Outside the Church

  • Thread starter Thread starter Cephas1229
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
C

Cephas1229

Guest
Hello All
This question is addressed to my Catholic brothers and sisters.
I was chatting with a friend (a fellow Catholic) who mentioned some past writings of the Church which said that there is no salvation outside of the Catholic Church. Before I address this issue myself, I thought that I would ask how some of you would answer this. I’ll be seeing him again in the middle of February. Here are some of the quotes he gave me.
  1. FOURTH LATERAN COUNCIL; 1215 AD. ?There is only one, universal Church of the faithful outside with none will be saved.?
  2. POPE BONIFACE VIII: ?Unam Sanctam? 1302 A.D. ?That there is only one,holy,Catholic and apostolic Church we are compelled by faith to believe and hold, and we firmly believe in her and simply confess her outside whom there is neither salvation nor remission of sins. Furthermore we declare, state, define, that it is absolutely necessary for the salvation of all men that they submit to the Roman Pontiff.?
3.COUNCIL OF FLORENCE; 1402 A…D. ?The holy, Roman Church…firmly believes,professes, and teaches that outside the Catholic Church no one, neither pagans, nor Jews, nor heretics, nor schismatics, can obtain eternal life but will go to the everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels unless, before the end of life they are received into it.?

Thanks for your help,
Cephas 1229
 
I believe that if we actually read the entire text of those declarations (not just the sentences quoted here), the context will be that of professing Catholics who leave the church to become schismatics, heretics, etc. That is not the case with people who have lived their entire lives in another Christian church.

As for “outside the church there is no salvation,” baptism unites all Christians at least partly with the Catholic Church (CCC 838) — a baptized Protestant is not “outside” the Catholic Church in this sense, even if they are not in full communion with it.

Here’s what the Catechism teaches regarding these points:

Who belongs to the Catholic Church?

836 “All men are called to this catholic unity of the People of God. . . . And to it, in different ways, belong or are ordered: the Catholic faithful, others who believe in Christ, and finally all mankind, called by God’s grace to salvation.”

837 “Fully incorporated into the society of the Church are those who, possessing the Spirit of Christ, accept all the means of salvation given to the Church together with her entire organization, and who - by the bonds constituted by the profession of faith, the sacraments, ecclesiastical government, and communion - are joined in the visible structure of the Church of Christ, who rules her through the Supreme Pontiff and the bishops. Even though incorporated into the Church, one who does not however persevere in charity is not saved. He remains indeed in the bosom of the Church, but ‘in body’ not ‘in heart.’”

838 “The Church knows that she is joined in many ways to the baptized who are honored by the name of Christian, but do not profess the Catholic faith in its entirety or have not preserved unity or communion under the successor of Peter.” Those “who believe in Christ and have been properly baptized are put in a certain, although imperfect, communion with the Catholic Church.” With the Orthodox Churches, this communion is so profound “that it lacks little to attain the fullness that would permit a common celebration of the Lord’s Eucharist.” …

“Outside the Church there is no salvation”

846 How are we to understand this affirmation, often repeated by the Church Fathers? Re-formulated positively, it means that all salvation comes from Christ the Head through the Church which is his Body:

Basing itself on Scripture and Tradition, the Council teaches that the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and Baptism, and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through Baptism as through a door. Hence they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or to remain in it.

847 This affirmation is not aimed at those who, through no fault of their own, do not know Christ and his Church:
Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience - those too may achieve eternal salvation.

848 “Although in ways known to himself God can lead those who, through no fault of their own, are ignorant of the Gospel, to that faith without which it is impossible to please him, the Church still has the obligation and also the sacred right to evangelize all men.”
 
Gamera
Thanks for responding. You are right on! I was busy checking the actual words in context and neglected the Catechism. I should have looked there first. 😃
 
There is no salvation outside the Church means that one must be a united to the Body of Christ to be saved. This is because the divine life flows from the Head (Jesus) through the Body (the Church).

It is defined dogma that it is through Baptism that we become united to the Church (including explicit and implicit Baptism by desire). Likewise, we separate ourselves from the Church when we mortally commit the sins of schism, heresy, or apostacy or when we are excommunicated.

Therefore, those non-Catholics who have been Baptized or have at least an implicit desire for Baptism, and have not mortally committed the sins above–they are united to the Church and can be saved.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top