No Salvation Outside the Church

Catholic Answers ^ | 12/05 | Fr. Ray Ryland

[bdeaner]

Why does the Catholic Church teach that there is "no salvation outside the Church"? Doesn’t this contradict Scripture? God "desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Tim. 2:4). "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me" (John 14:6). Peter proclaimed to the Sanhedrin, "There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).

Since God intends (plans, wills) that every human being should go to heaven, doesn’t the Church’s teaching greatly restrict the scope of God’s redemption? Does the Church mean—as Protestants and (I suspect) many Catholics believe—that only members of the Catholic Church can be saved?

That is what a priest in Boston, Fr. Leonard Feeney, S.J., began teaching in the 1940s. His bishop and the Vatican tried to convince him that his interpretation of the Church’s teaching was wrong. He so persisted in his error that he was finally excommunicated, but by God’s mercy, he was reconciled to the Church before he died in 1978.

In correcting Fr. Feeney in 1949, the Supreme Congregation of the Holy Office (now the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) issued a document entitled Suprema Haec Sacra, which stated that "extra ecclesiam, nulla salus" (outside the Church, no salvation) is "an infallible statement." But, it added, "this dogma must be understood in that sense in which the Church itself understands it."

Note that word dogma. This teaching has been proclaimed by, among others, Pope Pelagius in 585, the Fourth Lateran Council in 1214, Pope Innocent III in 1214, Pope Boniface VIII in 1302, Pope Pius XII, Pope Paul VI, the Second Vatican Council, Pope John Paul II, and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Dominus Iesus.

Our point is this: When the Church infallibly teaches extra ecclesiam, nulla salus, it does not say that non-Catholics cannot be saved. In fact, it affirms the contrary. The purpose of the teaching is to tell us how Jesus Christ makes salvation available to all human beings.

Work Out Your Salvation

There are two distinct dimensions of Jesus Christ’s redemption. Objective redemption is what Jesus Christ has accomplished once for all in his life, death, resurrection, and ascension: the redemption of the whole universe. Yet the benefits of that redemption have to be applied unceasingly to Christ’s members throughout their lives. This is subjective redemption. If the benefits of Christ’s redemption are not applied to individuals, they have no share in his objective redemption. Redemption in an individual is an ongoing process. "Work out your own salvation in fear and trembling; for God is at work in you" (Phil. 2:12–13).

How does Jesus Christ work out his redemption in individuals? Through his mystical body. When I was a Protestant, I (like Protestants in general) believed that the phrase "mystical body of Christ" was essentially a metaphor. For Catholics, the phrase is literal truth.

Here’s why: To fulfill his Messianic mission, Jesus Christ took on a human body from his Mother. He lived a natural life in that body. He redeemed the world through that body and no other means. Since his Ascension and until the end of history, Jesus lives on earth in his supernatural body, the body of his members, his mystical body. Having used his physical body to redeem the world, Christ now uses his mystical body to dispense "the divine fruits of the Redemption" (Mystici Corporis 31).

The Church: His Body

What is this mystical body? The true Church of Jesus Christ, not some invisible reality composed of true believers, as the Reformers insisted. In the first public proclamation of the gospel by Peter at Pentecost, he did not invite his listeners to simply align themselves spiritually with other true believers. He summoned them into a society, the Church, which Christ had established. Only by answering that call could they be rescued from the "crooked generation" (Acts 2:40) to which they belonged and be saved.

Paul, at the time of his conversion, had never seen Jesus. Yet recall how Jesus identified himself with his Church when he spoke to Paul on the road to Damascus: "Why do you persecute me?" (Acts 9:4, emphasis added) and "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting" (Acts 9:5). Years later, writing to Timothy, Paul ruefully admitted that he had persecuted Jesus by persecuting his Church. He expressed gratitude for Christ appointing him an apostle, "though I formerly b.asphemed and persecuted and insulted him" (1 Tim. 1:13).

