Expert: Fr. Timothy Johnson - 1/22/2008

Question
I was born and raised Catholic as were my siblings.  One of my brothers now attends another Christian church and has become very vocal about his views about Christ and the Bible.  The other day he observed that non-Christians could not possibly go to Heaven.  I cannot believe that large portions of the world could not go to Heaven based mainly on where they were born in this world and the religion (or or lack of religion) that they grew up with.  It seems more reasonable to me that all people, regardless of their particular beliefs, could end up in "heaven" if they lead good, loving lives.  What are the views of the Catholic church on this subject?  Thanks for your help.

Answer
Hi, Mike:
Thanks for the question.
The "Catechism of the Catholic Church", which would be available at just about any bookstore touches upon the question you ask.  You might also go the the site www.catholic.com, where they have a good search for such topics.
But to summarize the matter as succinctly as I can on the spur of the moment - there has to be something said for the perfection of justice and mercy in God, not just out "feelings" or "emotional" response to whether people may or may not end up in "Heaven."  The Catholic Church is not so black & white about the subject as your brother tends to be at this point in his life where he has finally made a choice to read the Book of the Catholic Church (i.e. the BIBLE), but is caught up in a lot of Protestant errors concerning its interpretation.
Catholics say basically that salvation through Jesus Christ, in His Church, is the normal, regular, ordinary plan of God for the Salvation of human beings.
But as you correctly observe, there are people in the world that have never known these things, and have not even had a chance to reject it consciously, either.  They will be judged in terms of the "loving" use they made of the knowlege they did possess, and the kind of relationship they fostered with God Who created them, and how they loved their neighbor in some way.
In the ultimate analysis, it is really only GOD Who knows the state of relationship of souls with Him - even though your brother and his Christian sect would almost seem to give the impression that they know it all, and have the secret of salvation ALL FIGURED OUT, once and for all.
I am familiar with the old, worn-out, simplistic mindset of the Protestant Fundamentalists, as I was exposed to it in my journey into the Catholic Church that Jesus Christ founded, and is the only one that can be shown historically and rationally to extend back to the time of the Apostles.
"Heaven" has to do with our relationship with God our Loving Heavenly Father Who created us.  It is dynamic and living, and real - not just a forensic, juridical declaration that I have said the "right words" once and for all in my life, and everything is set, without my having to persevere, or respond by faith, hope, and charity to the impulses of Grace freely given to me in my life out of God's Love and Goodness.
Sorry, Mike - I probably said more about your brother's side-line detour out of full Communion with the Catholic Church.  He needs to get back in touch and study the TRUTH of the historic Church that Jesus founded, and share it with others - and stop being a judgemental know-it-all, trying to presume just who is not going to heaven when he does not know it all.
All the Catholic Church can say is that those who willfully and consciously REJECT God suffer the fate of Hell; but from the perspective of individual human beings, there always remains the question: Do WE really know with certitude who has positively, willfully and consciously rejected God?

Fr. Timothy Johnson