Victor R. Claveau, MJ
Basing itself on Scripture and Tradition, the Second Vatican Council teaches that the membership in the Church is necessary for salvation. Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation. He is present to us in His body, which is the Church. He explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and baptism. By doing so, He affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church, which people enter through baptism. Because of that, there are people who could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or remain in it.”[1]
The Catholic Church has also, always and everywhere, taught that baptism is necessary for salvation. Still, that necessity is not strictly absolute, as we learn from the Council of Trent, which declared that “since the promulgation of the Gospel there is no translation from the state of Old Adam to the state of grace… without the laver of regeneration (Baptism), or the desire of it….”[2] [3] Therefore, Baptism of water is not the sole form of Baptism.
This brings us to the salient issue of Baptism of desire. In cases of necessity, this baptism will suffice for salvation. However, only Baptism by water can confer the baptismal character and render a person capable of receiving the other sacraments. Saint Augustine and Saint Ambrose taught that perfect love of God and sorrow for sin surely indicates the desire to fulfill Christ’s every command. This is known as Baptism of desire. Baptism of blood (or martyrdom) is also equally effective as Baptism of water.
The Catholic Church is the one society for man’s salvation instituted by Jesus and therefore a person must be affiliated with the Church in order to be saved. This is what Saint Cyprian meant when he said: “No one can have God for his Father, who has not the Church for his Mother”[4] But many souls, apparently outside the Church are really within her fold in the sight of God. While not united with her in fact, they are in communion with her in desire.
The Catholic Churches teaches that God gives sufficient grace to all men to be saved; that unbelief is never sinful unless it is voluntary. Intelligent people often recognize the boundless charity of the Catholic Church, which chastises only those who freely and deliberately sin against God.
The Church has always taught that no person is lost except through his own fault; that God holds no one responsible for an obligation that he cannot fulfill due to invincible ignorance.[5]Could God condemn a person for not entering a Church of whose very existence he is unaware? Pope Pius IX stated the Catholic Doctrine clearly when he said, “Far be it from us to dare set bounds to the boundless mercy of God; far be it from us to desire to search the depths of the hidden counsels and judgments of God, an abyss that the mind of man cannot explore… We must hold as of faith, that out of the Apostolic Roman Church there is no salvation; that she is the only ark of safety, and whosoever is not in her perishes in the deluge; we must also, on the other hand, recognize with certainty that those who are in invincible ignorance of the true religion are not guilty for this in the eye of the Lord. And who will presume to mark out the limits of this ignorance, according to the character and diversity of peoples, countries, minds and the rest.”[6]
In his Encyclical to the Italian Bishops, August 10, 1863, Pope Pius IX, wrote: “It is known to us and to you that those who are in invincible ignorance or our most holy religion, but who observe carefully the natural law, and the precepts graven by God upon the hearts of all men, and who being disposed to obey God lead an honest and upright life, may, aided by the light of divine grace, attain to eternal life; for God who sees clearly, searches and knows the heart, the disposition, the thoughts and intentions of each, in His supreme mercy and goodness by no means permits that anyone suffer eternal punishment, who has not of his own free will fallen into sin.”
This is a hot-button issue for many who are quick to criticize the Church, but there is a more fundamental issue involved in this debate, and that is the issue of authority.
Would a Good God, “who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth”,[7]fail to provide His revelation with a living infallible witness? Would a just God command us to believe under penalty of hell,[8]and at the same time leave us to the mercy of every false prophet[9]and lying teacher,[10] preaching a Gospel opposed to His?[11] The Catholic Church is referred to in the New Testament as a divine, infallible teaching authority. Jesus said that His Church is like a city built firmly upon a foundation of rock, which can never be destroyed by Satan and the power of evil.[12]
Throughout the Gospels the mission of the Apostles and their successors is identical to the mission of Jesus and His heavenly Father. “As the Father sends me (to bear witness to the truth)[13] I send you.”[14]
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who receives any one whom I send receives me; and he who receives me receives him who sent me.”[15]
He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me.”[16]
When Jesus gave to the Apostles the divine commission for all nations until the end of the world,[17]He promised: “I am with you always.” This phrase is used at least 90 times in the Bible, and it signifies that God will ensure the success of the person’s undertaking. If the Apostles are to be successful in their divine mission of teaching for all time, they and their successors must possess divine infallibility.
In His last discourse to the Apostles, Jesus promised to send them the Holy Spirit, who would live with them forever and teach them all things that He had taught them.[18] He is the Spirit of Truth, whom the world of unbelievers[19]cannot receive.[20]The Church that witnesses to Jesus[21] must be infallible.
