Shouldn’t more effort be put into evangelization of non-Christians rather than into apologetics for non-Catholic Christians, who have more of a chance of salvation than non-Christians?
While I agree that evangelization to non-Christians is necessary, and while I also agree that it can be generally said that non-Catholic Christians have a better chance at salvation because they have more of the truth and more of the channels of grace than non-Christians, I don’t think we should dismiss the necessity of explaining the Catholic faith to non-Catholic Christians.
One reason why apologetics to non-Catholic Christians is so important is because we share more in common with them and thus have more common ground with which to work. They know of the importance of Christ to salvation, have a personal commitment to him, and usually want to improve their relationship with him. That is a huge advantage for evangelization than there is with non-Christians who see no need for Christ in their lives.
Our separated brethren hold much Christian truth, but not all of it. We might compare their religion to a stained glass window in which some of the original panes were lost and have been replaced by opaque glass: Something that was present at the beginning is now gone, and something that does not fit has been inserted to fill up the empty space. The unity of the original window has been marred.
When, centuries ago, they split away from the Catholic Church, the theological ancestors of these Christians eliminated some authentic beliefs and added new ones of their own making. The forms of Christianity they established are really incomplete Christianity.
Only the Catholic Church was founded by Jesus, and only it has been able to preserve all Christian truth without any error – and great numbers of people are coming to see this.
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