Rome Affirms What She Believes

I am not sure why, but many Protestants are surprised that Roman Catholics will believe what Roman Catholics believe. For instance, at Philly.com a story states:

"The Catholic Church teaches that people who have received absolution for their sins from a priest may, through an indulgence, draw on the "treasury of merit" accumulated by Jesus, Mary and the saints to lessen or eliminate the punishment owed to God."

Here Roman Catholics affirm what they believe demonstrating that those who adhere to the Reformation's Biblical doctrine of Justification may never truly be united with Rome.

In this story, the Pope affirms that Roman Catholicism is the only true church. What is troubling in this story is not that Rome affirms what she teaches (Wouldn't that be silly if she didn't?), but that World Alliance of Reformed Churches would be disillusioned with such an affirmation. Yahoo News states:

"The statement brought swift criticism from Protestant leaders. "It makes us question whether we are indeed praying together for Christian unity," said the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, a fellowship of 75 million Protestants in more than 100 countries.

"It makes us question the seriousness with which the Roman Catholic Church takes its dialogues with the reformed family and other families of the church," the group said in a letter charging that the document took ecumenical dialogue back to the era before the Second Vatican Council."

I have said it for a long time. The apologetic and theology of most Evangelicals I know would not withstand a good thinking Roman Catholic. Perhaps if Pastors actually preached verse by verse exposition of Biblical texts and gave apologetic support for their arguments, Protestants would not be so easily fooled.