The Apostles declared that their teaching is the Word of God,[22] which they voice infallibly by the assistance of the Holy Spirit;[23]who confirms their witness by miracles.[24] All other teaching is false and blasphemous, even if it were to come from an angel of God.[25]
The Catholic Church, with Saint Paul says to her children: “For our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.”[26] The Church is “the pillar and bulwark of the truth.”[27]
When we study the writings of the early Fathers of the Church, the creeds and the Councils of the Church from Jerusalem to Vatican Council II, e see that the Church has always considered herself infallible, condemning as heretical anyone who denied even one dogma of the Faith. As Saint Irenaeus said in the second century: “Where the Church is, there is the Spirit of God, and where the Spirit of God is, there is the Church and all grace, For the Spirit is the Truth.”[28]
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “The task of giving an authentic interpretation of the Word of God, whether in its written form or in the form of Tradition, has been entrusted to the living, teaching office of the Church alone. Its authority in this matter is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ.” This dictates that the task of interpretation has been entrusted to the bishops in communion with the successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome.”[29]
“Yet this Magisterium is not superior to the Word of God, but is its servant. It teaches only what has been handed on to it. At the divine command and with the help of the Holy Spirit, it listens to this devotedly, guards it with dedication, and expounds it faithfully. All that it proposes for belief as being divinely revealed is drawn from this single deposit of faith.”[30]
“The Church’s Magisterium exercises the authority it holds from Christ to the fullest extent when it defines dogmas, that is, when it proposes, in a form obliging the Christian people to an irrevocable adherence of faith, truths contained in divine Revelation or also when it proposes, in a definitive way, truths having a necessary connection with these.”[31]
The authority required by the moral order derives from God: “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore, he who resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.”[32]
A Christian may not under any circumstances freely and deliberately doubt the Catholic faith, because doubt is disobedience and disloyalty to the majesty of God who has revealed the truth of this Faith.
To reject the legitimate authority of the Catholic Church is to fundamentally reject Jesus Christ. Rejection of Jesus Christ will potentially lead to loss of salvation. Loss of salvation undoubtedly indicates eternal damnation. All this is avoidable, in and through the one, holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, established by Jesus Christ, that you may come to know Him, love Him, Honor and serve Him, as He wishes to be served.
“In this day and age, there is no whim or fad that someone will not claim has biblical foundations. Most people are conceited enough to set themselves up as competent interpreters of the Word of God. ‘I think the Bible means this; therefore, it does mean this’ is their position. These people want it thoroughly understood that our forefathers were all fools; that for the last 1900+ years the Christian world was in darkness. With them, however, light has come into the world. The truth is that no book in the world today is falsified, distorted, and misapplied as much as the Holy Bible.
“Some, like the early heretics, will attempt to prove from the Bible that Christ is only God and not man. Others, like the Unitarians, will attempt to prove from the Bible that Christ is only man, not God.
“Some denominations will attempt to prove from the Bible that in the New Law, Christ shared His priesthood with no one. Others will attempt to prove from the Bible that in the New Law, even women can be priests.
“One sect will attempt to prove from the Bible that baptism is unnecessary for children, but is necessary for adults. Others will attempt to prove from the Bible that baptism is necessary for no one; that it is only a ceremony, an initiation such as required when one joins a fraternal group. Still others believe that it is necessary to baptize the dead.
“Campbellites (Disciples of Christ) or ‘First Christians’ will attempt to prove from the Bible that to be really baptized, one must be totally immersed in water. Others attempt to prove from the Bible that the whole thing is unnecessary and ought to be abandoned.
“The Jehovah’s Witnesses attempt to prove from the Bible that there is going to be a millennium, a thousand years when everyone will get a second trial. Calvinists attempt to prove from the Bible that a large part of mankind do not even get a first trial, but are predestined to damnation irrespective of their merits.
“Some sects attempt to prove from the Bible that eternal punishment is going to be meted out to nearly everyone. Only a small handful of their particular sect is going to escape. But others attempt to prove from the Bible that everyone is going to be saved. That Christ will hold out His arms to even murderers, adulterers, and those who rob widows and orphans – and never repent – and say: ‘Come blessed of my Father, and possess the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’
“Reduced to practice, their theory means this: Read the Bible and believe as you like; if you like Martin Luther’s theory, follow it; if you prefer John Calvin’s Christianity, embrace it. If you think that the Adventists have ‘discovered” the truth, then take them as your guide. If none of these theories suits you, make one up yourself.