The Second Vatican Council says that the hierarchical structure of the Catholic Church and the mystical body of Christ "form one complex reality that comes together from a human and a divine element" (Lumen Gentium 8). The Church is "the fullness of him [Christ] who fills all in all" (Eph. 1:23). Now that Jesus has accomplished objective redemption, the "plan of mystery hidden for ages in God" is "that through the Church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places" (Eph. 3:9–10).

According to John Paul II, in order to properly understand the Church’s teaching about its role in Christ’s scheme of salvation, two truths must be held together: "the real possibility of salvation in Christ for all humanity" and "the necessity of the Church for salvation" (Redemptoris Missio 18). John Paul taught us that the Church is "the seed, sign, and instrument" of God’s kingdom and referred several times to Vatican II’s designation of the Catholic Church as the "universal sacrament of salvation":

"The Church is the sacrament of salvation for all humankind, and her activity is not limited only to those who accept her message" (RM 20).

"Christ won the Church for himself at the price of his own blood and made the Church his co-worker in the salvation of the world. . . . He carries out his mission through her" (RM 9).

In an address to the plenary assembly of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (January 28, 2000), John Paul stated, "The Lord Jesus . . . established his Church as a saving reality: as his body, through which he himself accomplishes salvation in history." He then quoted Vatican II’s teaching that the Church is necessary for salvation.

In 2000 the CDF issued Dominus Iesus, a response to widespread attempts to dilute the Church’s teaching about our Lord and about itself. The English subtitle is itself significant: "On the Unicity and Salvific Universality of Jesus Christ and the Church." It simply means that Jesus Christ and his Church are indivisible. He is universal Savior who always works through his Church:

The only Savior . . . constituted the Church as a salvific mystery: He himself is in the Church and the Church is in him. . . . Therefore, the fullness of Christ’s salvific mystery belongs also to the Church, inseparably united to her Lord (DI 18).

Indeed, Christ and the Church "constitute a single ‘whole Christ’" (DI 16). In Christ, God has made known his will that "the Church founded by him be the instrument for the salvation of all humanity" (DI 22). The Catholic Church, therefore, "has, in God’s plan, an indispensable relationship with the salvation of every human being" (DI 20).

The key elements of revelation that together undergird extra ecclesiam, nulla salus are these: (1) Jesus Christ is the universal Savior. (2) He has constituted his Church as his mystical body on earth through which he dispenses salvation to the world. (3) He always works through it—though in countless instances outside its visible boundaries. Recall John Paul’s words about the Church quoted above: "Her activity is not limited only to those who accept its message."

Not of this Fold

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—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).

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches:

Every man who is ignorant of the gospel of Christ and of his Church but seeks the truth and does the will of God in accordance with his understanding of it can be saved. It may be supposed that such persons would have desired baptism explicitly if they had known its necessity (CCC 1260).

Obviously, it is not their ignorance that enables them to be saved. Ignorance excuses only lack of knowledge. That which opens the salvation of Christ to them is their conscious effort, under grace, to serve God as well as they can on the basis of the best information they have about him.

The Church speaks of "implicit desire" or "longing" that can exist in the hearts of those who seek God but are ignorant of the means of his grace. If a person longs for salvation but does not know the divinely established means of salvation, he is said to have an implicit desire for membership in the Church. Non-Catholic Christians know Christ, but they do not know his Church. In their desire to serve him, they implicitly desire to be members of his Church. Non-Christians can be saved, said John Paul, if they seek God with "a sincere heart." In that seeking they are "related" to Christ and to his body the Church (address to the CDF).

On the other hand, the Church has long made it clear that if a person rejects the Church with full knowledge and consent, he puts his soul in danger:

They cannot be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or remain in it (cf. LG 14).

The Catholic Church is "the single and exclusive channel by which the truth and grace of Christ enter our world of space and time" (Karl Adam, The Spirit of Catholicism, 179). Those who do not know the Church, even those who fight against it, can receive these gifts if they honestly seek God and his truth. But, Adam says, "though it be not the Catholic Church itself that hands them the bread of truth and grace, yet it is Catholic bread that they eat." And when they eat of it, "without knowing it or willing it" they are "incorporated in the supernatural substance of the Church."

