The Catholic Church

And Salvation
In the Light of Recent Pronouncements
by the Holy See
By
Monsignor ose!h Cli"ord #enton
Member of the Ponti$cal Roman Theological Academy
Counselor of the Sacred Congregation of Seminaries and %niversities
Professor of #undamental &ogmatic Theology' Catholic %niversity of America
(ditor of The American Ecclesiastical Review
TH( )(*MA) PR(SS
*estminster' Maryland
+,-.
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lmprimatur:
1 #RA)CIS P/ 2(3%4H' &/ &/ Archbishop of Baltimore
May +5' +,-.
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that a boo7 or !am!hlet is free of doctrinal and moral error/
)o im!lication is contained therein that those 8ho have
granted the nihil obstat and the imprimatur agree 8ith the
o!inions e9!ressed/
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

PA4(
I)TR3&%CTI3) / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /
i9
PART ONE: THE DOGMA OF SALVATION IN OFFICIAL
PRONOUNCEMENTS OF THE CHURCH / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /
/ +
I/ The #ourth 3ecumenical Council of the Lateran / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /
/ / =
II/ The Bull Unam sanctam
/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / +<
III/ The &ecree for the acobites/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /
/ <+
I>/ The Allocution ingulari !uadam / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /
/ / ?5
>/ The (ncyclical "uanto con#ciamur moerore / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /
/ / / / -;
>I/ The (ncyclical $ystici Corporis Christi/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /
/ / / ;=
>II/ The Holy 36ce Letter uprema haec sacra% % / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /
/ / / +@@
>III/ The (ncyclical &umani generis
/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / ++,
PART TWO: THE THEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL
BACKGROUND OF THE DOGMA/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /
/ +<+
I/ The Conce!t of Salvation / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /
/ / +<<
II/ Salvation and the Basic Conce!t of the Church/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /
/ / / +?-
III/ Some Sources of Misunderstanding/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /
/ / / +=-
I)&(A/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /
/ +.,
INTRODUCTION
In his encyclical &umani generis Po!e Pius AII referred to a
statement by his great !redecessor' Po!e Pius IA' to the e"ect that the
noblest function of sacred theology is that of sho8ing ho8 the doctrine
de$ned by the Church is found in the sources of revelation:that is' in
Sacred Scri!ture and in divine a!ostolic tradition:in the very sense in
8hich the Church has !ro!osed it/ This boo7 is the result of a laborious
and humble e"ort to do this 8ith reference to 8hat the ecclesiastical
teaching authority has taught and de$ned about the necessity of the
Church for the attainment of eternal salvation/
#e8 dogmas of the Catholic faith have been commented u!on and
inter!reted in t8entieth:century theological and religious literature as
freBuently and e9tensively as that 8hich teaches us that there is no
salvation outside the true Church of esus Christ/ Hence any ne8 boo7 on
this subCect ought at least to try to o"er some theological advantage on
this subCect not already available in currently accessible Catholic
literature/ The author of this !resent 8or7 sincerely believes that its
!ublication is Custi$ed for these three reasonsD
E+F This boo7 Buotes' and Buotes at length' !ertinent statements
and de$nitions by the Holy See and by the ChurchGs 3ecumenical Councils
on the necessity of the Church for the attainment of eternal salvation/ It
analyHes these !ronouncements and brings out e9!licitly the Catholic
teachings referred to and im!lied in them/ Then it e9amines the dogma'
as it has been stated and e9!lained by the ChurchGs magisterium' in the
light of 8hat the sources of revelation have to say about the nature of the
Church and about the !rocesses of salvation and sancti$cation/ Thus it is
able to sho8 that 8hat the Church itself has al8ays taught and de$ned on
this subCect is !recisely 8hat the divine message' contained in Scri!ture
and tradition' has to say about salvation and about 4odGs su!ernatural
7ingdom/
Any !erson 8ho is at all familiar 8ith 8hat the great mass of
religious and theological 8ritings of our times have had to say about this
dogma is Buite 8ell a8are of the fact that' in an over8helming maCority of
cases' these 8ritings have been mainly' almost e9clusively' concerned
8ith !roving and e9!laining ho8 this dogma does not mean that only
members of the Catholic Church can be saved/ This' of course' is !erfectly
true/ The ecclesiastical magisterium' in teaching and guarding this
dogma' insists that there is no salvation outside of the Catholic Church
and at the same time li7e8ise insists that !eo!le 8ho die 8ithout ever
becoming members of the Catholic Church can obtain the Beati$c >ision/
But if 8e' for all !ractical !ur!oses' limit our e9!lanation of the
dogma to an assurance that it does not mean that every man 8ho dies a
non:member of the Catholic Church is not necessarily lost forever:as so
many modern 8ritings on this subCect seem to do:8e tend to lose sight of
the central mysteries of 4odGs merciful dis!ensation in the su!ernatural
order/ #or' let us not forget it' the revealed truths about the necessity of
the Catholic Church for the attainment of eternal salvation belong to the
order of the great su!ernatural mysteries/ They belong 8ith 4odGs
revealed doctrine about grace' about the !rocess of salvation' the 8or7 of
the Redem!tion' and the Blessed Trinity/ In sho8ing ho8 the teachings of
the ecclesiastical magisterium are contained in the sources of revelation
in the very sense in 8hich they have been stated and de$ned by the
Church itself' 8e can see this dogma of the Church !recisely as the
accurate and authoritative e9!ression of a revealed mystery/
E5F &uring the !onti$cate of the !resent Holy #ather IPius AIIJ three
authoritative documents issued by the Holy See have instructed the
members of the Church about the meaning of the dogma that there is no
salvation outside of the Catholic Church/ T8o of these are encyclical
letters' the $ystici Corporis Christi' issued une 5,' +,?<' and the &umani
generis' dated August +5' +,-@/ The third is the Holy 36ce letter
uprema haec sacra' addressed by order of the Holy #ather on August .'
