The Latin phrase extra Ecclesiam nulla salus (meaning "outside the Church [there is] no salvation" or
"no salvation outside the Church")[1][2] is a phrase referring to a Christian
doctrine about who is to receive salvation.
Lionel: It is a dogma of the Church defined by three Church Councils, which held only 'the strict interpretation'. It is supported by Vatican Council II and the Catechism of the Catholic Church and other Magisterial Documents. They are all Feeneyite.
_______________________
The expression comes from the writings
of Saint
Cyprian of Carthage, a Christian bishop of the 3rd century. The phrase is an axiom often used as shorthand for the
doctrine that the Church is necessary for salvation. It is a dogma in the Catholic Church and the Eastern
Orthodox Church, in reference to their own communions. It is also held by many historic Protestant churches. However, Protestants,
Catholics, and Eastern Orthodox each have a unique ecclesiological understanding
of what constitutes "the Church". For some, the church is defined as
"all those who will be saved", with no emphasis on the visible church.[1] For others, the theological basis for this doctrine is founded on
the beliefs that Jesus Christ personally established one (institutional) Church and that it serves as the means by which the graces won by Christ are communicated to believers.
Scriptural
foundation
[edit]
The doctrine is based largely on Mark 16:15–16:[3][4]
He said to them, "Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to
every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does
not believe will be condemned."
History
[edit]
First appearance
[edit]
The original phrase, "Salus extra
ecclesiam non est" ("there
is no salvation outside the Church"), comes from Letter LXXII of Cyprian of Carthage (died 258). The letter was written in reference to a
particular controversy as to whether it was necessary to baptize applicants who
had been previously baptized by heretics. In Ad
Jubajanum de haereticis baptizandis, Cyprian tells Jubaianus of his conviction that baptism conferred by
heretics is not valid.[5] Firmilian (died c. 269) agreed with Cyprian, reasoning that those who are
outside the Church and do not have the Holy Spirit cannot admit others to the
Church or give what they do not possess.[6]
Early Church Fathers
The concept was
also referred to by Origen in his Homilies on Joshua,
but neither he nor Cyprian were addressing non-Christians, but those already
baptized and in danger of leaving the faith, as that would involve apostasy.[7] Earlier, Justin Martyr had indicated that the righteous Jews who lived before Christ
would be saved. He later expressed a similar opinion concerning Gentiles. Those
who act pleasing to God, while not "being" Christian are yet in some
sense "in" Christ the Logos.[8]: 10
Each one [...] shall be saved by his own righteousness, [...] those who
regulated their lives by the law of Moses would in like manner be saved. [...]
Since those who did that which is universally, naturally, and eternally good
are pleasing to God, they shall be saved through this Christ in the
resurrection equally with those righteous men who were before them, namely Noah, and Enoch, and Jacob, and whoever else there be, along with those who have known this Christ.[9]
Gregory
of Nazianzus took a rather broad view in his
understanding of membership in the body of Christ. In the funeral oration for
his father's death in 374, Gregory stated: "He was ours even before he was
of our fold. His manner of life made him one of us. Just as there are many of
our own who are not with us, whose lives alienate them from the common body, so
too there are many of those outside who belong really to us, men whose devout
conduct anticipates their faith. They lack only the name of that which in fact
they possess. My father was one of these, an alien shoot but inclined to us in
his manner of life". In other words, by their charity of life, they are
united to Christians in Christ, even before they explicitly believe in Christ.[10] Fulgentius
of Ruspe took a much stricter view:
"Most firmly hold and never doubt that not only pagans, but also all Jews,
all heretics, and all schismatics who finish this life outside of the Catholic
Church, will go into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his
angels".[11]
Jerome wrote: "This is the ark of Noah, and he who is not found in
it shall perish when the flood prevails".[12] Bede continues this theme: "And according to this sense the
ark is manifestly the Church, Noah the Lord who builds the Church".[13]
Augustine
of Hippo made numerous remarks in response
to adversaries, often on opposite sides of this issue, once saying:
"Whoever is without the Church will not be reckoned among the sons, and
whoever does not want to have the Church as mother will not have God as father".[14] He could also pick up on the sayings of the Fathers, and be
completely inclusive in his assessment: "All together we are members of
Christ and are his body [...] throughout the world [...] from Abel the just
until the end of time [...] whoever among the just made his passage throughout
this life, whether now [...] or in the generations to come, all the just are
this one body of Christ, and individually his members".[8]: 30
Roman Catholic
[edit]
Writing while still a cardinal, Pope Benedict XVI (died 2022) commented that Cyprian was not expressing a theory on the
eternal fate of all baptized and non-baptized persons.[17]
The 1992 Catechism of the Catholic Church explained this as "all salvation comes from Christ the Head
through the Church which is His Body".[18]
·
Pope
Pelagius II (died
590): "Consider the fact that whoever has not been in the peace and unity
of the Church cannot have the Lord [...] Although given over to flames and
fires, they burn, or, thrown to wild beasts, they lay down their lives, there
will not be (for them) that crown of faith but the punishment of faithlessness.
