The doctrine” Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus” was formulated, for the first time, by Origen and applied by St. Cyprian of Carthage in the third century. The doctrine was used as an admonitory warning to the already baptized, who were on the verge of drifting away from their faith and the unity of the Church. Hence, it was a warning to Christians who preferred to remain outside the Church, and who were judged guilty of heresy and schism. It was later reformulated to logically read: If any man be outside the Church, he will be excluded from the number of sons and will not have God for Father since he has not the Church for mother.[1]
While the formula was given from the historical vicissitudes that the Church was passing through, it was misinterpreted in later Theology. The magisterial formulation down the ages revealed a strict adherence to the extra ecclesiam nulla salus doctrine. As a result, the pre-Vatican II Church had been characterized by a discriminating idea as regards salvation. At the time, one had to be a Catholic in order to be saved.
During a Press Conference In-flight from Sri Lanka to Philippines, 14 January 2014, Pope Francis said, "When I was a child, some seventy years ago, all Protestants were going to hell, all of them. That's what we were told in Catechesis." In the same line, I grew up in a discriminating atmosphere in which the protestants were regarded as our enemies. We were forbidden by our parents to enter a protestant Church or, worse, a mosque. Until now, a number of Catholics view the members of other religions as heading to perdition. What is your experience?
In its stance, Vatican II Council reinvigorated the earlier positions about Salvation by declaring 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. In the same line, the Council noted that all men are called to be part of this catholic unity of the people of God, which in promoting universal peace presages it. Thus, "they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it, or to remain in it." (LG,14) To balance its stance, the Council corroborated the teaching of a number of the Church fathers who had held that “an authentic revelation and possibility of salvation was offered to all peoples. For example, Justin the martyr spoke of the Semina Word (logos spermatikos), the word of whom all humankind partakes. According to him, all who live by this word are already Christians, even though they have not heard of Jesus[2].
The Council recognized the possibility of salvation outside the visible boundaries of the Catholic Church. It held that although the Church is necessary for salvation, those also can attain everlasting salvation who through no fault of their own do not know the gospel of Christ or his Church, yet sincerely seek God and are moved by grace, strive by their deeds to do His will…through the dictates of conscience… (L.G, 16). It follows that God, in ways known to Himself, can lead those who are inculpably ignorant of the Gospel to find that faith without which it is impossible to please Him (Cf. Heb 11:6).
One of the greatest discoveries of the Second Vatican Council is that the Church is a mystery. This implies that the Church is not fully intelligible to the finite mind. Consequently, several images are used to describe the reality of the Church, and hardly is the totality of this reality identified today with the visible Church alone. That is why, in discussing this point, we are prudent to use some terms. We don't say that the non-Catholics will be saved; we say that they may be saved. Other religions possess various degrees of truth, but it is not complete. Therefore, the missionary work is still of great importance. Since the fullness of the means of salvation is found in the Catholic Church, missionaries need to draw the non-Catholics to enjoy the totality of the salvific graces that are found only in the Catholic Church. They should not shy away from proclaiming the Good News without forcing anyone to convert. They have to do their best; and the rest will be taken care of by God.
All in all, we say, with the Vatican II Council, that there is a possibility for all people to be saved. However, this stance should not make sleep those who visibly belong to the Catholic Church. We all need to keep on accepting the offer of salvation that Christ is granting us. Otherwise, we can never reach the fullness of salvation. After all, we are aware that there are those who seem to be inside [the Church] while they are outside, and those who seem to be outside [the Church] while they are inside.
[1] Cf. https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/study/module/cyprian
[2] Paul F.Knitter, No Other Name? A critical survey of Christian attitudes toward the world religions (Marynoll,NY:Orbis Books,1985),121.