+,?,' to the Most Reverend Archbisho! of Boston/ The doctrinal section
of this last document is devoted e9clusively to an e9!lanation of this
dogma/ It is the most com!letely detailed statement of this teaching ever
set forth in an authoritative document of the ChurchKs magisterium/
There 8ould obviously seem to be' not only room for' but an actual need
of' a boo7 that 8ould !resent and analyHe the teachings on this subCect
brought out in these three recent documents from the Holy See/ And' in
the lac7 of any other 8or7 in (nglish devoted e9clusively to the
e9!lanation of this !ortion of Catholic doctrine and 8ritten since the
a!!earance of these three documents' the !resent boo7 is humbly o"ered
in the ho!e that it may satisfy that need/
E<F In the &umani generis the !resent Holy #ather sternly rebu7ed some
contem!orary Catholic 8riters because' as he said' Lthey reduce to an
em!ty formula the necessity of belonging to the true Church in order to
attain to eternal salvation/L Actually this !articular !art of Catholic
doctrine is uniBue in that an inaccurate inter!retation or !resentation of it
by a Catholic 8riter does actually constitute' in most cases' the reduction
of this teaching to an em!ty formula/
#urthermore the vagaries of some 8riters' !articularly in the $eld of
!o!ular religious literature' on the subCect' are in some 8ay e9!licable in
terms of the !eculiar history of the tractatus de ecclesia 8ithin the body
of scholastic theology/ A s7etch of this history is available in the !resent
volume' since I believe that the man 8ho 7no8s something about the
basis of some !f the more colorful misinter!retations of the dogma 8ill be
in a better !osition to a!!reciate and to defend the genuine teaching of
the Church in this $eld/
This introduction 8ould not be com!lete 8ithout an e9!ression of sincere
gratitude to the >ery Reverend &r/ #rancis / Connell' C/ SS/ R/' for these
last fourteen years my brilliant and faithful associate in the 8or7 of The
American Ecclesiastical Review% He has been 7ind enough to read and to
correct the manuscri!t of this boo7 8ith the same charitable care he has
given to the reading and the correction of all I have 8ritten for !ublication
since our association began/
PART I
THE DOGMA OF SALVATION IN OFFICIAL
PRONOUNCEMENTS OF THE CHURCH
There are several documents issued by the ChurchGs su!reme teaching
authority 8hich deal 8ith the revealed doctrine that no one can be saved
outside the Catholic Church/ The latest editions of &enHingerGs Enchiridion
symbolorum carry u!8ards of t8enty citations directly !ertinent to this
dogma' ta7en from di"erent o6cial documents issued by the Holy See
and by (cumenical Councils/ If a man 8ants to learn e9actly ho8 the
Catholic Church itself understands and teaches this revealed truth' he can
best obtain this information by reading and studying these o6cial and
authoritative statements of the ecclesiastical magisterium%
Actually' ho8ever' it is not necessary to study every one of these
statements individually/ It so ha!!ens that there are eight of these o6cial
!ronouncements 8hich' ta7en together' bring out every as!ect of Catholic
teaching on this subCect that the Church has included in its authoritative
documents/ Hence an e9amination of these eight statements 8ill sho8 us
every as!ect and facet of the ChurchGs o6cial and authoritative teaching
about its o8n necessity for the attainment of eternal salvation/
The eight documents in 8hich these !ronouncements are contained areD
E+F A !rofession of the Catholic faith issued by the #ourth Lateran
Council' the t8elfth in the series of (cumenical Councils' in +5+-' during
the !onti$cate of Po!e Innocent III/
E5F The Bull Unam sanctam' !ublished by Po!e Boniface >III' on
)ovember +.' +<@5/
E<F The decree for the acobites' the Bull Cantate (omino' !ublished by
Po!e (ugenius I> on #ebruary ?' +??5' and included in the Acta of the
Council of #lorence' the seventeenth among the (cumenica+ Councils/
E?F The allocution ingulari !uadam' delivered on &ecember ,' +.-?'
