About

My name is Brother Matthew of Versoix, O.F.M.Cap. I am a Swiss traditional Friar Minor Capuchin currently living in France.

This is my main site, where you will find in particular my profession of faith, details about me, as well as spiritual and doctrinal resources. It is available in both English and French.

The French website contains information not published on the English website, and vice versa. I therefore encourage non-French speakers to use a browser translation tool and explore the French site as well.

You can find my other websites and more in the Links section.

Profession of Faith

I fully embrace and profess, without any reservation or compromission, the traditional Catholic faith contained in the Profession of Faith of the Council of Trent.

I firmly hold that the Catholic Church is the one true Church instituted by Jesus Christ upon St. Peter, and that it is absolutely necessary for salvation to be a member of it. Therefore, I uphold the dogma Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus (Outside the Church there is no salvation) as proclamed by the Church, that is, without exception:

Pope Innocent III, Fourth Lateran Council, 1215: “One indeed is the universal Church of the faithful, outside which no one at all is saved, in which the priest himself is the sacrifice…” ¹

The meaning to be given to dogmatic proclamations is that which the Church has assigned to them once and for all. It is not permitted to deviate from this meaning nor to add anything to it, particularly exceptions:

Pope Pius IX, Council Vatican I, 1870: “For, the doctrine of faith which God revealed has not been handed down as a philosophic invention to the human mind to be perfected, but has been entrusted as a divine deposit to the Spouse of Christ, to be faithfully guarded and infallibly interpreted. Hence, also, that understanding of its sacred dogmas must be perpetually retained, which Holy Mother Church has once declared; and there must never be recession from that meaning under the specious name of a deeper understanding.” ²

I also profess that it is absolutely necessary to embrace and profess the traditional doctrine of the Church in order to become Catholic and be saved:

Pope Eugene IV, Council of Florence, Sess. 8, Nov. 22, 1439: “Whoever wills to be saved, before all things it is necessary that he holds the catholic faith. Unless a person keeps this faith whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish eternally.” ³

Pope Leo XIII, Satis Cognitum, 1896: “The practice of the Church has always been the same, as is shown by the unanimous teaching of the Fathers, who were wont to hold as outside Catholic communion, and alien to the Church, whoever would recede in the least degree from any point of doctrine proposed by her authoritative Magisterium.” ⁴

I acknowledge that this teaching has its source in Holy Scripture.

Jesus Christ teaches that those who do not remain in Him, His Mystical Body, will not be saved:

John 15:6: “If anyone does not remain in Me, he will be thrown out like a branch and will dry up; he will be gathered, will be thrown into the fire, and will burn.”

His Mystical Body is the Church that He established upon Saint Peter:

Ephesians 1:22-23: “And He put all things under His feet and gave Him to be head over all things to the Church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”

Therefore, there is no salvation outside the Church Jesus Christ instituted upon St. Peter.

The Church is characterized by four essential attributes: the unity of faith and governance, holiness, catholicity (or universality), and apostolicity. Only the Catholic Church possesses all these these qualities, making it the one true Church instituted by Jesus Christ, distinct from the countless sects that lack them.

Therefore, that Church Jesus Christ instituted upon St. Peter, and outside of which there is no salvation, is the Catholic Church.

There are many passages in the Bible showing that the faithful must profess and embrace the teachings of Jesus Christ and the Apostles. This submission to a single, unified teaching, whose origin goes back to Jesus Christ, constitutes the unity of faith in the Church:

Ephesians 4:4-6: “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism.”

Therefore, there is no salvation outside the Catholic Church, and to be a member of it, it is necessary to embrace and profess the traditional Catholic faith.

Accordingly, I reject as non-Catholic and outside the Church any individual or group that does not profess the full, uncompromising traditional Catholic Faith. This includes the Vatican II sect, the SSPX, the CMRI, and others. Some may present themselves as traditional Catholics, adopting certain externals, but because they have embraced heresy, they have exclude themselves from the membership of the Catholic Church.

I also do not elevate any fallible opinion of men, including my own, to the level of dogma. I clearly distinguish between what a Catholic is obligated to believe and the fallible opinions of men, with which one may legitimately disagree, as long as the Catholic Faith is preserved.

F. Peter John Olivi was a famous French Friar Minor who faced significant persecution for defending the original observance of Franciscan poverty. He died in 1298. Some consider him to be the first to formulate the dogma of papal infallibility. His profession of faith remains highly relevant today.

F. Peter John Olivi, French Friar Minor (d. 1298): “I confess to God and declare in your presence, my Brothers, that I hold as an article of faith only what is contained in Scripture and what the Catholic and Roman Church, whose legitimate Pastor is Boniface VIII, teaches us. I have never followed the opinion of any Doctor as a point of faith, nor will I ever take it as such unless it is first shown to me clearly and solidly that it is part of the belief of the Roman Church. And I consider it a diabolical error to cling to the private opinion of a man with the firmness that is due only to an article of faith.

I also confess that I do not believe myself obliged to accept as a point of faith anything other than what has been determined as such, either by the Pope or by a general Council, unless reason, the authority of Scripture, or that of the Catholic faith itself compels me to believe it. However, I do not intend to deny that the opinions of Doctors deserve great respect, provided they contain nothing that is evidently contrary to the faith. It is even useful for there to be differing opinions, as long as they are not upheld with obstinacy; for in this way, the truth is better examined, minds are sharpened through debate, and one arrives more securely at the clarification of the mysteries of faith.

But I refer only to those opinions that are below the level of faith, which can serve to defend it and to make it more easily understood.”

About me

I was born in 1985 in Geneva, Switzerland. After graduating from the University of Applied Science in Geneva and from the Swiss Institute of Technology in Lausanne, I decided to dedicate my life to Jesus Christ in 2013. Shortly after, I came accross Most Holy Family Monastery’s material, especially the dogma Outside the Church no salvation, which I never heard before and which led me to become Catholic.

The next year, I received Baptism, and that same year, God called me to religious life. Following this call, I spent the next seven years assisting Most Holy Family Monastery in their apostolate before being called by God to enter a religious order.

Drawn to the Capuchin Order by the example of Saint Peter of Alcantara and his deep love for holy poverty, God called me to become a Capuchin on August 2, the very day the Capuchin Reform began (according to Francis of Cartocete) and the most significant day in the Franciscan Order, as it marks the granting of the Portiuncula Indulgence by Pope Honorius III at Saint Francis’ request.