May 23, 2009
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Question 136 - Is it Necessary to Join the Catholic Church for Salvation?
Question 136 - Is it Necessary to Join the Catholic Church for Salvation?
Dear Dr. Sungenis,
I'm a recent convert - when I came into the Church in 2007, your material was very helpful to me. (Thanks!) My wife and 3 teenage children are still Baptist, and are not interested in Catholicism. My best friend (who is also Baptist) is very near death (leukemia) and I'm in anguish about this matter.
Recently I stumbled upon the Dimond Brother's website, and their materials made a lot of sense to me (and also alarmed me quite a bit - I'm very concerned for my family and friends).
Most of my concerns with the Dimond Brothers' have been resolved after reading your material, but one major issue still lingers, and I was hoping you could help me.
There have been dozens of statements (quite a few ex cathedra) that emphatically state that those who are non-Catholics cannot be saved. I'm thinking of two statements in particular:
Pope Pius IX, First Vatican Council, Sess. 3, Chap. 2 on Revelation, 1870, ex cathedra: "Hence, also, that understanding of its sacred dogmas must be perpetually retained, which Holy Mother Church has once declared; and there must never be a recession from that meaning under the specious name of a deeper understanding. The only meaning of the dogma Outside the Church there is no salvation is that which holy Mother Church has once declared in Her definitions. That meaning is that all who die without the Catholic Faith or outside the Church or in a non-Catholic religion cannot be saved."
Pope Eugene IV, Cantate Domino (1441) ex cathedra: "The most Holy Roman Church firmly believes, professes and preaches that none of those existing outside the Catholic Church, not only pagans, but also Jews and heretics and schismatics, can have a share in life eternal; but that they will go into the "eternal fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matthew 25:41), unless before death they are joined with Her; and that so important is the unity of this ecclesiastical body that only those remaining within this unity can profit by the sacraments of the Church unto salvation, and they alone can receive an eternal recompense for their fasts, their almsgivings, their other works of Christian piety and the duties of a Christian soldier. No one, let his almsgiving be as great as it may, no one, even if he pour out his blood for the Name of Christ, can be saved, unless he remain within the bosom and the unity of the Catholic Church."
If these statements are considered dogma, how can there be any hope for my Baptist family and friends? I need to know the truth about this issue even if it is painful.
Due to the "overly ecumenical" atmosphere in the Catholic Church right now, my family doesn't believe that there's any real reason to even investigate Catholicism, since they sense that the Catholic Church no longer feels that "outsiders" are in danger. They think that I'm preaching a different message than the Catholic Church when I urge them to consider the danger of not belonging to the Catholic Church.
Hope that made sense. Thanks very much for your help!
Tom Chambers
R. Sungenis: Tom, there is a danger of losing salvation if one does not become a member of the Catholic Church, for although there is an exception in the Catholic Church for salvation for those who do not become members, no one really knows whether it applies to himself, because only God is the judge of whether someone has a legitimate excuse. This is why it is vitally important to preach the Gospel and the necessity of joining the Catholic Church for salvation. Hence, although Pius IX gave us the exception in his encyclical of 1863, Quanto conficiamur moerore, this is no guarantee that those who don't join the Catholic Church can be saved. How true it is that we would want your friend to stand on the graces of God through the Catholic Church than to have to stand on his own and hope that he did enough to be saved. As for the Dimond brothers, the farther away you stay from them, the more your assure your own salvation. God be with you!
Comments (4)
Robert, you may come out with many excuses to defend the position of the Holy Father, during his trip to the Holy Land. But a very disturbing fact remains: he apologizes or I shall say, he went to the “Holocaust Memorial” to pray for the victims of the war, and especially of the “six million Jews people.” This very act from the pope has a very big significant meaning to all of us Catholics. Since the majority, I shall say 94% are totally ignorant of their religion; these people fallowed those very acts of the Head of the Church. The message is this: all religions are path to heaven. And that cannot be so. God bless. Sincerely your brother in Christ the King Rodolfo Mora.
Dear Dr. Sungenis,
"It is vitally important to preach the Gospel" because we know by divine faith that there are no non-Catholics in Heaven. There are absolutely no exceptions to this fact, period. No Pope has ever made a statement even remotely to the contrary. Ecclesiastical documents only refer to living non-Catholics on earth, that is, that they may be saved no matter how dismal the situation looks to us because with God, all things are possible: nobody's ignorance is invincible to God for His grace can penetrate even the thickest of skulls.
Exactly how Divine Providence works out in salvation history in every person’s life will not be revealed to us until the General Judgment. Therefore, we should not make excuses for how non-Catholics can be saved as you did above where you wrote that a man can "stand on his own and hope that he did enough to be saved." Attention Dr. Sungenis: Natural virtue does not save, only supernatural virtue saves - only Jesus saves! For we can only trust in God - not in excuses - while praying for the conversion of non-Catholics. Again, in the end, there are no non-Catholics in Heaven. To deny this is to make a mockery of the Beatific Vision and to do violence to the Church Triumphant. You must know this, but apparently, for some reason you have failed to emphasize it during your years as an apologist, why?
My challenge to you is the following: confirm or deny - with a simple yes or no - that Heaven is absolutely, without qualification, necessarily populated exclusively by angels and men who unreservedly, joyfully, thankfully, beautifully and blissfully possess and practice in perfect charity the Catholic Faith as they behold, face to face, the one true Triune God.
If you answer "no," then you are going to have a theologically untenable situation on your hands. If you answer "yes," then you should track down all of the people you've misled with the false hope of non-Catholics being in Heaven.
With all due respect, if I sound harsh it's not because I'm trying to be offensive to you, but because I want you to realize that even though you didn't literally say so, your answer appears to authoritatively make room for non-Catholics in Heaven. That proposition is repugnant to God and His Church, and can endanger the souls of your readers. I am reasonably sure that you would never knowingly cause such harm, therefore, I pray that you will clarify this misunderstanding.
In the Immaculate Heart,
James Palsa
What Mr. Sungenis wrote is on target and in line with Church teaching. What does the Pope praying in Israel and remembering the millions of Jews who were killed in the Holocaust have to do with this? Nothing. And he's right about the Diamond brothers, too.
Dear Mr. Galen,
Are you proposing that there are non-Catholics in Heaven?
If you are, please literally state your proposition and offer ecclesiastical documentation. Also, you should not presume to speak for Dr. Sungenis on this point since he has not clarified his position yet.
In the Immaculate Heart,
James Palsa