Salvation outside of Christ

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Any salvation that comes to the non believer comes to them through Christ, whether in this life they knew it or not.
From the Baltimore Catechism;
Q. 510. Is it ever possible for one to be saved who does not know the Catholic Church to be the true Church?

A. It is possible for one to be saved who does not know the Catholic Church to be the true Church, provided that person:

1.(1) Has been validly baptized;

2.(2) Firmly believes the religion he professes and practices to be the true religion, and

3.(3) Dies without the guilt of mortal sin on his soul.

Q. 511. Why do we say it is only possible for a person to be saved who does not know the CatholicChurch to be the true Church?

A. We say it is only possible for a person to be saved who does not know the Catholic Church to be the true Church, because the necessary conditions are not often found, especially that of dying in a state of grace without making use of the Sacrament of Penance.

 
There is no salvation outside of Christ. Faith in Him is absolutely necessary. From the Catechism:
161 Believing in Jesus Christ and in the One who sent him for our salvation is necessary for obtaining that salvation.42 "Since “without faith it is impossible to please [God]” and to attain to the fellowship of his sons, therefore without faith no one has ever attained justification, nor will anyone obtain eternal life ‘But he who endures to the end.’"43
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What we also acknowledge, as the Catechism notes, is that “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” (CCC 848).

St. John Paul II reiterated this strongly here (the whole thing is a good read):
What I have said above, however, does not justify the relativistic position of those who maintain that a way of salvation can be found in any religion, even independently of faith in Christ the Redeemer, and that interreligious dialogue must be based on this ambiguous idea. That solution to the problem of the salvation of those who do not profess the Christian creed is not in conformity with the Gospel. Rather, we must maintain that the way of salvation always passes through Christ, and therefore the Church and her missionaries have the task of making him known and loved in every time, place and culture. Apart from Christ “there is no salvation”.

As Peter proclaimed before the Sanhedrin at the very start of the apostolic preaching: “There is no other name in the whole world given to men by which we are to be saved” (Acts 4:12).

For those too who through no fault of their own do not know Christ and are not recognized as Christians, the divine plan has provided a way of salvation. As we read in the Council’s Decree on Missionary Activity Ad gentes , we believe that “in ways known to himself, God can lead those who, through no fault of their own, are ignorant of the Gospel” to the faith necessary for salvation ( Ad gentes , n. 7).
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https://www.ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/JP950531.htm

It is those who, in response to God’s grace, seek and follow an upright conscience that are led to this faith.

St. Robert Bellarmine explains this here, in response to Protestants who claimed the existence of ignorant pagans proved God did not offer the means of salvation to all:

De Gratis et Libero Arbitrio, lib. 2, cap. 8
This argument only proves that not all people receive the help they need to believe and be converted immediately. It does not, however, prove that some people are deprived, absolutely speaking, of sufficient help for salvation. For the pagans to whom the Gospel has not yet been preached, can know from His creatures that God exists; then they can be stimulated by God, through His preventing grace, to believe in God, that He exists and that He is the rewarder of those who seek Him: and from such faith, they can be inspired, under the guidance and help of God, to pray and give alms and in this way obtain from God a still greater light of faith, which God will communicate to them, either by Himself or through angels or through men.
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Just to add to my post above, as Our Lord’s parable of the laborers in the vineyard proves, God may not lead someone to that necessary faith until the “eleventh hour” (ie the last moments of life). This is why we cannot judge anyone’s final state, since even someone who denied Christ his entire life may come to Him in the final moments and in an interior way no one else is privy too.
 
Like a good friend of mine is fond of saying, “everyone’s Catholic, they just don’t know it.”
He means it in a good and positive way.
 
Yes you are still a Catholic" Talk to a Catholic Priest

REPLY: Not quite

Our Catechism :

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

1783 Conscience must be informed and moral judgment enlightened. A well-formed conscience is upright and truthful . It formulates its judgments according to reason, in conformity with the true good willed by the wisdom of the Creator. The education of conscience is indispensable for human beings who are subjected to negative influences and tempted by sin to prefer their own judgment and to reject authoritative teachings.

The entire Bible teaches that God taught and DEMANDS Belief in

One True God {the 1st Commandment}

Just One TRUE set of Faith beliefs {Eph 4:4-5 & Mt 28:18-20}

One “Chosen People” Exo. 6:7 which Jesus changed the name of to “MY CHURCH” Mt 16:18

Salvation through anything else is HIGHLY speculatively; it CAN happen but is highly conditional

I can kind of see the latter, but as far as this statement goes, it sounds as though John Paul is saying that a non-believer can just have a sincere heart (whatever that means) and be related to Christ? So a Buddhist could have a good heart, be a good person and he can go to heaven?

I hope I am completely reading this wrong. Please advise

Here my fiend is what it boils down to:

God in order to BE God MUST and WILL make our Final Judgment based upon what HE has made POSSIBLE for every Soul to know; NOT what each person finds most suitable to their lifestyle. And ONLY God can make this judgment call. BUT I One is given the opportunity to KNOW God’s TRUTHS; one them MUST accept and embrace them. It’s a matter of what is True; what is Right; NOT “what is right for me because……”

Pray much and may God Guide your path:

Only in the Catholic and Orthodox Churches can you MEET Jesus Face to face and receive HIM In Holy Communion,

Patrick
 
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