Replies

That if you were honest to Gamecock, you would admit that he is right.

Wow. So, in your estimation, either I agree with Gamecock or I'm lying?

The Catholic Church does not teach that Protestants are saved, or that Protestantism is the way of salvation. Quite the opposite, and very vocally.

FALSE, shill.

Stop calling other Freepers names, e.g. shill, pretend Catholic, n00b.

The Catholic Church teaches very clearly "outside the Church there is no salvation." Its been repeated over and over again for centuries by the Popes and the Saints, its very clearly stated in the Roman Catechism and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, its in the Profession of Faith, the liturgy, the Raccolta, and the simple catechisms for the laity.

Q 12. Can we be saved in every religion? A. No, we can only be saved in the religion that Jesus Christ has taught. Q. 13. Where do we find this religion of Jesus Christ? A. We find it in the Roman Catholic Church. St. John Nepomuk Neumann, CSsR, Bishop of Philadelphia, Small Catechism of the Christian Religion

This really isn't open to a whole lot of interpretation and semantics, much as many in America would like it to be.

You know how zealously Our predecessors taught that very article of faith which these dare to deny, namely the necessity of the Catholic faith and of unity for salvation. The words of that celebrated disciple of the Apostles, martyred Saint Ignatius, in his letter to the Philadelphians are relevant to this matter: "Be not deceived, my brother; if anyone follows a schismatic, he will not attain the inheritance of the kingdom of God." Moreover, Saint Augustine and the other African bishops who met in the Council of Cirta in the year 412 explained the same thing at greater length: "Whoever has separated himself from the Catholic Church, no matter how laudably he lives, will not have eternal life, but has earned the anger of God because of this one crime: that he abandoned his union with Christ" (Epsitle 141). Omitting other appropriate passages which are almost numberless in the writings of the Fathers, We shall praise Saint Gregory the Great, who expressly testifies that this is indeed the teaching of the Catholic Church. He says: "The holy universal Church teaches that it is not possible to worship God truly except in her and asserts that all who are outside of her will not be saved" (Moral. in Job, 16.5). Official acts of the Church proclaim the same dogma. Thus, in the decree on faith which Innocent III published with the synod of the Lateran IV, these things are written: "There is one universal Church of the faithful outside of which no one at all is saved." Finally, the same dogma is expressly mentioned in the profession of faith proposed by the Apostolic See, not only that which all Latin churches use (Creed of the Council of Trent), but also that which the Greek Orthodox Church uses (cf. Gregory XIII, Profession "Sanctissimus") and that which other Eastern Catholics use (cf. Benedict XIV, Profession "Nuper ad Nos") ... We are so concerned about this serious and well known dogma, which has been attacked with such remarkable audacity, that We could not restrain Our pen from reinforcing this truth with many testimonies. Strive to eradicate these slithering errors with all your strength. Inspire the populace of Bavaria to keep the Catholic faith and unity as the only way of salvation with an ever more ardent zeal, and thus, to avoid every danger of forsaking it. -Pope Gregory XIV, Encyclical Summo Jugiter Studio, 5-6, 27 May 1832