Extra ecclesiam - Outside the Church there is no salvation.

It's a stark sentence. Some Catholics even love its shock value, waving the doctrine like a flag in the face of their enemies. Other Catholics flatly refuse to believe it, and claim that this teaching was repudiated by the Second Vatican Council. Both groups are wrong.

Despite what some may think, this dogma is infallible, and all Catholics are required to believe it. This was repeated clearly at Vatican II, which said: "Basing itself on Scripture and Tradition, the Council teaches that the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation."

At the same time, this dogma was never meant to be a sectarian battle cry, as if only Catholics may go to heaven.

So what is the correct interpretation of this sentence? What does the Catholic Church mean when she proclaims that Outside the Church there is no salvation?

OUTSIDE THE EARTH THERE IS NO LIFE

Saying that the Church is necessary for salvation is like saying that the earth is necessary for human life. Outside the Church there is no salvation, and outside the earth there is no life.

It's true, of course. The earth is our God-given home. If you leave here, you will die.

But if this is so, how do you explain the 445 astronauts who have flown into space and returned safely? If "outside the earth there is no life", how did Neil Armstrong ever walk on the moon?

The answer, of course, is simple: They didn't leave the earth; they just brought it with them. While they slept and walked on the moon, they were eating earth's food and breathing earth's air. Everything they had came from back home.

So when we say "outside the earth there is no life," we are saying that all of the means for survival are found on this planet. And when we say "outside the Church there is no salvation," we mean that all of the means of salvation -- doctrines, sacraments, and so on -- are found here, uncorrupted by error.

Some of these means can exist outside the visible bounds of the Church. For example, Protestants have most of the Bible, along with two of the seven sacraments. Nevertheless, these things are like the food and water on the Space Shuttle: they're life-giving, but they came from a place where they're far richer, more abundant and complete.

First, if a person even suspects that the Church is necessary for salvation, but refuses to act on it before he dies, he will go to hell. As Vatican II stated, "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."

Second, if a person fails to enter or stay in the Church through no fault of his own, he may still be saved. Pope Pius IX said: "By Faith it is to be firmly held that outside the Apostolic Roman Church none can achieve salvation. This is the only ark of salvation. He who does not enter into it will perish in the flood. Nevertheless equally certainly it is to be held that those who suffer from invincible ignorance of the true religion are not for this reason guilty in the eyes of the Lord."

Finally, it's not enough simply to call yourself Catholic. There is nothing magic about registering at a parish. To go to heaven, you have to take advantages of the means offered by the Church. This includes praying often, giving alms to the poor, spreading the Gospel, going to Confession and believing in all of her teachings -- even the hard ones.

Pope John Paul II summed it up best: "People are saved through the Church, they are saved in the Church, but they always are saved by the grace of Christ. . . . This is the authentic meaning of the well-known statement Outside the Church there is no salvation."

You wrote: "When we walk into heaven, we are going to be surprised at who is- and isn't there...If you are in Christ, by grace through faith, you are, by definition, the Church."

Those are both good points. The only Scriptural picture we have of the Final Judgment is Matthew 25, and it portrays EVERYBODY, both the saved and the damned, as being surprised: "LOrd, when did we see you hungry?"

A little odd, but there it is...

And your other point is interesting, in terms of a definition of the Church. We Catholics believe that the true and original and only Church founded by Jesus Christ "subsists in" the Catholic Church. But that term "subsists in" is maybe (sigh) a little subtle? (And this is a notoriously hair-splitting Church, one that knows what "is" is!)

Bottom line, as our esteemed Orthodox brethren put it, "We know where the Church is; but we don't know where the Church is not."

That's one reason why the Church will formally canonize, but never formally "demonize." We know for sure that some people are in heaven because of their Catholic Faith, their life of heroic virtue, and confirmed by 2 miracles (these are the formal requirements for canonization.) But we daren't say for sure that anybody by name is damned. We just don't have God's perfect knowledge of the inner person, nor God's perfect justice, nor God's perfect will to save.

You wrote: "...salvation [is] through faith in Jesus Christ, not "The Church".

I like your FReepname, UseYourHead.

Christ is the Head of His Mystical Body, the Church. We are saved by Christ through His Church which He founded as the ordinary means of salvation for everybody. St. Paul in 1 Tim. 3:15 calls the Church "the pillar and ground of the truth." He also wrote to Timothy that it is God's will that all men should be saved, "come unto the knowledge of the truth" (1 Tim. 2:3-4).

Now if people are saved by the truth, and the Church is the ground and pillar of the truth, the Church is necessary for salvation.

BTW, Catholic who pray the Rosary pray regularly and confidently for the salvation of people who are not pew-sitting, dues-paying members of the visible Catholic Church. We know that God has His own brilliant ways of saving people (Savior is His middle name. He's the expert. It's what He does, y'know?)

O my Jesus,
save us from rthe fires of hell
Lead all souls to heaven,
especially those who are in most need
of thy mercy.

(Prayer of the Angel at Fatima)

Outside of Christ there is no salvation. If you are in Christ, by grace through faith, you are, by definition, the Church.

Beautifully said, dear ovrtaxt!

Nothing but the blood of Christ is necessary to salvation.

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness [come] by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. – Galatians 2:20-21

Interestingly, I’m currently reading the Encyclical Letter Deus Caritas Est of the Supreme Pontiff Benedict XCI to the Bishops, Priests and Deacons. The subject is Christian love and he has touched on this point already (and I’m only on page 7 LOL!). The point being that God’s love for us is both agape and eros – that the reconciliation of justice and agape is in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ - much like a man deals with an adulterous wife.