“In the Bible we are told to ‘work out our salvation in fear and trembling’ (Phil 2:20), and so we have those who live in dreadful fear of the wrath of God. Again in the Bible, we are told to ‘rejoice in the Lord always’, and so we have the ‘holy rollers’ and those who believe that everyone will be saved, so as Luther said, ‘sin and sin boldly’. Surely, you would think that there is sufficient variety to suit everyone, but it seems not, for new sects are springing up constantly.
“Each of these groups claim that their version of Christianity is taken directly from the Bible; they are all willing to swear that their little handful are the only ones who are right and that everyone else is wrong. They believe that Christ’s Church (read here the Catholic Church) for almost 2,000 years has been a complete failure, but fortunately they have come to finally set it on the straight path. Meanwhile the Bible itself warns us:
‘For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own likings, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander into myths’ (2 Timothy 4:3-4).’”
Referring to the epistle of St. Peter, I quoted: ‘So also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, speaking of this as he does in all his letters. There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures’ (2 Peter 3:15-16).
“Today, there are Thousands of denominations or sects in a fractured Christianity. Ask them all to solve the problem: ‘What does the Bible teach?’ Each will give you a different answer. But you and I know that only one can be correct, all the rest are wrong. There can be only one truth.
“You cannot have one fold and one Shepherd, one Faith and one Baptism, by allowing every person to distort and pervert the Scriptures to suit his or her own pet theories. This is tantamount to Bible sabotage.
“Christ’s doctrine has always found numerous and fierce opponents, of whom many were quite intelligent, even brilliant. Though Catholic doctrine has been subjected to the strictest sort of examination, thousands of times over, no one has ever proven that it is in any way contrary to sound reason or good morals. Catholicism is a full and complete system of religion. It is also a very beautiful, awe-inspiring religion. Each dogma is indissolubly interlinked with one another in such a way that one flows from one to the other; one calls for and presupposes another. Only a divine intellect could have possibly formulated such a religious system.
“The Bible teaches that the true Church began with Christ and not with men — 15 to 19 centuries later. It also teaches that the visible Church of Christ has had, and will ever have, an uninterrupted existence. This Jesus Himself promised, ‘I am with you always, to the close of the age’” (Matthew 28:20).
All Men are Called to God.
“All men are called to belong to the new people of God. Wherefore this people, while remaining one and only one, is to be spread throughout the whole world and must exist in all ages, so that the decree of God’s will may be fulfilled. In the beginning God made human nature one and decreed that all His children, scattered as they were, would finally be gathered together as one.”[33]
“All men are called to be part of this catholic unit of the people of God … And there belong to or are related to it in various ways, the Catholic faithful, all who believe in Christ, and indeed the whole of mankind, for all men are called by the grace of God to salvation”.[34] “Finally, those who have not yet received the Gospel are related in various ways to the people of God”.[35]
[1] Catechism of the Catholic Church, §846
[2] Sixth Session, Decree concerning Justification, Ch. 4, January 13, 1547.
[3] The Church teaches infallibly when she speaks through the Pope and bishops united in general council, or through the Pope alone when he proclaims to all the faithful a doctrine of faith or morals. All Christians are required to give assent.
[4] On the Unity of the Church, 6.
[5] Ignorance is invincible (from the Latin meaning “unconquerable”) when it is present indeed but there is no reasonable way, here and now, of correcting it so that the person cannot be held responsible for doing what he does not know is wrong.
[6] Allocution, Dec. 9, 1854
[7] 1 Timothy 2:4
[8] Mark. 16:6
[9] Matthew 13:21
[10] 2 Peter 2:1
[11] Galatians 1:8
[12] Matthew 7:24; 16:18
[13] John 18:37
[14] Ibid., 20:21
[15] Ibid., 13:20
[16] Matthew 10:40
[17] Ibid., 27:20
[18] John. 14:26
[19] Ibid., 15:19; 17:9, 25.
[20] Ibid., 4:13-17, 25-26; 15:26; 16:13
[21] Luke. 24:28; Acts 1:9
[22] Acts 4:31; 8:14; 12:24; 13:44; 15:35; 1 Corinthians. 14:35; 2 Timothy 2:9.
[23] Ibid., 2:4; 4:31; 15:25-28; 1 Corinthians 2:4-16.
[24] Ibid., 3:16; 4:29-31; 5:12, 16; 9:32-42
[25] Ibid., 13:18; Galatians 1:8-9
[26] 1 Thessalonians 1:5
[27] 1 Timothy. 3:15
[28] Against Heresies, 3:24.
[29] CCC §85
[30] Ibid., §86
[31] Ibid., §88
[32] Romans 13: 1-2; 1 Peter 2:13-17; CCC §1899
[33] Documents of Vatican II, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, 13.
[34] Ibid. at 13, d.
[35] Ibid. at 16.