the day after the solemn de$nition of 3ur LadyGs Immaculate Conce!tion'
by Po!e Pius IA' to the Cardinals' Archbisho!s' and Bisho!s gathered in
Rome for that de$nition/
E-F The encyclical "uanto con#ciamur moerore' addressed by Po!e Pius
IA to the Bisho!s of Italy on August +@' +.=</
E=F The encyclical letter $ystici Corporis Christi' !ublished on une
5,' +,?<' by Po!e Pius AII/
E;F The letter uprema haec sacra' sent by the Holy 36ce' at the
command of Po!e Pius AII' to His (9cellency the Most Reverend
Archbisho! of Boston' on August .' +,?,/
E.F The encyclical letter &umani generis' issued by Po!e Pius AII on
August +5' +,-@/
(ach of the eight cha!ters that go to ma7e u! the $rst !art of this boo7
8ill consider the teachings of one of these documents on the necessity of
the Catholic Church for the attainment of eternal salvation/ The
documents 8ill be studied in chronological order/
As authoritative statements of the teaching Church' all of these
!ronouncements of the Holy See and of (cumenical Councils must be
acce!ted 8ith true internal consent by all Catholics/ *hat they teach on
the subCect of this dogma is 8hat all Catholics are bound in conscience to
hold/ It is de$nitely not enough for Catholics to receive these declarations
8ith 8hat has been called Mres!ectful silence/N It is not su6cient that they
merely refrain from overt statements reCecting 8hat has been taught in
these authoritative documents of the ecclesia docens% (very Catholic is
strictly bound in conscience to ma7e 8hat the Church has taught in this
8ay his o8n vie8' his o8n conviction' on this subCect/ And' as a result' it
is obCectively 8rong for any Catholic to hold an e9!lanation of the
ChurchGs necessity for salvation 8hich is in any 8ay incom!atible 8ith
8hat the Church has taught authoritatively about this dogma/
The $rst three of the eight documents studied in this boo7 limit
themselves' mainly' to the assertion as a dogma of the faith of the
teaching that no man can be saved outside the Catholic Church/ A dogma
is a truth 8hich the Church $nds in Scri!ture or in divine a!ostolic
tradition and 8hich' either in solemn Cudgment or in its ordinary and
universal teaching activity' it !resents to its !eo!le as a doctrine revealed
by 4od and as something 8hich all are obligated to acce!t 8ith the
assent of divine and Catholic faith/ Since the teaching that there is no
salvation outside the Catholic Church is a dogma' men are obligated in
conscience to believe it as certainly true on the authority of 4od Himself'
8ho has revealed it/ 3bCectively the refusal to believe this teaching 8ith
an act of divine faith constitutes heresy/ The !ublic denial by a Catholic of
this or any other dogma of the Church is something that carries 8ith it a
loss of membershi! in the true Church/
The $rst three of these !ronouncements are contained in documents of
the ChurchGs solemn teaching activity/ The other $ve belong to the
ordinary magisterium of the Holy See/ #our of these' the teachings
contained in the allocution ingulari !uadam and in the encyclical letters
"uanto con#ciamur moerore' $ystici Corporis Christi' and &umani
generis' 8ere issued by the Sovereign Ponti" himself/ The other statement
treated in this boo7' that of the Holy 36ce letter uprema haec sacra' is
an act of a Roman Congregation/ Thus' according to the rule set forth in
canon ; of the Code) iuris canonici' it must li7e8ise be considered and
described as an act of the Holy See/
All of these statements of the ChurchGs ordinary magisterium are
authoritative/ Po!e Pius AII s!o7e of the Holy #atherGs o8n ordinary
teaching !o8er in the encyclical &umani generis' in a !assage 8hich has
s!ecial reference to the teaching set forth in encyclical lettersD
)or must one thin7 that the truths !ro!osed in encyclical letters
do not demand assent by themselves *assensum per se non postu+
lare,' since in 8riting such letters the Po!es do not e9ercise the
su!reme !o8er of their teaching authority/ #or these matters are
taught 8ith the ordinary teaching authority' of 8hich it is true to
sayD LHe 8ho heareth you' heareth me LO and generally 8hat is e9:
!ounded and inculcated in encyclical letters already a!!ertains to
Catholic doctrine for other reasons/ But if the Su!reme Ponti"s in
their Acta ta7e the trouble to issue a decision on a !oint hitherto
controverted' it is obvious that this !oint' according to the mind and
8ill of the same Ponti"s' can no longer be considered a Buestion
o!en to discussion among theologians/
+
The follo8ing !assage' ta7en from the letter Tuas libenter' 8ritten by
Po!e Pius IA on &ecember 5+' +.=<' to the Archbisho! of Munich' gives a
clear vie8 of the doctrinal authority of the Holy SeeGs statements'
including !ronouncements issued by the Congregations of the Roman
CuriaD
(ven in the matter of that subCection 8hich must be given in the
act of divine faith' it should still not be restricted to those things
1
The Latin te9t of &umani generis is carried in The American Ecclesiastical
Review' CAAIII' - E)ov/' +,-@F' <.<:,./ The !aragra!h here Buoted is n/ 5@' !/
<.,/ SubseBuent references to The American Ecclesiastical Review 8ill use the
abbreviation AER%
that have been de$ned in the obvious decrees of the (cumenical
Councils or of the Roman Ponti"s or of this See' but must also be
