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 | St. Ignatius Bishop of Antioch: "Where the Catholic church is, there is Jesus Christ." circa 105 CE |
| St. Ambrose Bishop of Milan: "Where there is Peter, there is the Church." 4th century CE. |
Overview:
This section discusses the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church concerning other denominations within Christianity, other religions, ethical groups, philosophies, and spiritual paths. The main topics dealt with are:
| How the Catholic Church views the legitimacy and authority of these other faith traditions, and |
| Whether the Catholic Church believes that the members of these other groups have a chance of being saved. The Catholic Church teaches that individuals who are not saved spend eternity after death being tortured in Hell with no hope of relief. |
The historical teaching of the Roman Catholic Church was "Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus" (Outside the church, there is no salvation). That is, for a person to be saved -- and avoid Hell -- it is absolutely necessary that they be subject to the Pope. All Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and followers of other non-Christian religions were destined for Hell. All members of Protestant, Anabaptist, Mormon, and other Christian denominations were headed there as well.
This position was moderated significantly by two documents written in the late 20th century:
| The "Second Vatican Council's Declaration on the relation of the Church to non-Christian religions" issued in 1976 |
| "Dominus Iesus" written by Pope Benedict XVI in the year 2000 when, as Cardinal Ratzinger, he was the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. |
These documents state that Jesus created only a single church, now comprising the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Churches. Other Christian denominations are not considered "proper" churches; they suffer from "defects." Religions other than Christianity are considered to be "gravely deficient." Their rituals can constitute "an obstacle to salvation" for their followers. Still, the Catholic Church now recognizes that it is possible for some individuals who are neither Catholic nor Orthodox to attain Heaven. 1,2
Some consider the Catholic Church's views to be extremely arrogant. However, it is quite common for faith groups to believe that they alone have the truth while all other faith traditions are in error. So, any criticism of the Catholic Church for their stand concerning other faith groups must also be leveled at the Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Southern Baptists, Unificationists, etc.
Topics covered in this section:
References used:
- "Other churches have defects, Catholics say." The Times News Service, London. 2000-SEP-5
- Joseph Cardinal Retzinger, "Dominus Iesus on the unicity and salvific universality of Jesus Christ and the church," Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. See: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/
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Site navigation: Home page > Christianity > Roman Catholic Church > here |
Copyright © 2000 to 2007 by Ontario Consultants on Religious
Tolerance
Originally written: 2000-SEP-12
Latest update: 2007-JUL-16
Author: B.A. Robinson
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