Wounds
to unity
817 In fact, "in this one and only Church of God from its very beginnings there arose certain
rifts, which the Apostle strongly censures as damnable. But in subsequent centuries much more serious dissensions appeared
and large communities became separated from full communion with the Catholic Church - for which, often enough, men of both
sides were to blame."269 The ruptures that wound the unity of Christ's Body - here we must distinguish heresy,
apostasy, and schism270 - do not occur without human sin:
Where there are sins, there are also divisions, schisms, heresies, and disputes. Where there
is virtue, however, there also are harmony and unity, from which arise the one heart and one soul of all believers.271
818 "However, one cannot charge with the sin of the separation those
who at present are born into these communities [that resulted from such separation] and in them are brought up in the faith
of Christ, and the Catholic Church accepts them with respect and affection as brothers . . . . All who have been
justified by faith in Baptism are incorporated into Christ; they therefore have a right to be called Christians, and with
good reason are accepted as brothers in the Lord by the children of the Catholic Church."272
819 "Furthermore, many elements of sanctification and of truth"273
are found outside the visible confines of the Catholic Church: "the written Word of God; the life of grace; faith, hope, and
charity, with the other interior gifts of the Holy Spirit, as well as visible elements."274 Christ's Spirit uses
these Churches and ecclesial communities as means of salvation, whose power derives from the fullness of grace and truth that
Christ has entrusted to the Catholic Church. All these blessings come from Christ and lead to him,275 and are in
themselves calls to "Catholic unity."276
"Outside the Church
there is no salvation"
846 How are we to understand this affirmation,
often repeated by the Church Fathers?335 Re-formulated positively, it means that all salvation comes from Christ
the Head through the Church which is his Body:
Basing itself
on Scripture and Tradition, the Council teaches that the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one
Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church. He himself explicitly
asserted the necessity of faith and Baptism, and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter
through Baptism as through a door. Hence they 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 to remain in it.336
847
This affirmation is not aimed at those who, through no fault of their own, do not know Christ and his Church:
Those who,
through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere
heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience -
those too may achieve eternal salvation.337
848 "Although in ways known to himself
God can lead those who, through no fault of their own, are ignorant of the Gospel, to that faith without which it is impossible
to please him, the Church still has the obligation and also the sacred right to evangelize all men."338
Next >> The
various Christian denominations
and their evolution
Christ Reigns!