e9tended to that 8hich is taught as divinely revealed by the
ordinary magisterium of the entire Church s!read throughout the
8orld and 8hich' as a result' is !resented as belonging to the faith
according to the common and constant agreement of the Catholic
theologians/
But' on the matter of that subCection to 8hich all Catholics 8ho
are engaged in the 8or7 of the s!eculative sciences are obliged in
conscience' so that' by their 8ritings' they may bring ne8
advantages to the Church' the members of this assembly Ia
convention of 4erman theologiansJ must ta7e cogniHance of the
fact that it is not enough for them to receive and to venerate the
above:mentioned dogmas of the Church' but that it is also
necessary that they subCect themselves to the doctrinal decisions of
the Ponti$cal Congregations and to those !oints of doctrine that are
considered by the common and constant agreement of Catholics as
theological truths and conclusions 8hich are so certain that
o!inions o!!osed to these !oints of doctrine still merit some other
theological censure' even though they may not be designated as
heretical/
5
The directions given almost a hundred years ago by Po!e Pius IA are
Cust as valid and necessary no8 as they 8ere 8hen the Tuas libenter 8as
$rst 8ritten/ It is and it al8ays 8ill be the duty and the !rivilege of the
Catholic to acce!t and to enCoy the body of truth given to the faithful in
the o6cial declarations of the ecclesiastical magisterium%
-
And' from a
study of the eight documents cited in the $rst !art of this boo7' 8e can
see e9actly 8hat the Catholic magisterium has taught about the necessity
of the Church for the attainment of eternal salvation/
2
&enHinger' Enchiridion symbolorum' <@th edition E#reiburg:im:BreisgauD Herder'
+,-?F' nn/ +=.< f/ #urther references to the Enchiridion symbolorum in this
volume 8ill use the abbreviation (en.%
3
#or a more e9tensive treatment of this subCect cf/ #enton' LThe &umani generis
and the Holy #atherGs 3rdinary $agisterium'/ in AER' CAA>' + Euly' +,-+F' -<:=5/
I
THE FOURTH ECUMENICAL COUNCIL OF THE LATERAN
In the 0irmiter' the $rst cha!ter of the doctrinal declarations of the #ourth
Lateran Council' 8e $nd the follo8ing declarationD MThere is' then' one
universal Church of the faithful *una% / / #delium universalis ecclesia,'
outside of 8hich no one at all is saved *e)tra !uam nullus omnino salvatur,
/N
?
This formula bears a singular resemblance to one contained in the
!rofession of faith !rescribed by Po!e Innocent III in +5@. for the
*aldensians 8ho 8ished to return to the Catholic ChurchD M*e believe in
our hearts and 8e !rofess orally that there is one Church' not that of the
heretics' but the Holy Roman Catholic and A!ostolic IChurchJ' outside of
8hich 8e believe that no one 8ill be saved/N
-
(ach of these documents !resents three distinct statements as truths
actually revealed by 4od' and conseBuently as doctrines 8hich men are
obliged to acce!t 8ith the assent of divine faith itself/ By immediate and
necessary im!lication' they condemn as heretical the teachings
contradictory to these three dogmas of the Catholic faith/ They assert thatD
E+F It is a divinely revealed truth that there is only one true
ecclesia or Church of 4od/
E5F It is a divinely revealed truth that this one true ecclesia is the Roman
Catholic Church' the social unit !ro!erly termed Mthe universal Church of
the faithfulN/
E<F )o one at all' according to 4odGs o8n revelation' can be saved if' at
the moment of his death' he is MoutsideN this society/
4
(en.%' ?<@/
5
(en.%' ?5</
As a result' according to the teaching of these documents' it 8ould be
heretical to imagine that there is more than one social unit in this 8orld
that can be designated as 4odGs true ecclesia' that the Roman Catholic
Church is not this true ecclesia' or that any !erson could attain to salvation
outside of the Roman Catholic Church/
In a study li7e ours' the s!ecial value of these t8o documents is to be
found in the fact that they !lace the dogma of the ChurchGs necessity for
the attainment of salvation against its !ro!er bac7ground' and that they'
!articularly the statement of the Lateran Council' bring out clearly the real
and com!lete necessity of the Church according to the actual designs of
4odGs !rovidence/
These t8o declarations of the teaching Church during the !onti$cate of
Po!e Innocent III set the dogma of the ChurchGs necessity for the
attainment of eternal salvation in its only !ro!er !ers!ective !recisely
because they state this teaching against the bac7ground of the divinely
revealed truths that there is only one true su!ernatural 7ingdom of 4od Eor
ecclesia, in the 8orld' and that this ecclesia is the Roman Catholic Church/
The true su!ernatural 7ingdom of 4od on earth' 4odGs ecclesia' is
something de$nable and understandable in terms of its necessity for the
attainment of the Beati$c >ision/ If 8e are to understand the terminology of
the teaching set forth by the #ourth Council of the Lateran' 8e must realiHe
that the men 8ho dre8 u! this !rofession of faith and all the men of the
thirteenth century' both Catholics and heretics' 8ere 8ell a8are of the fact
that Mthe social unit outside of 8hich no one at all is savedN and Mthe true
