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Extra
Ecclesia Nullis Salus - No Salvation Outside the Church
by
the Rev. William Most, Edited by the Rev. Msgr. Keith P. Steinhurst, P.A.
It
is a defined doctrine [dogma] that there exists no salvation outside
the Church. Yet, as the Holy Office pointed out in condemning L.
Feeney (DS 3866) we must understand this teaching in the spirit and
intent that the Church means and not by private interpretation.
Salvation defined ex cathedra by successive Popes has consistently
shown that only those that die as Catholics can be saved. Of note are
the teachings of: Pope Innocent III, A.D. 1198-1216: Ex cathedra:
"One indeed is the universal Church of the faithful, outside
which no one at all is saved." (IV Lateran Council, A.D. 1215);
Pope Boniface VIII, A.D. 1294-1303: Ex cathedra: "We declare,
say, define, and pronounce that it is wholly necessary for the
salvation of every human creature to be subject to the Roman Pontiff.
The Lateran, November 14th, in our eighth year, as a perpetual
memorial of this matter." (Unam Sanctam, A.D. 1302); and Pope
Eugene IV, A.D. 1431-1447: Ex cathedra: "It [the Holy, Catholic,
and Apostolic Church] firmly believes, professes, and proclaims that
none of those outside the Catholic Church, not only pagans, but
neither Jews, or heretics and [the] schismatic, can become
participants in eternal life, but will depart "into everlasting
fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels" [Matt.
25:41], unless before the end of life they have been added to the
Church; and that the unity of the ecclesiastical body is so strong
that only to those abiding in it are the sacraments of the Church of
benefit for salvation, and do fasting, almsgiving, and other
functions of piety and exercises of Christian service produce eternal
reward, and that no one, whatever almsgiving he has practiced, even
if he has shed [his] blood for the name of Christ, can be saved,
unless he has abided in the bosom and unity of the Catholic
Church." (Council of Florence, A.D. 1442)
It
was further defined ex cathedra at the First Vatican Council, A. D.
1870, that a dogma must be understood in the sense defined; and that
the meaning of dogmas can never "develop" from this defined
meaning (the heresy of Modernism): "Hence, too, that meaning
[sensus] of the sacred dogmas is ever to be maintained which has once
been defined by holy mother Church, and there must never be any
abandonment of this sense under the pretext or in the name of a more
profound understanding." "If anyone says that it is
possible that at some time, given the advancement of knowledge, a
sense [sensus] may be assigned to the dogmas propounded by the Church
which is different from that which the Church has understood and
understands: let him be anathema." From the earliest of times,
the teaching that only those that die as Catholics can be saved is an
infallibly taught dogma which all Catholics must believe with divine
and Catholic faith. Any Catholic who separates oneself from this view
places oneself in a mortal sin of heresy and excommunicates oneself
from the Church of the faithful. Having said this, what then is the
intent of the teaching?
First
we find that the Church insists many times over that those who
through no fault of their own do not find the Church, but keep the
moral law with the help of grace, can be saved: Lumen gentium 16:
"For they who without their own fault do not know of the Gospel
of Christ and His Church, but yet seek God with sincere heart, and
try, under the influence of grace, to carry out His will in practice,
known to them through the dictate of conscience, can attain eternal
salvation." John Paul II in his Encyclical on the Missions in 10
says the same: "For such people those who do not formally enter
the Church, as in LG 16 salvation in Christ is accessible by virtue
of a grace which, while having a mysterious relationship to the
Church, does not make them formally part of the Church." The use
of the word "formally" suggests that there may be something
less than formal membership, which yet suffices for salvation. A
similar thought, found in LG 14 states "they are fully
incorporated" who accept all its organization." We will
show presently that there can be a lesser, or substantial membership,
which suffices for salvation.
What
should we say about a line in LG 8: "This Church, in this world
as a constituted and ordered society, subsists in the Catholic
Church, even though outside its confines many elements of
sanctification and truth are found which, as gifts proper to the
Church of Christ, impel to Catholic unity." We must not overlook
the words in LG 8 which speak of "this one and only [unica]
Church of Christ, which we profess in the Creed" Similarly the
Decree on Religious Liberty in LG 1 says that" it [this decree]
leaves untouched the traditional Catholic doctrine about the duty of
men and societies to the true religion and the one and only [unica]
Church of Christ."
So
there really is only one true Church. But really, it seems that some
think that protestant churches are component parts of the Church of
Christ. And they think that follows from the words about
"subsisting in" and the statement that elements of
sanctification can be found outside the visible confines of the
Catholic Church. This does not mean that there are other legitimate
forms of Christianity. Pope Gregory XVI (DS 2730. Cf. Pius IX, DS
2915 and Leo XIII, DS 3250) condemned "an evil opinion that
souls can attain eternal salvation [by] just any profession of faith,
if their morals follow the right norm." So although people who
do not formally join can be saved, as LG 16 says, and Redemptoris
missio 10 also says, they are not saved [by] such a faith. It is in
spite of it.