[…] Such a one can be slain, he cannot be crowned. […] [If] slain outside the
Church, he cannot attain the rewards of the Church".[19][20]
·
Pope
Gregory I (died 604) in Moralia,
sive Expositio in Job ("An
Extensive Consideration of Moral Questions") said: "Now the holy
Church universal proclaims that God cannot be truly worshiped saving within
herself, asserting that all they that are without her shall never be
saved".[21] Pope
Gregory XVI later
quoted his predecessor in his 1832 encyclical Summo
iugiter studio ("on mixed
religious marriages").[22]
·
Pope Leo XII, (Ubi Primum #14, May 5, 1824): "It is impossible for the most true God, who
is Truth itself, the best, the wisest Provider, and the Rewarder of good men,
to approve all sects who profess false teachings which are often inconsistent
with one another and contradictory, and to confer eternal rewards on their
members… by divine faith we hold one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and that no
other name under heaven is given to men except the name of Jesus Christ of
Nazareth in which we must be saved. This is why we profess that there is no
salvation outside the Church".[23]
·
Bishop
John Carroll (died
1815), the first bishop in the United States, recognized a distinction between
being in communion with the Church and being a member thereof:
To be in the communion of the Catholic Church and to
be a member of the Church are two different things. They are in the communion
of profession of her faith and participation of her sacraments, through the
ministry and government of her lawful pastors. The members of the Catholic
Church are all those who with a sincere heart seek the true religion and are in
unfeigned disposition to embrace the truth wherever they find it. It never was
our doctrine that salvation can be obtained only by the former.[24]
Carroll traces this analysis back to Augustine of Hippo.
·
Francis
Cardinal Bourne, Archbishop of Westminster from 1903–1935, summarized the Church teaching as follows:
If God the Creator speaks, the creature is bound to
listen and to believe what He utters. Hence the axiom "outside the Church
there is no salvation". But, as it is equally true that without the
deliberate act of the will there can be neither fault nor sin, so evidently
this axiom applies only to those who are outside the Church knowingly,
deliberately, and wilfully. […] And this is the doctrine of the Catholic Church
on this often misunderstood and misrepresented aphorism. There are the covenanted
and the uncovenanted dealings of God with His creatures, and no creature is
outside His fatherly care. There are millions – even at this day the vast
majority of mankind – who are still unreached or unaffected by the message of
Christianity in any shape or form. There are large numbers who are persuaded
that the old covenant still prevails and are perfectly sincere and
conscientious in their observance of the Jewish Law. And there are millions who
accept some fashion of Christian teaching who have never adverted to the idea
of Unity as I have described it, and have no thought that they are obliged in
conscience to accept the teaching and to submit to the authority of the
Catholic Church. All such, whether separated wholly from acceptance of Christ
and His teaching, or accepting that teaching only to the extent in which they
have perceived it, will be judged on their own merits.[25]
Councils
[edit]
·
Fourth
Lateran Council (1215):
"There is but one universal Church of the faithful, outside which no one
at all is saved".[26]
·
Council
of Florence, Cantate
Domino (1441): "The most Holy Roman Church firmly believes,
professes and preaches that none of those existing outside the Catholic Church,
not only pagans, but also Jews and heretics and schismatics, can have a share in life eternal; but that they will go into the 'eternal
fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels' (Matthew 25:41), unless
before death they are joined with Her; and that so important is the unity of
this ecclesiastical body that only those remaining within this unity can profit
by the sacraments of the Church unto salvation, and they alone can receive an
eternal recompense for their fasts, their almsgivings, their other works of
Christian piety and the duties of a Christian soldier. No one, let his
