MyCatholicSource.com - 'Quick Help' Page: Can Someone Be Saved Outside The Catholic Church?

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According to the Catechism of Pope St. Pius X...

Q. Can one be saved outside the Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Church?

A. No, no one can be saved outside the Catholic, Apostolic Roman Church, just as no one could be saved from the flood outside the Ark of Noah, which was a figure of the Church.

From Pentecost forward, the Church has taught the necessity of being formally incorporated into her fold for salvation. In fact, St. Peter, the first Pope, told the good Jews that they needed to be added to the Church to be saved. Just days previously, these devout Jews were practicing the true religion, but St. Peter, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, informed them that they needed to believe in Christ and be baptized – and therefore be added to Christ's only true Church – for salvation. Those who wouldn't heed his teaching were not "added to their number those who were being saved" (Acts 2:47).

Since then, The Church has consistently confirmed the necessity of being Catholic for salvation. In fact, the necessity of being Catholic for salvation has been put forward by the Church in an infallible – and therefore irreformable – manner. Some statements confirming the well-known dogma of "no salvation outside the Church" include...

"One indeed is the universal Church of the faithful, outside which no one at all is saved..." (Lateran Council IV, 1215 A.D.)

"The first condition of salvation is to maintain the rule of the true faith." (Fourth Council of Constantinople)

"Outside the Church baptism can be put in you but it cannot avail you (inesse potuit, non prodesse)." (St. Augustine, Doctor of the Church, 5th century A.D.)

"All who wish to reach salvation outside the Church are mistaken as to the way and are engaged in a futile effort." (Pope Leo XIII)

"No one can be justified unless he faithfully and unhesitatingly accepts the Catholic doctrine on justification." (Council of Trent)

"If anyone is outside the Ark of Noe [that is, the Church] he will perish in the over-whelming flood." (St. Jerome, Doctor of the Church)

"For unless one preserves the faith entire and uninjured, he will without doubt perish forever." (Bl. Pope Pius IX, "Qui Pluribus", 1846 A.D.)

"Anyone who dares to secede from Peter's solid rock may understand that he has not part or lot in the divine mystery." (Pope St. Leo I the Great, Doctor of the Church, 445 A.D.)

"The Church is like the ark of Noah, outside of which nobody can be saved." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"[E]nsure that the faithful are deeply and thoroughly convinced of the truth of the doctrine that the Catholic faith is necessary for attaining salvation." (Bl. Pope Pius IX, "Nostis et Nobiscum", 1849 A.D.)

"Whoever wishes to be saved must, above all, keep the Catholic faith; for unless a person keeps this faith whole and entire he will undoubtedly be lost forever." (Athanasian Creed)

"We know that salvation belongs to the Church alone, and that no one can partake of Christ nor be saved outside the Catholic Church and the Catholic Faith." (St. John Chrysostom, Doctor of the Church)

"The holy universal Church proclaims that God cannot truly be worshiped save within herself and asserts that all they who are without her pale shall never be saved." (Pope St. Gregory the Great, Doctor of the Church, 6th century A.D.)

"Indeed, as long as you remain outside the Church and severed from the fabric of unity and bond of charity, you would be punished with everlasting chastisement, even if you were burned alive for Christ's sake." (St. Augustine, Doctor of the Church)

"Hold most firmly and never doubt in the least that no person baptized outside the Catholic Church can become a participant of eternal life if, before the end of this life, he has not returned and has been incorporated in the Catholic Church." (St. Fulgence of Ruspe, 6th century A.D.)

"We must mention and condemn again that most pernicious error, which has been imbibed by certain Catholics, who are of the opinion that those people who live in error and have not the true faith, and are separated from the Catholic unity, may obtain life everlasting. Now this opinion is contrary to Catholic Faith, as is evident from the plain words of Our Lord (Mt. 18:17; Mk. 16:16; Lk. 10:16) as also from the words of St. Paul (e.g. Acts 20:28-30) and of St. Peter (2 Pt. 2:1). To entertain opinions contrary to this Catholic Faith is to be an impious wretch." (Bl. Pope Pius IX)

"[The Holy Roman Catholic Church] firmly believes, professes, and proclaims that those not living within the Catholic Church, not only pagans, but also Jews and heretics and schismatics cannot 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 the same have been added to the flock; and that the unity of the ecclesiastical body is so strong that only to those remaining in it are the sacraments of the Church of benefit for salvation, and do fastings, 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 blood for the name of Christ, can be saved, unless he has remained in the bosom and unity of the Catholic Church." (Council of Florence, c. 1441 A.D.) [Denzinger 714]