Extra ecclesiam, nulla salus.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR



Fr. Ray Ryland, a convert and former Episcopal priest, holds a Ph.D. in theology from Marquette University and is a contributing editor to This Rock. He writes from Steubenville, Ohio, where he lives with his wife, Ruth.

[Petronski]

...they pray to Mary.

Pray means ask.

[Petronski]

2 Timothy 3:15-17 praises Scripture, but it does not say ONLY.

[Petronski]

We do not partake of his actual body and blood.

In the Elim Cult? No you don't.

But in the Catholic Church we do, just as He commanded.

[Petronski]

The One True Church is the assembly of called out believers who trust in nothing but the shed blood of Jesus Christ for their salvation...

This is the Catholic Church.

[Petronski]

According to the author of that paper, I cannot be saved.

False.

[Mr Rogers]

You only have to ask Jesus ONCE to come into your life. ONCE.

Ok, let’s put your Sola Scriptura to the test. Where does it say that in your Bible? Where does it say once is enough?

---

If you’ve been born again, and made a new creation, there is no repeat birth required. I adopted 2 children while I lived in the Philippines. They both were adopted once. I didn’t need to repeat their adoption every time they screwed up.

There is also my much loved passage in Hebrews, that I had never noticed until one of these thread a few weeks ago. I’ve posted it so often you ought to be able to recite it from memory now... ;>)

“13 Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, 14 because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.”

“has made perfect forever” - justification

“those who are being made holy” - sanctification

---

“The BIBLE says in Acts 2:46 to partake of the Eucharist EVERY DAY. That’s what the Apostles did!”

Acts 2:

“45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people.”

Acts 4:

“32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. 33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. 34 There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.”

Finally, Acts 6:

“1 In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.”

We also don’t sell all our belongings, so I’ll take it this was THEIR practice, not a requirement. Also, it may well be that the “breaking bread in their homes” applied to meals, not Eucharist.

[Petronski]

They both were adopted once. I didn’t need to repeat their adoption every time they screwed up.

Hardly the same thing, even remotely.

[PugetSoundSoldier]

2 Timothy 3:15-17 says you do not need more than Scripture. It does not say you cannot USE more, but you do not NEED more:

and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus

The sacred writings known to Timothy at the time Paul wrote to him. No writings beyond that are needed to give the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith. And as verses 16 and 17 say, these same sacred writings that existed and were known to Timothy are also complete to provide guidance of Christian actions (correction) and to teach and evangelize. That is EXACTLY what it says.

Thus - in the words of Paul, in his 2nd letter to Timothy, the Scriptures are all that are needed for salvation; however, having additional reflections, concordances, expositions on the Scripture can help. But fundamentally, they are NOT needed.

[PugetSoundSoldier]

Answer my post 1406 explaining why the author says I cannot be saved, and then your words will have some meaning. Otherwise it's just useless noise in the thread.

[bdeaner]

We also don’t sell all our belongings, so I’ll take it this was THEIR practice, not a requirement. Also, it may well be that the “breaking bread in their homes” applied to meals, not Eucharist.

So Sola Scriptura means you get to pick and choose which parts of Scripture to follow and which ones you don't? If they broke bread every day, why don't Sola Scriptura Christians do it every day? Why don't you share all of your belongings? There are Christian socialists who make a case for doing this, based on Scripture, arguing from a Sola Scriptura perspective. How do you decide which actions of the disciples to follow and which ones not to? Seems to me there is an implicit set of presuppositions--TRADITION, in other words--operating hermeneutically but unacknowledged in these choices.

[Alamo-Girl]

Here's another passage to underscore a point MarySecretary was making earlier:

But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. - I John 2:27

And this:

But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. – Romans 8:9

Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and [of] the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. - John 3:5-8

But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, [even] to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. – John 1:12-13

And again,

It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, [they] are spirit, and [they] are life. - John 6:63

But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned. - I Corinthians 2:14

Why do ye not understand my speech? [even] because ye cannot hear my word. – John 8:43

To God be the glory!

