[Maximilian]

Mel is a wonderful and rightly blessed man, but not a theologian. This is not what the Scripture says, OR the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

This is an absolute dogma of the Catholic Church, proclaimed many times by popes, councils, etc. There is no salvation outside the Church.

[Capriole]

Respectfully, this is not what the Catechism says. There is a long section in the Profession of the Faith about this: the section on "Who Belongs to the Catholic Church?" The answer, in brief, is that all believers who declare Christ and have been been baptized. Lumen Gentium 16: ". . .those too may achiever eternal salvation." Yes, it says "outside the church there is no salvation," but it encompasses a pretty broad definition of what the church is that you can't be outside of.