Jul 1 Tue
Can a non-Christian be saved?
The Church is what God wanted her to be: the people of God the Father, the Mystical Body of God the Son, and the Temple of God the Holy Spirit.
The Church is both invisible and visible at the same time. As an invisible reality, the Church is the communion of each human being with the Father through Christ in the Holy Spirit, and with the others who equally share in the divine nature (cf. 2 Pt 1:4), the Passion of Christ (cf. 2 Cor 1:7), the same faith (cf. Eph 4:13; Phlm 6), and the same spirit (cf. Phil 2:1).
The Church on earth is also a visible reality, a visible communion of faithful who converge in the teaching of the apostles, the sacraments, and the hierarchical order.
Just as Christ is the one and only mediator between God and humans, so also is the Church the one and universal means of salvation.
No man can be saved without belonging to her, either completely (as a full member) or at least in spirit (by his heartfelt attitude, that is, by a perfect desire if one had been duly informed).
Yet, there are many religious traditions in the world. Many of them often reflect a ray of that truth that enlightens all men.
Still, our Lord had already said in the Holy Scripture that, “unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (Jn 3:5). In sending the apostles around Galilee, He said to them: “And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town. Truly, I say to you, it shall be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town” (Mt 10:14-15).
We cannot forget that the Church is not merely a way of salvation; she is the only way. This is not a human opinion, but the express will of Christ. “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” That is why we affirm that the Church is a necessary means of salvation. “There is no salvation outside the Church”—Extra Ecclesiam, nulla salus. That is the continual warning of the Fathers.
“Outside the Catholic Church,” St. Augustine says, “you can find everything except salvation. You can have honor and sacraments; you can sing Alleluia and respond Amen. You can uphold the Gospel, have faith in the Father, in the Son, and in the Holy Spirit, and preach that faith. But never, except in the Catholic Church, can you find salvation.”
Those not saved inside the Church can also attain salvation if they fulfill the natural law and obey God, but this is always by means of the Church. For, together with the above-mentioned teaching, the Church has always taught that God doesn’t deny anyone the means to obtain supernatural and eternal happiness: “Those who are afflicted with invincible ignorance concerning 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.”