[bdeaner]

I'll tell you what, my FRiend. I hope you will read a history book written from a perspective that is more sympathetic to the Catholic perspective before you draw the conclusions you are making at this time. Actually, I hope you will read a variety of books written from both perspectives. There is a lot of propaganda on both sides. One must read between the lines, and think critically about how the history is being distorted and biased from one perspective or another.

May I ask what you are reading at this time on the history of the Reformation?

[PugetSoundSoldier]

Thanks for your detailed reply, CTrent. I can respect the benefits of tradition, and the wisdom you can gain from a few millenia of recorded exposition! However, I question if that moving from his current church family into the Catholic church would result in a closer relationship with God? If there is no spiritual gain, then what is gained?

[Iscool]

Catholic means universal. Baptist does not mean universal.

No it doesn't...It may be tha (c)atholic means universal...But you admitted that Catholic with a capital C is a proper noun...And so it is, catholic is an adjective while Catholic (Church) is a noun...Not the same at all...

[bdeaner]

"the necessity of the Church for salvation". Jesus said HE is the Way, that faith in Him is what is required. A church - or anyone else - is not necessary for salvation. A church may help, and definitely serve as a beacon of light to bring pre-Christians to Christ, but it is not necessary at all. What is the "Church"? That is the central question here -- the elephant in the room. What do Scriptures say?

The Church is the Mystical Body of Christ.

Acts 9:1-5
But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he journeyed he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed about him. And he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" And he said, "Who are you, Lord?" And he said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting..."

We know Saul was persecuting Christians. Yet Christ asks Saul, "Why are you persecuting ME." The implication is obvious: to persecute the Church is to persecute Christ, because the Church is his mystical body.

As St. Paul said:

1 Cor. 12:12-14:
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.

The Church is also described as the Spouse of Christ. Eph 5:23
For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.... For no man ever hates his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body.

See also: John 3:29 & Matt. 9:15, as well as Revelations 19:7, 21:3, and 22:17.

The obvious implication here is that Christ treats the Church the way a husband treats his bride--that is, with love, nourishing her, guarding her and sacrificing for her. In addition, as Christ's bride, the Church functions as a wife should function--depending upon the protection of her spouse and begetting and nurturing the children of our Lord, His adopted sons and daughters, so that they can be brought to eternal life.

In addition, the Bible also refers to the Church as the Kingdom of God.

Matt 18: 23
Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened to a king, who would take an account of his servants".

Also see: Matt 22:2, 16:19.

In this analogy, God is the King. He provides the rules, defends his subjects, and provides a means for justice -- rewarding those who are just and punishing the unjust.

The Bible also refers to the Church as a Sheepfold.
Luke 12:32
Fear not, little flock, for it hath pleased your Father to give you a kingdom.

Also see: Matt. 15:24 and 1 Peter 2:25:54.

Christ cares for His Church in the same way a shepherd cares for his flock -- caring for them, feeding them, leading them and watching over them.

The Scriptures also compare the Church to the Mountain of God.

Hebrews 12:22
But you are come to Mount Sion and to the city of the living God.

Also see:Matt 5:14, Gal 4.

The Church is like a mountain in that she is strong, immovable, visible, stable, and will endure for all time.

Domus Dei, or the house of God, as well as the foundation and Pillar of Truth, are other ways the Church is described in the Scriptures.

Timothy 3:15
That thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.

See also: 1 Peter 2:5; Eph. 2:19-20; Matt. 16:18; Gal. 6:10.

This way of understanding the Church as a house seems especially appropriate -- a homestead in which the Lord's flock is sheltered and kept. When someone leaves the "house" of the Church, they do not divine the Church, anymore than a person leaving a house divides the house. Rather, by leaving, they separate themselves from the house/Church. Anyone can leave, anyone can return, but the house always persists as a unity and does not depend on it's occupants to be as a whole. It's unity relies only on it's foundation, the Lord.

