The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1915-08-28
CATHOLICS DO NOT BELIEVE
THAT ALL OUTSIDE THE vIsI-
BILE CHURCH WILL BE DAMNED.

that none but Catholics viii be saved,
writes Rev. X. l.. Hayes in THE
Missionary" In fact, we no more
maintain that all Professionals will be
lost than we teach that all Catholics
will be saved. Plus TX, after assert
ing the doctrine that the Catholic
Church is the one ark of safety, uses
these words I'VE also on the other
hand recognize with certainty that
those who are in invincible ignor-
ance of the true religion are not
guilty of this in the eyes of the
Lord. 1t is known to lis
and to you that those who are in
invincible ignorance of our holy faith,
but who observe carefully the natural
law, and the precepts of God en-
craven on the hearts of all men, and
who, being disposed, lead an honest
and upright life, may, aided by the
light of divine grace, attain to eter-
nal life" 1t is not therefore possible,
in fairness and justice, to place a
sinister Interpretation on the phrase,
Outside of the Church there is no
salvation" as though it entailed the
exclusion of all non-Catholics from
the kingdom of heaven.
If we said, "Outside of Christ there
is no salvation" no Christian could
take umbrage at the phrase. All
Christians must of necessity main
tain that there is but one Redeemer
of mankind and but one Mediator
between God and man, and that those
who are not saved by Jesus Christ
shall never be saved The expression
under consideration means just that.
and nothing more. God sent one
Savior, and "no one comes to the
Father except through Him. John
XIV, 81; that same divine Savior
established one Church and decreed
that it should be the one ark of His
salvation. In thus teaching, the
Church only affirms what our Lord
taught in words much stronger and
more forcible.
When Christ sent forth His apostles
to preach and teach and convert the
world, He gave them the following
commission: Go we Therefore into
the whole world and preach the COS
pei to every creature; he that
believes shall be saved; he that
believes not shall be condemned"
or as the Protestant version has it
HE that believes not shall be dam
ned" Mark XVI, 1910. Are not
these words equivalent to the terms
of that expression: Outside of the
Church there is no salvation?" The
words, Of, Christ mean that only those
who accept and believe the Gospel
as it was given by Christ and preach
ed by the apostles could be saved, and
hence outside of that Gospel there is
no salvation. One therefore is not
free to take up the Bible and pick
and choose a religion to suit particu-
lar circumstances and characters and
times. Our Lord said to those same
Apostles on another occasion: He
that heareth you, heareth Me, and
he that heareth Me, heareth Him that
sent Me" duke x, 81. And again:
eff any man will not hear the Church
let him be to thee as the heather and
the publican" Matt. XVIII, 10. II
was evidently the intention of our
Lord that there should be but one ark
of salvation-the Church founded by
Himself on the twelve and continued
by the lawful successors of those
Apostle till the end of time. The
Catholic Church processes to be anG
really is that one true, apostolic
Church of Christ; she must teach
that outside of her fold there is nc
salvation She teaches this because
Christ taught it. For what difference
is there between these two sen
the Church. "He that believes not
shall me damned and Outside Of
the Church there is no salvation"
The only difference is that Christ
while teaching the same truth
expresses it more forcibly and EN-
There are many other proofs that
this is the doctrine of the Master
The Gospel describes how Christ
sent the twelve out to found His
spiritual kingdom, and these are His
words: whatsoever shall not re
ceive you, nor hear your words, go
ing forth from that house or city
shake the dust of it off your feet
Amen / say to you, it shall be more
tolerable for the land of Sodom and
Gomorrah in the day of judgment
than for that city, Matt. X, IA, 49,
Nothing could express with greater
force than these words the principle
that out of the true Church there is
no salvation If the Catholic Church
is the true Church of Christ, as she
claims to be; if she teaches with the
authority of the apostles, as she
claims to teach, then the words Of
Christ just quoted apply to her in al
their force, and it will be more toler
able for those wicked cities of ancient
times than for that city or that indi
viduat who knowingly and with ma
lice refuses to receive the Catholic
Church and to hear her teaching
The we'll known anathema of st. Pau
gives us the mind of the apostles or
this subject: But though we or ar
angel from heaven preach a gospel t.
You besides that which we have
preached, let him be anathema" (Gal
i, 9)--that is, let him be cut off from
the Church and placed outside the
confines of salvation.
This may appear harsh and unkint
and unfriendly But it is not a qnes