Over at his
blog, Son Rise Morning Show contributor Rich Leonardi is hosing a lively discussion of the doctrine
extra ecclesiam nulla salus ("no salvation outside of the church"). He reproduces a letter explaining it by a Cincinnati area priest for the Archdiocese's newspaper, but people continue to be confused by this complicated doctrine.
In the 1940s, a popular Jesuit priest named Feeney caused a stir by explaining this doctrine the strictest way possible -- that if a person is not a baptized member of the Catholic Church, he or she cannot be saved. The charismatic Fr. Feeney had a radio show and a large following, particularly among Ivy League students, and after he eventually refused reproofs by the pope he was excommunicated and his followers placed under interdict (sort of, but not quite, "group excommunication").
For a very long and interesting explanation of why "extra ecclesiam nulla salus" does
not mean that no one but a baptized Catholic can be saved, see
this excellent article by Michael Mazza.This explanation has been authoritatively condemned by the Church, and if you do not accept that then you are in the camp of Fr. Feeney, where you do not want to be.
But if you want to know what it
does mean, here is the short version: The Church recognizes that the ordinary and best and surest way one is saved is by being a faithful, baptized member of the Catholic Church. But she also recognizes that God can save whomever He wishes. How do you then account for the possibility of someone who is not baptized being saved? By recognizing that Christ's death and resurrection are the source of all salvation, even if a person does not know it.
We all understand that being a baptized member of the Church does not guarantee salvation. We can lose our salvation through sin. This part of the parable is easy: When the sheep are separated from the goats at the end of time, some people everyone thought were sheep will be revealed to be goats after all.
Here is the harder part of the parable: Some people that everyone (including themselves) thought were goats will be revealed to be sheep. That doesn't just mean, as Jesus's followers thought, that some people who were bad Jews or not Jews at all would be saved; and it doesn't mean, as many Catholic might think, that some people who are "bad Catholics" will be saved. It means that s
ome people who aren't Catholics at all will be saved. There are more sheep than we know who belong to the Shepherd. And how is this possible? Because, without knowing it, they love and follow Christ.
This is a hard pill to swallow. Just as the older brother had a hard time with the prodigal son, and just as the day-long workers at the vineyard had a hard time with those last-minute workers getting the same wage, we must all follow Christ as best we can -- and be prepared for some surprises at Judgement Day.