We
can account for the words about subsisting in and about finding
elements of salvation outside. For this we need the help of the
Fathers of the Church. In this way we find a way of filling in on
what the Magisterium teaches, we begin with St. Justin the Martyr who
c. 145 A.D. in Apology 1. 46, said that in the past some who were
thought to be atheists, such as Socrates and Heraclitus, were really
Christians, for they followed the Divine Logos, the Divine Word.
Further, in Apology 2. 10 Justin adds that the Logos is in everyone.
Now of course the Logos, being Spirit, does not take up space. We say
the Spirit is present wherever it produces an effect. What effect? We
find that in St. Paul, in Romans 2:14-16 where he states "the
Gentiles who do not have the law, do by nature the works of the law.
They show the work of the law written on their hearts." And,
according to their response, conscience will defend or accuse them at
the judgment. So it is the Logos, the Spirit of Christ, who writes
the law on their hearts, that, it makes known to them interiorly what
they need to do. Some then could follow it without knowing that fact.
So Socrates: 1. Read and believed what the Spirit wrote in his heart;
2. Had confidence in it; and 3. He obeyed it. We see this obedience
in the fact that Socrates went so far as to say, as Plato quotes him
many times, that the one who seeks the truth must have as little as
possible to do with the things of the body. Let us notice the three
things, just enumerated: St. Paul in Romans 3:29 asks: "Is He
the God of the Jews only? No, He is also the God of the
gentiles." It means that if God made salvation depend on knowing
and following the Law of Moses, He would act as if He cared for no
one but Jews. But God does care for all. Paul insists God makes
salvation possible by faith for them (cf. Romans chapter 4). Faith in
Paul includes the three things we have enumerated which Socrates did.
So in following that Spirit of Christ Socrates was accepting and
following the Spirit of Christ, But then, from Romans 8:9 we gather
that if one has and follows the Spirit of Christ, he "belongs to
Christ". That is, He is a member of Christ, which in Paul's
terms means a member of the Mystical Body, which is the Church. So
Socrates then was a member of the Church, but not formally, only
substantially. He could not know the Church. So he was saved, not by
his false religious beliefs but in spite of them. He was saved by
faith, and similarly protestants and others who do not formally join
the Church today are saved not as members of e.g. the Baptist church,
which some seem to think is an integral part of the one Church of
Christ - no, they are saved as individuals, who make use of the means
of sanctification they are able to find even outside the visible
confines of the Catholic Church.
Many
other Fathers speak much like St. Justin. A large presentation of
them can be found in Wm. Most, Our Father's Plan, in a 28-page
appendix. Lumen gentium also likes to speak of the Church as a
mystery. This is correct, for it is a mystery, since it is only
partly visible. It does have visible structure, and no one who
knowingly rejects that can be saved. It has members visibly adhering.
But it also has members who belong to it even without knowing that,
and without external explicit adherence. Hence there is much mystery,
to be known fully and clearly only at the end. So all other forms of
Christianity are heretical and /or schismatic. They are not
legitimate. The Decree on Ecumenism states that the worship and
liturgical actions of other Christian bodies 'can truly engender a
life of grace and can be rightly described as capable of providing
access to the community of salvation - but they are deficient in
manner and form. Here is the actual text of the Decree: "In
addition, out of the elements or goods by which, taken together, the
Church herself is built up and made alive, certain things, or rather
many and excellent things can exist outside the visible bounds of the
Catholic Church: The written Word of God, the life of grace, faith,
hope and love, and other interior gifts of the Holy Spirit and
visible elements: all these things, which come from Christ and lead
to Him, belong to the one-only Church of Christ. Even not a few
sacred actions of the Christian religion are carried out among the
brothers separated from us . . . who beyond doubt can really generate
the life of grace, and are to be said to be apt to open the entry
into the community of salvation."
We
notice the things mentioned: 1. Scripture - Protestants read it. 2.
The life of grace- yes, one can reach the state of grace without
formally entering the Catholic Church, as Lumen gentium 16 says:"
They who without fault do not know the Gospel of Christ and His
Church, but yet seek God with a sincere heart, and try with the help
of grace to fulfill his will, known through the dictate of
conscience, can attain eternal salvation." Even pagans can do
this. 3. Faith - yes, outsiders can have faith, at least if they are
not misled by Luther's great error on what faith is. 4. Hope and love
- again, even a pagan may attain these. 5. Other interior gifts of
the Holy Spirit- yes, if outsiders reach the state of grace, they
also have the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. 6. And visible elements -
Baptism if validly given. BUT we must note the next words in the
decree:" all these things - belong to the one-only Church of
Christ." In other words, it is not a protestant church as
protestant that can provide these things -these are things that
belong to the Catholic Church, which the Protestants have not
completely rejected. So some religious actions are carried out in
Protestantism that can really generate the life of grace. Yes,
Baptism does that. Reading of Scripture, prayers, and other things
enumerated above in the first 6 items can do that. But again, it is
not protestant worship as protestant that gives grace -- it is things
the Protestants have retained even after breaking with the one-only
Church of Christ. As the previous sentence said:" So the Decree
continues in the next sentence cited above: "they belong to the
one-only Church of Christ."
Therefore
the teaching demonstrates that outside the Church there is no
possibility of salvation and that only through real communion with
the one Church of Christ can salvation be achieved.
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