present Response, decided in the Sessione Ordinaria of this Congregation, and ordered it published.

From the Offices of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, 5 June 2001.

 
+ Joseph Cardinal RATZINGER
Prefect

+Tarcisio BERTONE, S.D.B.
Archbishop emeritus of Vercelli
Secretary

That "negative" pretty much ends the discussion.  Still, if you want to know more, read Fr. Ladaria’s explantory comment on this same declaration in L’Osservatore RomanoInter alia he makes the point that Mormons don’t believe in the Christian Trinity.  Thus, een in invoking the names of the Trinity (using the same words Christians use) they mean something entirely different by them.  Thus, their baptism is invalid.  As Fr. Ladaria explained succinctly (emphasis mine),

There is not a true invocation of the Trinity because the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, according to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, are not the three persons in which subsists the one Godhead, but three gods who form one divinity. One is different from the other, even though they exist in perfect harmony (Joseph F. Smith, ed., Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith [TPJSI, Salt Lake City: Desert Book, 1976, p. 372). The very word divinity has only a functional, not a substantial content, because the divinity originates when the three gods decided to unite and form the divinity to bring about human salvation (Encyclopaedia of Mormonism [EM], New York: Macmillan, 1992, cf. Vol. 2, p. 552). This divinity and man share the same nature and they are substantially equal. God the Father is an exalted man, native of another planet, who has acquired his divine status through a death similar to that of human beings, the necessary way to divinization (cf. TPJS, pp. 345-346). God the Father has relatives and this is explained by the doctrine of infinite regression of the gods who initially were mortal (cf. TPJS, p. 373). God the Father has a wife, the Heavenly Mother, with whom he shares the responsibility of creation. They procreate sons in the spiritual world. Their firstborn is Jesus Christ, equal to all men, who has acquired his divinity in a pre-mortal existence. Even the Holy Spirit is the son of heavenly parents. The Son and the Holy Spirit were procreated after the beginning of the creation of the world known to us (cf. EM, Vol. 2, p. 961). Four gods are directly responsible for the universe, three of whom have established a covenant and thus form the divinity.

Whew!

It is necessary for Catholics to understand what they are facing when speaking to Mormons.  They might use the same words, but they mean very different things by them.  Mormons are not Christians.  They see the Catholic Church and its doctrine as being evil.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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4 Comments

  1. Andrew says:

    I used to have long conversations with a Mormon friend, many years ago (in the military) and I recall one particular conversation where I was surprised to hear him say that God had a physical, material body. “So you mean” I asked him “that I can do things behind God’s back, and he won’t see me, because he can only see with his eyes whatever is in his sight?” He gave me an affirmative answer, which ended our conversation. It made me realize (and I have never forgotton that lesson) that we often argue with others assuming that our arguments are based on certain common foundations only to find out otherwise.

  2. efinnerty says:

    Wow, I never realized mormons had such extra-planetary beliefs. A quick search on that Mormon Quotes site mentioned for “planet” is very enlightening:

    Mankind are here because they are the offspring of parents [Adam and Eve] who were first brought here from another PLANET, and power was given them to propagate their species. – Brigham Young

  3. Tim Ferguson says:

    It should be noted that there’s some uncertainty about the validity of the baptism conferred by the Reorganized Church of Latter Day Saints. This group seems to have a bit more normal and orthodox understanding of the Trinity and of baptism. While Mormon baptisms are invalid, and a Mormon converting to Catholicism should be baptized, someone who received baptism in the Reorganized group should probably be conditionally baptized, pending investigation into the actual circumstances of his baptism.

  4. catholiclady says:

    Amother silly quote from that page – I wonder who they think created God?

    Remember that God, our heavenly Father, was perhaps once a child, and mortal like we ourselves, and rose step by step in the scale of progress,in the school of advancement; has moved forward and overcome, until He has arrived at the point where He now is.

    Author: Orson Hyde

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