Church or 7ingdom of 4odN are obCectively identical/ The heretics denied
that the social unit over 8hich the Bisho! of Rome resides as visible head is
actually the true ecclesia of 4od described in the Scri!tures/ But they
certainly 8ould not and did not Buestion the fact that' 8herever it 8as to
be found' this true ecclesia is the com!any outside of 8hich no one at all
may attain the !ossession of the Beati$c >ision/
#or all of these men' Catholics and heretics ali7e' the genuine Church of
4od 8as the com!any of His chosen !eo!le' the !eo!le of His covenant/ It
8as the com!any of those 8ho !rofessed their acce!tance of the divine
and su!ernatural la8 by 8hich 4od directs men to the attainment of the
one ultimate and eternal ha!!iness available to them' the ha!!iness 8hich
is to be obtained only in the !ossession of the Beati$c >ision/ The true
Church 8as the bene$ciary of 4odGs !romises/ It 8as the re!ository of His
su!ernatural revelation/ It d8elt in this 8orld as in a !lace of !ilgrimage'
a8aiting the glory of the fatherland of heaven/
They 7ne8 that the Church trium!hant in heaven 8as to be the
continuation and the Po8ering of the Church militant no8 e9isting on this
earth' and that the !eo!le of the Church trium!hant 8ere' in !oint of fact'
the !eo!le 8ho had !assed from this life M8ithinN the Church militant and
living the life of sanctifying grace/ Thus they sa8 that the Church militant
8as actually something understandable in terms of necessity for the
attainment of eternal salvation/
The !rofession of faith of the #ourth Lateran Council and the formula
8hich the returning *aldensians 8ere obliged to acce!t both insisted u!on
the unity and the unicity of the Church outside of 8hich no one can be
saved/ Both asserted that this ecclesia' de$nable and understandable as
the social unit outside of 8hich no one can attain eternal salvation' is the
religious society over 8hich the Bisho! of Rome !resides/ The !rofession of
faith for the returning *aldensians states that this ecclesia of 4od is not
the Church of the heretics' but that it is Mthe Holy Roman Catholic and
A!ostolicN Church/ The 0irmiter teaches e9actly the same thing 8hen it
asserts that this one ecclesia outside of 8hich no one at all is saved is the
Mone universal Church of the faithful/N
The term #delis had and still has a de$nite technical meaning in the
language of Christianity/ The #deles' or the faithful' are not merely the
individuals 8ho have made an act of divine faith in acce!ting the teachings
of 4odGs !ublic and Christian revelation/ They are actually those 8ho have
made the ba!tismal !rofession of faith' and 8ho have not cut themselves
o" from the unity of the Church by !ublic a!ostasy or heresy or schism and
have not been cast out of the Church by the !rocess of e9communication/
In other 8ords' according to the !resent terminology of sacred theology'
the #delis is sim!ly the Catholic' the member of the Catholic Church/ Thus
the Church o1 the faithful' the universalis ecclesia #delium' is nothing but
the visible Catholic Church itself/ And the formula of the #ourth Council of
the Lateran tells us that this ecclesia #delium is the one su!ernatural
7ingdom of 4od on earth' the com!any outside of 8hich no one at all can
attain eternal salvation/
Actually' in the traditional language of the Church' the term christianus
itself had a 8ider a!!lication than the 8ord #delis% A catechumen might be
designated as a christianus ' but never as a #delis%
2
A man gained the
dignity and the !osition of a #delis through the rece!tion of the sacrament
of ba!tism/ This sacrament is !recisely the sacrament of the faith/ By the
force of the character it im!arts' it incor!orates the !erson 8ho receives it
into that community 8hich is the Mystical Body of esusQChrist/ The e"ect of
that incor!oration is bro7en only by !ublic heresy or a!ostasy' by schism'
or by the full measure of e9communication/ The man in 8hom the
incor!orating 8or7 of the ba!tismal character remains unbro7en is the
#delis' the member of the Catholic Church/ The social unit com!osed of
these #deles is' according to the teaching of the #ourth Lateran Council' the
true Church' outside 8hich no one at all is saved/
)o8' the Council teaches that a man must be in some 8ay L8ithinL the
Church of the faithful in order to be saved/ It does not' ho8ever' in any 8ay
teach or even im!ly that no one other than one of the #deles can actually
attain to the Beati$c >ision/ And' for that matter' no other authoritative
declaration o1 the Church issues such a teaching or su!!orts any such
im!lication/ It is not' and it has never been' the teaching of the Catholic
Church that only actual members of the Church can attain eternal
salvation/ According to the teaching of the ChurchGs o8n magisterium'
salvation can be attained and' as a matter of fact' has been attained by
!ersons 8ho' at the moment of their death' 8ere not members of this
Church/ The Church has thus never confused the notion of being Loutside
6
Cf/ &uchesne' 3rigines du culte chretien EParis' +.,.F' !/ 5.+O and #enton'
M#aith and the Church'L in AER' CAA' + Ean/'G +,?,F' =@/
the ChurchL 8ith that of being a non:member of this society/
Thus the #athers of the #ourth Lateran Council and all the other
churchmen 8ho have dra8n u! authoritative statements of the ChurchGs
