CONGREGATION
FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH
DECLARATION
"DOMINUS IESUS"
ON THE UNICITY AND SALVIFIC UNIVERSALITY
OF JESUS CHRIST AND THE CHURCH
VI. THE CHURCH AND THE OTHER RELIGIONS
IN RELATION TO SALVATION
20. From what has been stated above,
some points follow that are necessary for theological
reflection as it explores the relationship of the
Church and the other religions to salvation.
Above all else, 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”.
77 This doctrine must not be
set against the universal salvific will of God (cf.
1 Tim 2:4); “it is necessary to keep
these two truths together, namely, the real possibility
of salvation in Christ for all mankind and the necessity
of the Church for this salvation”. 78
The Church is the “universal
sacrament of salvation”, 79
since, united always in a mysterious way to the Saviour
Jesus Christ, her Head, and subordinated to him, she
has, in God's plan, an indispensable relationship
with the salvation of every human being. 80
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 the result of
his sacrifice and is communicated by the Holy Spirit”;
81 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”. 82
21. With respect to the way in which
the salvific grace of God — which is always
given by means of Christ in the Spirit and has a mysterious
relationship to the Church — comes to individual
non-Christians, the Second Vatican Council limited
itself to the statement that God bestows it “in
ways known to himself”. 83
Theologians are seeking to understand this question
more fully. Their work is to be encouraged, since
it is certainly useful for understanding better God's
salvific plan and the ways in which it is accomplished.
However, from what has been stated above about the
mediation of Jesus Christ and the “unique and
special relationship” 84
which the Church has with the kingdom of God among
men — which in substance is the universal kingdom
of Christ the Saviour — it is clear that it
would be contrary to the faith to consider the Church
as one way of salvation alongside those constituted
by the other religions, seen as complementary to the
Church or substantially equivalent to her, even if
these are said to be converging with the Church toward
the eschatological kingdom of God.
Certainly, the various religious
traditions contain and offer religious elements which
come from God, 85 and which
are part of what “the Spirit brings about in
human hearts and in the history of peoples, in cultures,
and religions”. 86 Indeed,
some prayers and rituals of the other religions may
assume a role of preparation for the Gospel, in that
they are occasions or pedagogical helps in which the
human heart is prompted to be open to the action of
God. 87 One cannot attribute
to these, however, a divine origin or an ex opere
operato salvific efficacy, which is proper to
the Christian sacraments. 88
Furthermore, it cannot be overlooked that other rituals,
insofar as they depend on superstitions or other errors
(cf. 1 Cor 10:20-21), constitute an obstacle
to salvation. 89
22. With the coming of the Saviour
Jesus Christ, God has willed that the Church founded
by him be the instrument for the salvation of all
humanity (cf. Acts 17:30-31). 90
This truth of faith does not lessen the sincere respect
which the Church has for the religions of the world,
but at the same time, it rules out, in a radical way,
that mentality of indifferentism “characterized
by a religious relativism which leads to the belief
that ‘one religion is as good as another'”.
91 If it is true that the followers
of other religions can receive divine grace, it is
also certain that objectively speaking they
are in a gravely deficient situation in comparison
with those who, in the Church, have the fullness of
the means of salvation. 92 However,
“all the children of the Church should nevertheless
remember that their exalted condition results, not
from their own merits, but from the grace of Christ.
If they fail to respond in thought, word, and deed
to that grace, not only shall they not be saved, but
they shall be more severely judged”. 93
One understands then that, following the Lord's command
(cf. Mt 28:19-20) and as a requirement of
her love for all people, the Church “proclaims
and is in duty bound to proclaim without fail, Christ
who is the way, the truth, and the life (Jn
14:6). In him, in whom God reconciled all things to
himself (cf. 2 Cor 5:18-19), men find the
fullness of their religious life”. 94
In inter-religious dialogue as well,
the mission ad gentes “today as always
retains its full force and necessity”. 95
“Indeed, God ‘desires all men to be saved
and come to the knowledge of the truth' (1 Tim
2:4); that is, God wills the salvation of everyone
through the knowledge of the truth. Salvation is found
in the truth. Those who obey the promptings of the
Spirit of truth are already on the way of salvation.
But the Church, to whom this truth has been entrusted,
must go out to meet their desire, so as to bring them
the truth. Because she believes in God's universal
plan of salvation, the Church must be missionary”.
96 Inter-religious dialogue,
therefore, as part of her evangelizing mission, is
just one of the actions of the Church in her mission
ad gentes. 97 Equality,
which is a presupposition of inter-religious dialogue,
refers to the equal personal dignity of the parties
in dialogue, not to doctrinal content, nor even less
to the position of Jesus Christ — who is God
himself made man — in relation to the founders
of the other religions. Indeed, the Church, guided
by charity and respect for freedom, 98
must be primarily committed to proclaiming to all
people the truth definitively revealed by the Lord,
and to announcing the necessity of conversion to Jesus
Christ and of adherence to the Church through Baptism
and the other sacraments, in order to participate
fully in communion with God, the Father, Son and Holy
Spirit. Thus, the certainty of the universal salvific
will of God does not diminish, but rather increases
the duty and urgency of the proclamation of salvation
and of conversion to the Lord Jesus Christ.
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