almsgiving be as great as it may, no one, even if he pour out his blood for the
Name of Christ, can be saved, unless he remain within the bosom and the unity
of the Catholic Church". The same council also ruled that those who die in
original sin, but without mortal sin, will also find punishment in hell, but
unequally: "But the souls of those who depart this life in actual mortal
sin, or in original sin alone, go down straightaway to hell to be punished, but
with unequal pains".[27]
Papal letters
[edit]
Pope
Boniface VIII's bull Unam
sanctam of 1302 was promulgated
during an ongoing dispute between Boniface VIII and Philip
IV of France.[28] In it, Boniface declared, "We are compelled in virtue of our
faith to believe and maintain that there is only one holy Catholic Church, and
that one is apostolic. This we firmly believe and profess without
qualification. Outside this Church there is no salvation and no remission of
sins". The bull notably extends what had been ecclesiastical dictum into
relations with temporal powers. According to Robert W. Dyson, there are some
who hold that Giles of Rome might have been the actual writer of the bull.[29] It claims: "We declare, say, define, and pronounce that it is
absolutely necessary for the salvation of every human creature to be subject to
the Roman Pontiff".[30]
Pope Pius XI, in his 1928 encyclical Mortalium
Animos, quotes from Lactantius: "The Catholic Church alone is keeping the true worship. This is the
font of truth, this is the house of faith, this is the temple of God; if any
man enter not here, or if any man go forth from it, he is a stranger to the
hope of life and salvation". The Pope then specifies: "Furthermore,
in this
one Church of Christ, no man can be
or remain who does not accept, recognize and obey the authority and supremacy of Peter and his legitimate successors".[31]
Second Vatican Council
[edit]
Pope John XXIII
In calling the Second
Vatican Council, Pope John XXIII noted a distinction between the truths of faith and how those truths
are conveyed. In the 1973 declaration Mystertium
Ecclesiae, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith recognized that the articulation of revealed truth would necessarily
be influenced by historical factors.[8]: 10
The Second Vatican Council declared that the Christian communities that are
not in full
communion, but only in "partial
communion"[32] with the Catholic Church, "though we believe them to be
deficient in some respects, have been by no means deprived of significance and
importance in the mystery of salvation. For the Spirit of Christ has not
refrained from using them as means of salvation which derive their efficacy
from the very fullness of grace and truth entrusted to the Church".
Lionel: It refers to a hypothetical case. This is not a reference to anyone in particular whom we could know who is saved 'in partial communion' with the Catholic Church.So Vatican Council II here is not an exception for the dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus, defined by three Councils.
__________________________
It
explained that "some and even very many of the significant elements and
endowments which together go to build up and give life to the Church itself,
can exist outside the visible boundaries 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, and visible elements too. All of these,
which come from Christ and lead back to Christ, belong by right to the one
Church of Christ".[33]
These elements, it said, "as gifts belonging to the Church of Christ,
are forces impelling toward Catholic unity". The Council identified
Christ's Church on earth with the Catholic Church, saying: "This Church
constituted and organized in the world as a society, subsists in the Catholic
Church".[34] The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith stated in a later doctrinal note that the term "subsistit in" and "is" are interchangeable, so that the "one true Church" is and subsists in the Catholic Church, according to Catholic
teaching.
Lionel: Lumen Gentium 8 ( subsistit in ) refers to a hypothetical case like the baptism of desire ( Lumen Gentium 14). So it is not an objective exception for the dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus. This should have been clarified by Wikipedia or the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith(DCF),Vatican.