teaching on the necessity of the Church for the attainment of eternal
salvation 8ere 8ell a8are of 8hat St/ Augustine had taught about men 8ho
su"ered martyrdom for the sa7e of Christ before having had the o!!or:
tunity to receive the sacrament of ba!tism/ In his (e civitate (ei' St/
Augustine taught thatL 8hosoever dies for Christ' not having received the
laver of regeneration' has this avail him for the forgiveness of sins as much
as if these sins had been forgiven in the sacred font of ba!tism/L
;
Since the
forgiveness of mortal or original sin is accom!lished only in the infusion of
the life of sanctifying grace' the !erson 8hose sins are forgiven is in the
state of grace/ If such a !erson dies in the state of grace' he 8ill inevitably
attain to the Beati$c >ision/ He 8ill be saved' as having diedL 8ithinL and
notL outsideL the true Church/
#urthermore' they 7ne8 that there is no such thing as real membershi! in
the Church militant of the )e8 Testament' the true and only ecclesia
#delium' a!art from the rece!tion of the sacrament of ba!tism/ Thus' 8hen
the #athers of the #ourth (cumenical Council of the Lateran' and the other
authoritative teachers of the Catholic Church' follo8ed St/ Augustine in
holding that a man could be saved if he dies as a martyr for 3ur Lord 8hile
still unba!tiHed' they 8ere clearly sho8ing that' in their declarations that
no one can be saved outside the Church' they did not mean that only
members of the Church may obtain the Beati$c >ision/ The unba!tiHed
7
(e civitate (ei' AIII' ;/ $4L' ALI' <.+/
martyr for 3ur Lord !assed from this lifeL 8ithinL the ecclesia #delium'
des!ite the fact that he died 8ithout having attained the status of #delis%
Again' the #athers of the #ourth 3ecumenical Council of the Lateran 8ere
8ell a8are of the fact that an unba!tiHed man could be saved even if he did
not die a martyrGs death/ All of them acce!ted as Catholic doctrine the
teaching St/ Ambrose had set forth in his sermon (e obitu 5alentiniani:
But I hear that you are sorro8ing because he Ithe (m!eror >alen:
tinian IIJ did not receive the rites of ba!tism/ Tell me' 8hat else is
there in us but 8ill' but !etitionR )o8' Buite recently it 8as his
intention to be ba!tiHed before coming into Italy/ He let it be 7no8n
that he 8anted to be ba!tiHed by me very shortly' and it 8as for that
reason' above all others' that he decided to have me sent for/ &oes
he not' then' have the grace he desiredR &oes he not have 8hat he
!rayed forR Surely' because he !rayed for it' he has received it/
Hence it is that Lthe soul of the Cust man 8ill be at rest' 8hatever
7ind of death may overta7e him/N
.
St/ Ambrose 8as s!ea7ing of an instance in 8hich a man 8ho had been
a catechumen had died before he had an o!!ortunity to receive the
sacrament of ba!tism/ He had !assed from this life' then' as a non:member
of the ecclesia #delium% At the moment of his death he 8as not one of the
#deles% 0et' according to St/ Ambrose' this man had died a good death/ He
had !rayed for the grace of ba!tism' and 4od had given him this ans8er to
his !rayer/
,
He had !assed from this life L8ithinL rather than LoutsideL the
Church of the faithful/ He had been able to attain eternal salvation/
Such 8as the doctrinal bac7ground against 8hich the #athers of the
#ourth Lateran Council issued their teaching on the necessity of the
Catholic Church for the attainment of the Beati$c >ision/ They believed that
non:members of the Catholic Church could achieve salvation/ Thus' 8hen
8
(e obitu 5alentiniani' -+/ $4L' A>I' +<;?/
9
Cf/ #enton' MThe )ecessity of the Church and the (6cacy of Prayer'N in A(R'
CAAAII' - EMay' +,--F' <<=:?,/
they taught that no one at all could be savedL outsideL the one Church of
the faithful' they obviously did not mean to say that being outside of the
Church 8as eBuivalent to being a non:member of this social unit/
3n the other hand' they Cust as obviously did not mean that being a
member of the Church' or even desiring to enter the Church' constituted
any absolute guarantee of salvation/ It is unfortunately !ossible to have a
man die as a member of the true Church' and die in the state of mortal sin/
It is li7e8ise !ossible to have a man actually desire to enter the Church'
and die before he has the o!!ortunity to be ba!tiHed' and to have that man
lose his soul through some other o"ense against 4od/ In other 8ords' it is
!ossible for a man to lose his soul if he diesL 8ithinL the Church/ The #ourth
4eneral Council of the Lateran brought out the fact that it is absolutely
im!ossible to attain to eternal salvation if a man !asses from this lifeL
outsideL the true Church/
Thus' according to the infallibly true teaching of this section of the
decrees of the #ourth Lateran Council' 8e may dra8 the follo8ing
conclusionsD
E+F At the moment of death a man must be in some 8ay L8ithinL the
Catholic Church Eeither as a member or as one 8ho desires and !rays to
enter itF if he is to attain to eternal salvation/
E5F There is absolutely no e9ce!tion to this rule/ 3ther8ise the statement
that Lno one at all *nullus omnino,/ is saved outside of the one universal
Church of the faithful 8ould not be true/ And that statement is true/ It is an
infallible dogmatic !ronouncement of an (cumenical Council of the Catholic
