Basically, the Holy Office letter teaches us that membership in the Catholic Church is not "optional"

We cannot "observe" perfect charity.

In the case of martyrdom, we can come close, but even there, we still cannot observe a martyr's interior dispositions. People are martyred all the time for various reasons, many of which have nothing whatsoever to do with the Roman Catholic Faith.

Ditto for someone who dies with the Sacraments, say, Confession and the Anointing of the Sick. In the case of the Sacraments, however, perfect contrition and/or charity is a nice, but not necessary, requirement for receiving the graces of the One and Triune God, and hence, eternal life. In those cases, one's contrition may be "less than perfect."

Timothy McVeigh, when he was executed, did not end his life with perfect charity, however, did he have imperfect contrition? My wife, watching CNN after McVeigh's lethal injection, told me about all the Protestant ministers who were on the air saying that "Tim McVeigh burns in hell"; it was a lone Catholic priest who suggested that McVeigh may have gone to Purgatory. It was for good reasons that the Father stated this; McVeigh died with the Church's Sacraments, and if he any imperfect contrition, then he received the graces of God through His One and Only Son, Jesus Christ.

Basically, the Holy Office letter teaches us that membership in the Catholic Church is not "optional":

Not only did the Savior command that all nations should enter the Church, but He also decreed the Church to be a means of salvation without which no one can enter the kingdom of eternal glory.

Now, could there be some exceptions? Certainly, if:

1) "a person is involved in invincible ignorance" AND

2) "a person wishes his will to be conformed to the will of God..." AND

3) "that the desire by which one is related to the Church be animated by perfect charity" AND

4) "unless a person has supernatural faith" AND

5) "are related to the Mystical Body of the Redeemer by a certain unconscious yearning and desire."

6) "at least he be united to her by desire and longing."

HOWEVER, "they cannot be sure of their salvation", because #1 assumes that the One and Triune God, by His will, will not deliver an "invincibly ignorant" person from his/her ignorance, so as to allow that individual to be culpable for his/her unbelief. And, if they cannot be sure of their salvation, then neither can we.-Jehanne

from the Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus Forum Re: Catechism of the Catholic Church and Vatican Council II is in accord with the sedevacantist position

http://catholicforum.forumotion.com/t1001-catechism-of-the-catholic-church-and-vatican-council-ii-is-in-accord-with-the-sedevacantist-position#8588