St. Paul told us, "Let us work good to all men, especially to those who are of the household of faith." Indeed, the Church-hood that unites us in Christ is a fortress like a well-built structure -- stronger and more enduring than any flesh could be.

So What?

The implications of these Biblical descriptions of the Church are clear and profound. First, they reveal how Christ saves us, yet He chooses to do so through the Church which He founded as the instrumental means of Salvation. Indeed, it was this instrumental means of Salvation, the Church, guided by the Holy Spirit sent by our Lord, that the inspired books of the New Testament were delivered to the world as the good news of our salvation through Christ.

Christ certainly did not need us. He did not need a Church. He is God! And yet, nevertheless, the Scriptures reveal how our Lord chose and founded the Church for the application of his redemption and for the Glory of the Church which He likewise uses as a means to Glorify Himself.

As members of the Body of Christ, each person of the Church has their own unique purpose and role--although, like parts of any body, not equally -- which gives meaning to our lives. Each part of the Church works for the salvation of souls -- a key purpose of the Church both on earth and in heaven.

The Church is Supernatural Society, (what we term Totus Christus - the whole Christ) as it has a divine origin and continues to receive the graces of its founder (Jesus Christ, the Son of God).

The Head of the Church is Christ, and He ultimately rules the Church.

Ephesians 1:22
he hath subjected all things under his feet and hath made him head over all the church,

Christ bestows grace upon the Church both as God and Man. In His divinity He bestows grace on the Church authoritatively and instrumentally as Man (as His humanity was the instrument of His divinity).

No Salvation Outside of the Church

Now we can understand that to say there is no salvation outside of the Church is to say, in effect, that there is no salvation apart from Christ. For wherever there is Christ operating in the world, THAT is the Church. And wherever the Church is operating in the world, THAT is Christ. They cannot be separated without contradicting the Word of God. This Church is neccessarily CATHOLIC because the Lord's Church is a ONE, HOLY, CATHOLIC ("UNIVERSAL") and APOSTOLIC. In short, there cannot be more than one "Universal" Church.

More to follow.

[bdeaner]

The Church may serve as a way to introduce someone to Christ, but it is NOT a sacrament. I reject that. And I suspect most of the Protestants in this thread also reject that claim.

You say you reject the Church is a sacrament, but you don't provide a reason for rejecting it. Why do you reject the statement that the Church is a sacrament?

[Just mythoughts]

So what do you do with the fact that Revelation says there are 7 churches and their doctrines leaves 5 of them coming up short. Only two have the key to David, apparently a prerequisite to be that ‘church’ with sound doctrine.

AND that thief hanging upon that cross did NOT need a ‘church’ to be offered salvation. Now when does ‘church’ worship become the object of worship as replacement of the Heavenly Father and His Sent Savior? That miracle that took place at the flesh death of our Savior says the ‘veil’ in the holy of holies was rent from top to bottom and no longer was it required to go through a flesh priest to have direct access to the Heavenly Father but through His Sent Savior.

And since the church is described as a ‘body’ one can see that we are told the body does NOT always work as one as the symbolic instruction that if a part offends to get rid of it.

[bdeaner]

The Catholic Church is "the single and exclusive channel by which the truth and grace of Christ enter our world of space and time"

I did not come to Christ by the Catholic Church, even though I was raised in the Catholic Church. Does that mean my salvation - my relationship with Jesus - is invalid?

No, that's not what the statement implies. You may not have entered into a relationship with Jesus via the Catholic Church -- although it is interesting that you were raised and baptized a Catholic, so from a Catholic perspective, as a Baptized Catholic, that is how grace entered your life and led you eventually to Christ. But even if you reject that statement:

Let's suppose you were never Catholic, never raised in the Catholic faith, or possibly never really even exposed to it. And you join a Baptist Church, except Jesus as your savior and get fully immersed in water for Baptism. Since this is outside of the Catholic Church, does this mean the baptism is invalid. NO! The Church can and does recognize such a baptism. Why?