"Now We consider another abundant source of the evils with which the Church is afflicted at present: indifferentism. This perverse opinion is spread on all sides by the fraud of the wicked who claim that it is possible to obtain the eternal salvation of the soul by the profession of any kind of religion, as long as morality is maintained. Surely, in so clear a matter, you will drive this deadly error far from the people committed to your care. With the admonition of the apostle that 'there is one God, one faith, one baptism' may those fear who contrive the notion that the safe harbor of salvation is open to persons of any religion whatever. They should consider the testimony of Christ Himself that 'those who are not with Christ are against Him,' and that they disperse unhappily who do not gather with Him. Therefore 'without a doubt, they will perish forever, unless they hold the Catholic faith whole and inviolate.' Let them hear Jerome who, while the Church was torn into three parts by schism, tells us that whenever someone tried to persuade him to join his group he always exclaimed: 'He who is for the See of Peter is for me.' A schismatic flatters himself falsely if he asserts that he, too, has been washed in the waters of regeneration. Indeed Augustine would reply to such a man: 'The branch has the same form when it has been cut off from the vine; but of what profit for it is the form, if it does not live from the root?'' (Pope Gregory XVI, "Mirari Vos", 1832 A.D.)

Note that the above is just a sampling of such quotations. Similar statements could be multiplied many times over.

The doctrine of "No Salvation Outside the Church" has been always held, and is dogmatically defined. It should be noted that it is not even within the power of the Church to change dogmatically defined doctrines. As stated by the First Vatican Council...

"For the doctrine of the faith which God has revealed is put forward not as some philosophical discovery capable of being perfected by human intelligence, but as a divine deposit committed to the spouse of Christ to be faithfully protected and infallibly promulgated. Hence, too, that meaning of the sacred dogmas is ever to be maintained which has once been declared 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." (First Vatican Council)

We must remember that Christ founded only one Church and entrusted St. Peter with the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Other so-called churches, even if they call themselves "Christian" were founded by men. They were not instituted by Christ and have not existed since Christ walked the earth. These so called "churches" deny Christ's flesh (the Eucharist) and his body (the Church). They cannot bind and loose sins or teach infallibly. Those who belong to them resist the ordering of God.

For those who argue "invincible ignorance", note that invincible ignorance may excuse one from the guilt of / punishment for certain sins (e.g. heresy), it is not on that account a "means of salvation".

As stated by Bl. Pope Pius IX...

"For, it must be held by faith that outside the Apostolic Roman Church, no one can be saved; that this is the only ark of salvation; that he who shall not have entered therein will perish in the flood; but, on the other hand, it is necessary to hold for certain that they who labor in ignorance of the true religion, if this ignorance is invincible, are not stained by any guilt in this matter in the eyes of God. Now, in truth, who would arrogate so much to himself as to mark the limits of such an ignorance, because of the nature and variety of peoples, regions, innate dispositions, and of so many other things? For, in truth, when released from these corporeal chains 'we shall see God as He is' (1 John 3:2), we shall understand perfectly by how close and beautiful a bond divine mercy and justice are united; but, as long as we are on earth, weighed down by this mortal mass which blunts the soul, let us hold most firmly that, in accordance with Catholic teaching, there is 'one God, one faith, one baptism' (Eph. 4:5); it is unlawful to proceed further in inquiry." (Bl. Pope Pius IX, "Singulari Quadem," 1854 A.D.)

Again, note that invincible ignorance may excuse one from the guilt of / punishment for certain sins (e.g. heresy), but it is not on that account a "means of salvation".

Keep in mind that those outside the Church (even if in invincible ignorance) lack both the grace from the lawful sacraments (including the Holy Eucharist & the Sacrament of Penance) and are deprived of teachings necessary for living properly as a Christian.

Even those within the Church have been warned that...

"...whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him." (Jn. 3:36)

"How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few" (Mt. 7:14)

"Many are invited, but few are chosen" (Mt. 22:14)

"Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough" (Lk. 13:24)

Christ Himself let those who couldn't accept his teaching on the Eucharist leave him (see Jn. 6:66). The Lord also warned that that "unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Mt. 5:20) and that "Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned." (Jn. 15:6)

Belonging to Christ's only true Church, the Catholic Church – the ONLY Church with the keys to the kingdom of heaven – is a serious matter.

Note: Try here for more information on the dogmatically defined doctrine of the Church "extra ecclesiam nulla salus" ("outside the Church there is no salvation").

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"Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me." (Our Lord Jesus Christ, Lk. 10:16)

"After a first and second warning, break off contact with a heretic, realizing that such a person is perverted and sinful and stands self-condemned." (St. Paul, Ti. 3:10-11)

"Q. Can we be saved in every religion? A. No; we can be saved only in the religion that Jesus Christ has taught." (Catechism of St. John Neumann)

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