Expert: Tom Schott - 2/17/2004

Question
Tom,
I am 25 years old and have been a Catholic my entire life.  My sister and I were recently discussing salvation.  She told me that only people who "know Jesus" will go to heaven.  I told her this was not true and that Jews and other non-Christian religions could get to heaven.  She then asked me how and I could not give her a good answer...but for some reason know deep down that I was correct.

Can you help?

Answer
Michelle,

  Of course you are correct. Not only did the Second Vatican Council proclaim that salvation was open to all people, but our common sense also tells us this. The God we profess to believe in is a God of love who calls people into existence out of love: that is His sole reason for creating us. So what kind of God would it be who would call millions upon millions of people into existence as Hindus, Muslims, and other non-Christian faiths just so he could damn them to hell? Does this sound like a God of love to you? Not to me, and this is certainly not the kind of God I believe in. But that's exactly the kind he is if your sister is correct. She is not.

Deacon Tom