Because baptism is a sacrament that has it's origins in the UNIVERSAL (CATHOLIC) Church. Historically, the action of baptism has its origin in the early Christian "Church", as in Body of believers who follow Christ, which the Catholic Church claims to be a rightful heir and authority by way of Apostolic succession. Baptism is baptism, and doesn't need to happen in a Catholic (c)hurch, to be an event that happens in the Catholic (C)hurch.

So, in this sense, the grace of baptism, WHEREVER and by WHOMEVER it happens in the world today, originates and flows from the original, universal Church that is Christ's Body -- his instrumental means for grace in the world that ocntinues to operate after his Ascension.

There is nevertheless a danger for any sect that severs itself from the Universal Church and goes off on it's own. Those Christians lose the protection that comes with unity and there is a great risk of falling into heresy and false teachings. In this sense, they are not in FULL communion with the Church, Christ's body, because as a separate sect, created by the free choice of separation from the Mother choice, what was a unified Body has now become fragmented. This does not mean that individuals in such a sect lose salvation, but they put their salvation at greater risk by potentially exposing themselves to a higher risk of moral error, which could eventually result in Eternal Damnation -- although such a fate is not necessary, not fore-ordained in advance.

I am not saved because I do not accept the gatekeeper role of the Catholic Church in salvation.

This statement is based on a misinterpretation of the teachings of Vatican II and the article posted.

Since the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 defined that "The universal Church of the faithful one, outside of which no one is saved," there have been two solem definitions of the same doctrine, by Pope Boniface VIII in 1302 and at the Council of Florence in 1442. At the Council of Trent, which is commonly looked upon as a symbol of Catholic willingness to compromise, the now familiar dogma of baptism by desire was solemnly defined; and it was this Tridentine teaching that supported all subsequent recognition that actual membership in the Church is not required to reach one's eternal destiny.

Second Vatican Council

At Vatican II, the matter was clarified:

"[The Council] relies on sacred Scripture and Tradition in teaching that this pilgrim Church is necessary for salvation. Christ alone is the mediator of salvation and the way of salvation. He presents himself to us in his Body, which is the Church. When he insisted expressedly on the necessity o faith and baptism, he asserted at the same time the necessity for the Church which men would enter by the gateway of baptism. This means that it would be impossible for men to be saved if they refuted to enter or to remain in the Catholic Church, unless they were unaware that her foundation by God through Jesus Christ made it a necessity.

Full incorporation in the society of the Church belongs to those who are in possession of the Holy Spirit, accept its order in its entirely with all its established means of salvation, and are united to Christ, who rules it by the agency of the Supreme Pontiff and the bishops, within its visible framework. The bonds of their union are the profession of faith, the sacraments, ecclesiastical government and fellowship. Despite incorporation in the Church, that man is not saved who fails to preserve in charity, and remains in the bosom of the Church "with his body" but not "with his heart." All the Church's children must be sure to ascribe their distinguished rank to Christ's special grace in thought, work, and deed, so far from being saved, their judgment will be the more severe."

If someone simply refuses, with all sincerity, to believe the Catholic Church is the same Church founded by Christ, and yet nevertheless throws his or her body and dedicates his or her life to Christ, and confesses his or her sin, then, by Vatican II's declaration, they certainly can and most likely will be saved. On the other hand, someone who goes through the motions and is a CINO (Catholic In Name Only) -- hello Nancy Pelosi -- performing the sacraments, but not really believing them at heart -- they are going to be judged VERY HARSHLY. I'd much rather be a Baptist than Nancy Pelosi, any day! I think you'll probably get to heaven. She's gonna be toasty on judgment day!

[Petronski]

I don’t need to answer to your misinterpretation or distortion of the article. Your reading comprehension problems are not my concern.

[Petronski]

I certainly would agree though that your #1406 is just useless noise in the thread.