Church/
E<F Any attem!t to e9!lain the ChurchGs necessity for salvation by
claiming that it is only the LordinaryL means' or by imagining that it is
reBuisite only for those 8ho are a8are of its dignity and !osition' is
com!letely false and unacce!table/
II
TH( B%LL UNA$ ANCTA$
The second of eight documents of the ecclesiastical magisterium 8ith
8hich 8e are concerned in this section is the famous Bull Unam sanctam'
issued by Po!e Boniface >III on )ovember +.' +<@5/ The o!ening and the
closing !assages of this !onti$cal !ronouncement contain highly im!ortant
statements of the dogma/
The o!ening section of the Unam sanctam states the dogma itself and
gives insights into it not available in any !revious declaration of the
teaching ChurchD
*e are bound by the obligation of faith to believe and to hold the
one' holy' Catholic' and a!ostolic Church' and 8e $rmly believe and
sincerely !rofess this IChurchJ outside of 8hich there is neither
salvation nor the remission of sins *e)tra !uam nec salus est' nec
remissio peccatorum,% Thus' the s!ouse in the Canticle !roclaimsD
M3ne is my doveD my !erfect one is but one/ She is the only one of
her mother' the chosen of her that bore her/N This signi$es
*repraesentat, the one Mystical Body' of 8hich Christ is the Head'
and 4od Iis the HeadJ of Christ/ In this Idove and !erfect oneJ there is
Mone Lord' one faith' one ba!tism/N Certainly there 8as one ar7 of
)oe at the time of the deluge' and it !re$gured the one Church/ The
ar7' 8hich 8as $nished in one cubit' has one ruler and commander'
namely )oe/ *e read that all things that subsisted on the earth and
8hich 8ere outside of the ar7 8ere destroyed/ And 8e venerate this
IChurchJ as the only one' since the Lord says in the Pro!hetD M&eliver'
@ 4od' my soul from the s8ordD my only one from the hand of the
dog/N The Lord !rayed for the Soul that is' for Himself the Head : and
at the same time for the body' He called the only Church a body
because of the unity of faith' the unity of the sacraments' and the
unity of charity of the Church' the S!ouse/ This IChurchJ is the LordGs
seamless robe 8hich 8as not cut' but for 8hich lots 8ere cast/
Therefore there is one body' one Head' of the only Church' not t8o
heads li7e a monsterO Christ and Peter' the >icar of Christ' and PeterGs
successor' since the Lord said to Peter himselfD L#eed my shee!/L He
says LmyL Ishee!J universally' and not LtheseL or LthoseL in
!articular' and thus it is understood that He entrusted all IHis shee!J
to him/ If' therefore' the 4ree7s or others say that they have not been
entrusted to Peter and to his successors' they necessarily admit that
they are not of the shee! of Christ' since the Lord says' in ohn' that
there is one fold and one she!herd/
+@
The $rst section of the Unam sanctam contains the statement of the
dogma and three tremendously valuable e9!lanations/ The necessity of the
Church for the attainment of eternal salvation is described in terms of the
relation of the su!ernatural life of sanctifying grace to salvation itself' in
terms of the unity and the unicity of 4odGs true ecclesia' and in terms of the
visibility of that ecclesia in the condition of the )e8 Testament/ /
The statement of the dogma in the Unam sanctam di"ers some8hat from
its assertion in the 0irmiter% In the older document 8e $nd the statement
that no one at all is saved outside the Catholic Church/ The Unam sanctam'
on the other hand' teaches us that salvation itself is not to be found outside
this com!any/ Suite obviously both of these !ro!ositions bring out the
same meaning/ They insist that the !rocess of salvation is something found
8ithin the true 7ingdom of 4od on earth' and that a man has to be in some
8ay 8ithin this social unit if he is to obtain this divine gift/
The $rst of the e9!lanations o"ered here in the Unam sanctam' the
teaching that neither salvation nor the remission of sins can be obtained
outside the Catholic Church' is essentially im!ortant for the !ro!er
understanding of the doctrine of the necessity of the Church/ The remission
of sins' original or mortal' is an absolutely necessary !art of the !rocess of
salvation for the men of this 8orld/ In teaching us that this $rst salvation
cannot ta7e !lace outside of 4odGs su!ernatural 7ingdom on earth' Po!e
10
(en.%' ?=./
Boniface >III has focused our attention on the nature of salvation itself/
Considered actively or as a !rocess' salvation consists in saving a man' in
transferring him from a bad condition' one in 8hich the continuation of life
is im!ossible' to a situation of security and enCoyment/ In this 8ay a man is
saved if he is ta7en o" a sin7ing shi! and brought to another vessel in
sea8orthy condition' and thence to his home ashore/ Considered
obCectively' salvation is the bene$t received by the man 8ho is saved/
In the vocabulary of the faith and of sacred theology' the !rocess of
salvation ta7es !lace 8hen a man is removed from the condition of s!iritual
death' or of original or mortal sin' and transferred to the condition in 8hich
he enCoys the su!erL natural friendshi! of 4od and the !ossession of the life
of su!ernatural grace/ This !rocess is brought to its $nal termination 8hen'
in the !ossession of Beati$c >ision' the man saved attains the ultimate and