Perhaps he will also bring up the mystery of Christ and the church being a marriage.

For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. – Ephesians 5:30-32

The Church Jesus established was known by its most common title, "the Catholic Church," at least as early as the year 107, when Ignatius of Antioch used that title to describe the one Church Jesus founded. The title apparently was old in Ignatius’s time, which means it probably went all the way back to the time of the Apostles.

I don't comment too much on Catholic posts unless you folks reach the outer limits. This is one of those cases.

Jesus prayed that God would keep his Church in His, (the Father's) name. Church of God

Here also

And here

Here

Never in scripture is the Church referred to as "Catholic". The Apostles referred to themselves as "The Church of God". Only once is the Church referred to as "The Church of Christ", [Romans 16:16].....but Christ is the head of the Church, [Colossians 1:18]....and Christ is also God, [John 1:1].

The name Christian is used only 3 times in scripture, [Acts 11:26], [Acts 26:28] and [1 Peter 4:16].

Well into the writings of the Early Church Fathers they were still referring to themselves as "The Church of God". You can wish and hope as much as you want....but the term "Catholic" is a "Johnny Come Lately".

[ The indwelling Spirit of God. Everyone who becomes Christian is born anew (John 3) - and the Spirit Himself authenticates the Scriptures by bringing the words alive within us. To people who are not indwelled by the Spirit, the Scriptures are merely text on paper. Thus, Truth is hidden in plain view. ]

True.. the "letter" of the word kills(spiritually) but the Spirit gives life(spiritual life)... Without the Spirit scripture generates questions not answers.. Pure genius by the progenitor of scripture...

Which brings for a pregnant "fact", if the bible(scripture) generates questions within you and not answers you are in contact with the WRONG spirit.. Because the right Spirit will show you can't know everything all at once.. if ever..

Scripture breeds humility and gratitude; spiritually discerned.. If not spiritually discerned, it breeds arrogance and a haughty disregard for it and its proponents..

At least in my experience..

Interestingly, I’m currently reading the Encyclical Letter Deus Caritas Est of the Supreme Pontiff Benedict XCI to the Bishops, Priests and Deacons.

Oh, I am thrilled you are reading this, Alamo-Girl! I just read it yesterday, and it is amazingly, extraordinarily beautiful. I suspect it sets the "theme" for this Pope's papacy, which is Love.

The first of two parts is "speculative": This Pope is a world-class philosopher as well as world-class theologian. As philosopher, he has strong resonances to Neo-platonism. As theologian, his thought has been profoundly influenced by St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, and St. Bonaventure, the great Franciscan friar -- both Saints and Doctors of the Church. (Turns out, he is also a great admirer of Karl Barth.) So in this first part, he speaks of caritas in all its forms in the abstract; e.g., eros, philia, agape.

The second part is "more concrete," dealing with the exercise of the commandment of love of neighbor. An excerpt:

Christian charitable activity must be independent of parties and ideologies. It is not a means of changing the world ideologically, and it is not in the service of worldly stratagems, but it is a way of making present here and now the love which man always needs. The modern age, particularly from the nineteenth century on, has been dominated by various versions of a philosophy of progress whose most radical form is Marxism. Part of Marxist strategy is the theory of impoverishment: in a situation of unjust power, it is claimed, anyone who engages in charitable initiatives is actually serving that unjust system, making it appear at least to some extent tolerable. This in turn slows down a potential revolution and thus blocks the struggle for a better world. Seen in this way, charity is rejected and attacked as a means of preserving the status quo. What we have here, though, is really an inhuman philososphy. People of the present are sacrified to the moloch of the future -- a future whose effective realization is at best doubtful. One does not make the world more human by refusing to act humanely here and now.... The Christian's programme -- the programme of the Good Samaritan, the program of Jesus -- is "a heart which sees." This heart sees where love is needed and acts accordingly....
Love is free; it is not practised as a way of achieving other ends.... Often the deepest cause of suffering is the very absence of God. Those who practice charity in the Church's name will never seek to impose the Church's faith upon others. They realize that a pure and generous love is the best witness to the God in whom we believe and by whom we are driven to love. A Christian knows when it is time to speak of God and when it is better to say nothing and let love alone speak. He knows that God is love and that God's presence is felt at the very time when the only thing we do is to love. He knows ... that disdain for love is disdain for God and man alike; it is an attempt to do without God. Consequently, the best defense of God and man consists precisely in love....
There are times when the burden of need and our own limitations might tempt us to become discouraged. But precisely then we are helped by the knowledge that, in the end, we are only instruments in the Lord's hands; and this knowledge frees us from the presumption of thinking that we alone are personally responsible for building a better world. In all humility we will do what we can, and in all humility we will entrust the rest to the Lord. It is God who governs the world, not we. We offer him our service only to the extent that we can, and for as long as he grants us the strength. To do all we can with what strength we have, however, is the task which keeps the good servant of Jesus Christ always at work: "The love of Christ urges us on" (2 Cor 5:14).

[Just couldn't resist adding the boldface!!!]

The real parousia, the Presence of Christ, is made evident and effective in the world in personal acts of Christian love. Such acts are a means of God's redemptive action in the world.

The Encyclical concludes with a poem/prayer to the Blessed Mother -- the Mother of the Church because the Mother of our Lord -- so profound, so perfect, that it might make you weep for joy. (It did me.) It may provide non-Catholics with some insight into why Mary is indispensable and essential to Catholic theology.

Needless to say, I highly recommend Christians of all confessions to read this sublime document on Christian love. Gloria in excelsus Deo!

Thank you so much, dear sister, for writing!

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