By RAYMOND DE SOUZA, KM
The sentence that reads “extra Ecclesiam nulla salus,” that is, “outside of the Church there is no salvation,” is attributed to St. Cyprian, rather of the Church (Epistle 73, c. 21, Origen, homily in Josue, 3, 4).
It has been confirmed in different ways by Popes over the centuries, and naturally has been a source of ardent controversy for centuries as well, especially by those who left Catholicism and created their own churches that were more in line with their doctrinal and moral preferences.
In the next few articles, we shall face the challenge and expound Church teaching on this controversial matter.
First, let us establish some basic principles, some common ground upon which to build the argument:
Because of original sin, the gates of Heaven were closed to mankind. Before the death of Christ, those who died in a state of grace could not enter Heaven. By faith and contrition, they were justified (i.e., made just and righteous), but after death they had to wait in the “Limbo of the Fathers,” also called the Bosom of Abraham (Luke 19:22). They were unable to merit grace, but received it on Earth in consideration of the merits of the Redeemer to come. So, until the Redeemer’s death, they could not receive its chief benefit, the vision of God in Heaven.
Through the work of the Holy Spirit, the Blessed Virgin Mary conceived the Savior in her sacred womb and gave birth to Him. He fulfilled His mission, founded His Church, and commanded His apostles to preach His Gospel to all in the world. They were to preach and baptize them. Those who believed and practiced the contents of the preaching and received Baptism would be saved; those who refused would be condemned. It’s as simple as that.
Therefore, in plain English, our Savior, Jesus Christ, God Incarnate, commanded that all were to be members of His Church. Those who deliberately — meaning knowingly and willingly — disobey Him will be lost eternally.
But — and this “but” is of paramount importance — since He wants the salvation of all men and condemns no one except for a grave fault, He will not condemn those who through non-culpable ignorance are unaware of His commandment, or have never heard of His Church. These people, who endeavor to serve Him faithfully according to their well-informed conscience, act as the just of the Old Testament did. They have a sincere desire to do His will and, therefore, implicitly, the desire to become members of His Church.
When the rich man asked Jesus what he should do to obtain eternal life, Jesus replied, “Keep the Commandments.” The Commandments are the codification of God’s will.
If so, then who was the ancient sentence, “Outside the Church there is no salvation,” addressed to? It was not addressed to those who have never heard of His Church: It was addressed to those already in the Church, who might be tempted to join heretical bodies or abandon the faith to something more appetizing.
Once you are a baptized Catholic, do not fool yourself into thinking that you can obtain salvation outside of the Catholic Church. Once you are in the Ark of Noah, do not fool yourself into thinking that you can jump overboard and row your own little boat into the nearest safe haven.
The sentence of St. Cyprian was not intended to mean that all those who do not belong to the Catholic Church, regardless of their knowing of her existence or not, are necessarily condemned. It was not a statement that all non-Catholics were automatically condemned without any fault of their own.
Pope Pius XII appealed thus to non-Catholics:
“We invite them all, each and every one, to yield their free consent to the inner stirrings of God’s grace and strive to extricate themselves from a state in which they cannot be secure of their own eternal salvation; for, though they may be related to the Mystical Body of the Redeemer by some unconscious yearning and desire, yet they are deprived of those many great heavenly gifts and helps which can be enjoyed only in the Catholic Church.
“Let them enter Catholic unity, therefore, and joined with us in the one organism of the Body of Jesus Christ, hasten together to the one Head in the fellowship of most glorious love. We cease not to pray for them to the Spirit of love and truth, and with open arms we await them, not as strangers, but as those who are coming to their own father’s house” (Mystici Corporis Christi, 1943, part III).
Hence all Catholics are called to be missionaries, to invite those outside of the Church to join the Bark of Peter. Those self-righteous ones among us, who assert that salvation resides exclusively in the membership of Catholic parishes but do nothing to bring others into them, jeopardize their own salvation. Yes, the Church is necessary for salvation, and those people who know that she was founded by Christ but still prefer a church of their own, also jeopardize their souls.
We have a confirmation of this teaching in the Second Vatican Council, which twice declared the necessity of the Church for salvation: “Hence those people could not be saved, who, not ignorant that the Catholic Church has been founded as necessary by God through Jesus Christ, would still refuse either to enter it or to remain in it” (Lumen Gentium, 1964, art. 14; Ad Gentes, 1965, art. 7).
Two Cases
Let us consider the following cases:
A man, born of Protestant parents, is baptized; lives his life as a Protestant; endeavors to keep the Commandments, without ever having a grave doubt that he is in the wrong; before death, he begs God for an act of perfect contrition for his sins, or an act of perfect charity. We can assume that he died in the state of grace.
I am not oversimplifying the case. That man must have kept the Commandments, really and truly. He must not have followed Luther’s exhortation to sin on bravely, but believe even more strongly (“pecca fortiter, sed crede fortius”). His Protestant faith did not save him, but his fidelity to the Commandments — which he learned through the Catholic Church — did. He is saved not because of his heresy, but in spite of it.
A second case: a heathen who has never heard the name of Christ. He obeys the natural law according to his lights. He dies a heathen, to all appearances. The Divine Mercy will not suffer such a man to be lost. It is a recognized principle that God, because He wills that all be saved, does not deny grace to him who does his best. He will infallibly give him who is faithful to the natural law sufficient illumination and enable him to make the acts of faith and charity necessary for salvation.
In the next article, we consider the objection: Why try to convert people, then?
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(Raymond de Souza is an EWTN program host; regional coordinator for Portuguese-speaking countries for Human Life International [HLI]; president of the Sacred Heart Institute, and a member of the Sovereign, Military, and Hospitaller Order of the Knights of Malta. His website is: www.RaymonddeSouza.com.)
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