Take a look (emphasis and parenthetical comments mine):
http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/2005/0512fea3.asp
Extra ecclesiam, nulla salus does not mean that only faithful Roman Catholics can be saved. The Church has never taught that. So where does that leave non-Catholics and non-Christians?
Jesus told his followers, "I have other sheep, that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd" (John 10:16). After his Resurrection, Jesus gave the threefold command to Peter: "Feed my lambs. . . . Tend my sheep. . . . Feed my sheep" (John 21:15–17). The word translated as "tend" (poimaine) means "to direct" or "to superintend"—in other words, "to govern." So although there are sheep that are not of Christ’s fold, it is through the Church that they are able to receive his salvation.
People who have never had an opportunity to hear of Christ and his Church—and those Christians whose minds have been closed to the truth of the Church by their conditioning (me: interesting choice of words, eh? ;-)) —are not necessarily cut off from God’s mercy. Vatican II phrases the doctrine in these terms:
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 consciences—those too may achieve eternal salvation (LG 16).
Since Christ died for all, and since all men are in fact called to one and the same destiny, which is divine, we must hold that the Holy Spirit offers to all the possibility of being made partakers, in a way known to God, of the Paschal mystery (Gaudium et Spes 22).
I'm pinging a few Catholics to correct me if I'm wrong here, but I believe that the misunderstanding may arise from the Catholic belief that those who are saved without being members of the Catholic Church are still "imperfectly joined" to the Church by the grace of God. I think non-Catholics often tend to focus on the phrase "Extra ecclesiam, nulla salus" without fully understanding the theology behind it.
Hopefully this helps a bit in clearing up the confusion regarding "no salvation outside the church". Catholics, if I've botched this explanation, please let me know! I'm trying to clear up misunderstandings, not add to them :)