The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1911-08-05
HOW CAN THEY BE SAVED?

FdLu0T Joseph II. TECSCOIt, VI L ACS-
ton (England), discoursed recently at
a meeting of the Catholic League of
that town on the subject: "Can Non
Catholics Be Saved?" The axiom that
there was no salvation outside the fold
of the Catholic Church, was, he said,
a dogma which every Catholic was
bound to believe. 1t was promulgated
in many Encyclicals from Pontiffs
down from the thirteenth century to
the present, and as early as the year
Alp the Council of the Church had
said. whatsoever shall be separated
from this Church, however praise
worthy his life, on account of this
crime alone, shall not possess eternal
life, and the anger of God will remain
upon him." With evidence such as
this, he was surprised that the ques-
ton should ever be raised. Early
heretics admitted the truth of the
dogma, but questioned only which was
the true Catholic Church. There could
not be two Churches, or two truths
Were they to look for the true Church
among the followers of Arius or Mes
torius, or to the Churches founded by
Henry VIII, or John Wesley, or R. ].
Campbell? For Catholics there was
no question that the true Church was
founded by Christ and His Apostles,
and they maintained that the teaching
of any other Church was false. The
true Church had one body, with Christ
as the head; the spirit and soul ANNA
ting the members, and making whole
Church. AS st. Paul said: "He who
has not the spirit of Christ is none of
His" Any person who knowingly and
voluntarily cut himself off from the
body of the Church had no life. If
men would not listen and hear they
could not have faith, and could not
have salvation.
Distinction Between the Body and Soul
In of the Church.
This dogma was neither bigoted nor
cruel. Salvation could only come by
redemption, from God Himself, and II
God imposed this as a condition, 1t
could not be considered hard say
ing. 1t was necessary to make dis
tinction between the body and the soul
of the Church. The body of the Church
was the visible element composed OF
all those exteriorly united under the
leadership of the Roman Pontiff; the
soul of the Church was that invisible
element composed of all those interi-
orly united in one spiritual society by
the bonds of faith and charity. God
alone knew who they were, but they
did exist. All were bound by ne
cessity, which knew no excuse, to be-
long to the soul of the Church. Faith
and love of God were absolutely nee
essary, and every adult who obeyed
sincerely the dictates of his conscience
could obtain eternal life, although he
might appear to them a heather and
a pagan. It was also necessary to
have an earnest and sincere desire to
belong to the body of the Church, but
anybody who remained outside through
no fault of his own might be saved
Only Two Excuses-Invincible lgnor
ance and Impossibility.
Only two excuses were possible, in
yincible ignorance and impossibility
but ''impossibility" did not include
family opposition, loss of position, OF
loss of fortune as excuses for remain
ing outside the Church. In the case
of one under instruction dying sud
denly he would not be kept outside
Catholics were not expected to believt
that all outside the Church were con
demned, but the opinion that those
who deliberately separated themselye'
from the Church could be saved wa
condemned. They must hold as o
faith that the Church was the onl.
Ark of safety, but they could recog