_____________________________________
The Second Vatican Council also declared that "it is through Christ's
Catholic Church alone, which is the universal help towards salvation, that the
fullness of the means of salvation can be obtained. It was to the apostolic
college alone, of which Peter is the head, that we believe that our Lord
entrusted all the blessings of the New Covenant, in order to establish on earth the one body of Christ into which all
those must be fully incorporated who belong in any way to the people of God".[33]
Catechism of the
Catholic Church
[edit]
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that the phrase, "Outside the Church there is no
salvation", means, if put in positive terms, that "all salvation
comes from Christ the Head through the Church which is his Body", and it
"is not aimed at those who, through no fault of their own, do not know
Christ and his Church".[35]
Lionel: Those who through no fault of their own do not know Christ and are saved are known onoly to God. They are unknown to us in particular cases.So why is it mentioned here with reference to the dogam extra eccclesiam nulla salus?
_____________________
At the same time, it adds: "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".[36] The Catechism also states that the Catholic Church
"is joined in many ways to the baptized who are honored by the name of
Christian, but do not profess the Catholic faith in its entirety or have not
preserved unity or communion under the successor of Peter", and that
"those who have not yet received the Gospel are related to the People of
God in various ways".[37]
Dominus Iesus
[edit]
The 2000 declaration Dominus
Iesus of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith states that "it must be firmly believed 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 (cf. Mk 16:16;
Jn 3:5), and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church
which men enter through baptism as through a door". It then adds that
"for those who are not formally and visibly members of the Church,
salvation in Christ is accessible by virtue of a grace which, while having a
mysterious relationship to the Church, does not make them formally part of the
Church, but enlightens them in a way which is accommodated to their spiritual
and material situation. This grace comes from Christ; it is [...] communicated
by the Holy Spirit; it has a relationship with the Church, which, according to
the plan of the Father, has her origin in the mission of the Son and the Holy
Spirit".[38]
Lionel : 'for those who are not formally and visibly members of the Church, salvation in Christ is accessible by virtue of a grace which, while having a mysterious relationship to the Church, does not make them formally part of the Church'. They are unknown to us if they exist .
___________________________
Inculpable ignorance
[edit]
Main article: Vincible and invincible ignorance
In its statements regarding this doctrine, the Church expressly teaches
that "it is necessary to hold for certain that they who labor in ignorance
of the true religion, if this ignorance is invincible, will not be held guilty
of this in the eyes of God", and that "outside of the Church, nobody
can hope for life or salvation unless he is excused through ignorance beyond
his control". It also states that "they who labor in invincible
ignorance of our most holy religion and who, zealously keeping the natural law
and its precepts engraved in the hearts of all by God, and being ready to obey
God, live an honest and upright life, can, by the operating power of divine
light and grace, attain eternal life".[36]
Lionel: The norm for salvation is the dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus. We do not know of anyone saved in invincible ignorance.
______________________
Strict interpretation
[edit]
See also: Feeneyism
Some traditionalists called Feeneyites (such as the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary of New
Hampshire) believe that only Catholics
baptized with water can be saved.
Lionel: Practically, this is what the dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus means. In real life we cannot know of any exceptions.This was the historical understanding.
_______________________
They reject the concept of baptism by desire and baptism
of blood, and say that only a properly
performed rite with the use of water and the requisite words is sufficient.[39]
Lionel. They accept them as being hypothetical cases. They cannot be literal cases known to us in the present times. This is common sense.
-Lionel Andrades
During
the schism-trial of Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, it must be noted that the
dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus was rejected by Cardinal Victor Manuel
Fernandez. He projected Vatican Council II as a rupture and not a continuity with
the dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus. He wanted the Italian archbishop to accept this lie.
So
for him, Lumen Gentium 8, for example, would not refer to a hypothetical and
theoretical case in 2024, but someone known to him saved without faith and the
baptism of water (Ad Gentes 7). So the person would be in Heaven and known to
God and also to the cardinal. This was the false reasoning of the Dicastery for
the Doctrine of the Faith, during the trial of Archbishop Vigano, before he was
excommunicated.- L.A
Vatican Council II - from Wikipedia
Vatican Council II
https://eucharistandmission.blogspot.com/2024/09/the-sixteen-magisterial-produced-by.html