Expert: Fr. Michael - 8/19/2004

Question
Hi Fr.,
 I was born catholic and raised but their are somethings i can't understand but i've heard arguments from everyside so i have to figure it out on my own. So im asking you something you can clear up for me, If someone really doesn't believe in Jesus as the son of God, or even Christianity but they follow what they believe to be the truth do Catholics belive their going to hell? I mean -AC 4:12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."- God doesnt expect us to lie to ourselves does he?(according to catholicism), Thanks so much, Barrett


Answer
       The doctrinal phrase "Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus" (Outside the Church there is No Salvation), first used by St. Cyprian (ca. 210-258) and approved by the Council of Florence (1438-1445 is a  omplex subject that some misconstrue by taking the flat statement out of its
proper context within the balance of traditional Catholic teaching since the early centuries of the Church.

       It is easy to err on either side of the question:  to believe that no one who is not a formal, practicing Catholic can be saved; or to believe that all men are saved, no matter what their belief and practice may be.

       It is impossible to be saved outside the Church, because the Church is the rule or measure of faith, without which faith it is impossible to attain heaven.  Natural good will is not enough to be saved.  Anyone who dies with natural good will alone cannot be saved.


Venerable Pope Pius IX
Singulari quadam
Allocution against the Errors of Rationalism and Indifferentism
December 9, 1854

       It must, of course, be held as a matter of faith that outside the apostolic Roman Church no one can be saved, that the Church is the only ark of salvation, and that whoever does not enter it will perish in the flood.  
On the other hand, it must likewise be held as certain that those who are affected by ignorance of the true religion, if it is invincible ignorance, are not subject to any guilt in this matter before the eyes of the Lord.  Now, then, who could presume in himself an ability to set the boundaries of
such ignorance, taking into consideration the natural differences of peoples, lands, native talents, and so many other factors?  Only when we have been released from the bonds of this body and see God just as He is (1 John
3:2) shall we really understand how close and beautiful a bond joins divine mercy with divine justice.  But as long as we dwell on earth, encumbered with this soul-dulling, mortal body, let us tenaciously cling to the Catholic doctrine that there is one God, one faith, one baptism (Eph. 4:5).


Venerable Pope Pius IX
Quanto conficiamur moerore
August 10, 1863

       And here, beloved Sons and Venerable Brethren, it is necessary once more to mention and censure the serious error into which some Catholics have unfortunately fallen.  For they are of the opinion that men who live in errors, estranged from the true faith and from Catholic unity, can attain eternal life.  This is in direct opposition to Catholic teaching.

       We all know that those who are afflicted with invincible ignorance with regard to our holy religion, if they carefully keep the precepts of the natural law that have been written by God in the hearts of all men, if they
are prepared to obey God, and if they lead a virtuous and dutiful life, can attain eternal life by the power of divine light and grace.  For God, Who reads comprehensively in every detail the minds and souls, the thoughts and
habits of all men, will not permit, in accordance with His infinite goodness and mercy, anyone who is not guilty of a voluntary fault to suffer eternal torments (suppliciis).

       However, also well-known is the Catholic dogma that no one can be saved outside the Catholic Church, and that those who obstinately oppose the authority and definitions of the church, and who stubbornly remain separated from the unity of the Church and from the successor of Peter, the Roman Pontiff (to whom the Savior has entrusted the care of His vineyard), cannot attain salvation.


Pope St. Pius X
Catechism of Christian Doctrine, para. 132

     A person outside the Church by his own fault, and who dies without perfect contrition, will not be saved.  But he who finds himself outside without fault of his own, and who lives a good life, can be saved by the love called charity, which unites unto God, and in a spiritual way also to the
Church, that is, to the soul of the Church.


Pope Pius XII
Encyclical Letter Mystici Corporis
June 29, 1943

       From a heart overflowing with love, we ask each and every one of them [non-Catholics] to correspond to the interior movements of grace, and to seek to withdraw from that state in which they cannot be sure of their salvation.  
For even though by an unconscious desire and longing they have a certain relationship with the Mystical Body of the Redeemer, they still remain deprived of those many heavenly gifts and helps which can be enjoyed only in the Catholic Church.  (Para. 103)

       
       What practical conclusions do we draw from this doctrine?  Fr. E. Hugueney, O.P., in a 1933 article, "La opinion traditionnelle sur la nombre des Elus" [The Traditional Opinion on the Number of the Elect], in La Revue
Thomiste [The Thomistic Review] wrote on the practical danger of remaining outside the Church in this way:

     "Of those who are members of the Church, the elect will greatly outnumber the damned; and if we include as members of the Church all those who are hers in spirit by baptism of desire, this immense number of elect will be very great indeed.  Yet, we must not forget that, outside the Church, the chances of salvation are much less; this means that many pagans will probably lose their souls, because they are almost defenseless against the devils and their own passions."

     To Fr. Hugueney's statement, I would add that it is a very difficult thing to elicit perfect contrition in oneself.  With the graces of the Sacrament of Penance, Catholics may receive absolution with only imperfect
contrition.  With the great assistance that Holy Mother Church offers to her practicing Catholic children, salvation is made so much easier for them than for those who must struggle outside her, even if they can in truth rely on a
conscience that is truly and totally in invincible ignorance.