unending !erfection of the life of grace' and is forever e9em!t from the
danger of losing it/
Thus' absolutely and ultimately' salvation in the theological order is to be
found in the attainment of the Beati$c >ision/ The 8ord is em!loyed in this
sense in the statement that there is no salvation outside the Catholic
Church/ But' for every individual 8ho comes into this 8orld in the state of
original sin' the forgiveness of original or mortal sin is an integral and
absolutely necessary !art of the !rocess of salvation/ The most im!ortant
lesson taught in the Unam sanctam is the truth that this remission of sin'
original or mortal' cannot be ' obtained outside the one su!ernatural
7ingdom of 4od here on earth' the society 8hich 8e 7no8 as the Catholic
Church/
In order to understandG this as!ect of the mystery of the Church' 8e must
ta7e cogniHance of the fact' !resented to us in Catholic doctrine' that the
Beati$c >ision is a vital act' the ultimate and !erfective e9!ression of a
genuinely su!ernatural life/ #urthermore' 8e must also realiHe that in
reality' by 4odGs o8n institution' there is no situation available to men other
than the sinful aversion from 4od or the !ossession of the su!ernatural life
of sanctifying grace/
THE SUPERNATURAL ORDER
The salvation to 8hich the Catholic Church refers 8hen it teaches the
dogma of its o8n necessity is inherently and essentially a su!ernatural
thing/ The Beati$c >ision' in the acBuisition of 8hich the !rocess of
salvation is com!leted' is the direct and clear intellectual a!!rehension of
4od in the Trinity of His Persons/ As such' it is an act absolutely beyond the
natural !o8er or com!etence or e9igencies of any creature' actual or
!ossible/ It is the 7ind of o!eration 8hich may be called natural only to 4od
Himself/
An act is said to be natural to some being 8hen it lies 8ithin the area of
his natural com!etence/ In terms of understanding or intelligence Eand it is
8ithin the frame8or7 of understanding that the ultimate distinction
bet8een the natural and the intrinsically su!ernatural must be discernedF'
an act is natural 8hen it is the a!!rehension of some reality 8ithin the
s!here of the !ro!er obCect of that creatureGs intelligence/
It is not too di6cult to see this in terms of an e9am!le/ The !ro!er
obCect of the human intelligence' !recisely as such' is to be found in the
essences or natures of material things/ Man is de$nable as a rational
animal/ His natural activity is on the !lane of his o8n being/ He is naturally
constituted so as to be able to understand the realities 8hich he !erceives
through the activity of his sense faculties/ *hat he is naturally able to
understand is basically and !rimarily the 8orld of being of 8hich he is
made a8are by that sense activity 8hich is natural to him/
His intellectual activity is truly a 7no8ledge of being/ He is able to 7no8'
through his understanding of the sensible realities that lie 8ithin the s!here
of being that constitutes the !ro!er obCect of his human intelligence' that
these realities could not be as they are and act as they do unless they 8ere
being 7e!t in e9istence and in o!eration by an absolutely #irst Cause/ By
the em!loyment of the !rocesses of removal and e9cellence' he is able to
understand 8hat this #irst Cause is not' and ho8 it can be accurately' even
though inadeBuately' designated by human conce!ts and 8ords/
%ltimately' 8or7ing along the lines of this natural human intellectual
activity' man can arrive at the stage of natural intellectual !erfection in
8hich he becomes a8are' !recisely in and through his realiHation and
recognition of the essences of material things' of the beauty and order of
the universe' 8ith its daHHling multitude of creatures de!ending upon 4od
and 8or7ing for His glory/
There can be' and there truly are' intellectual creatures com!letely
su!erior to man/ 0et' in every case' these creatures must inevitably and
necessarily have their natural intellectual activity on the !lane of their o8n
being/ (very creature' as a creature' is a being in 8hich e9istence is
something really distinct from essence/ There is and there can be no
creature 8hich e9ists necessarily/ All have received' and continue to
receive' 8hatever being they !ossess from 4od Himself/
Hence the !ro!er formal obCect of the intelligence of any creature' actual
or !ossible' is necessarily something on the created level/ #rom the
e9amination of the reality 8ithin the com!ass of that !ro!er formal obCect'
any intellectual creature is able to arrive at a 7no8ledge of 4od insofar as
He is 7no8able as the #irst Cause of creatures/ The clarity and !rofundity of
this 7no8ledge 8ill be more !erfect in !ro!ortion as the created intellect
itself is more !erfect/ Thus the natural 7no8ledge of 4od by a created !ure
s!irit 8ould be immensely better than any natural 7no8ledge of Him
available to man' a rational animal/ But this natural 7no8ledge of 4od by a
created !ure s!irit 8ould' in the last analysis' remain 8ithin the range of
understanding of 4od 7no8n through an e9amination of the e"ects He has
!roduced in the created universe/ This 8ould mean an intellectual
7no8ledge of 4od in the unity of His )ature' but not of the Blessed Trinity/
3n the other hand' there is a ty!e of 7no8ledge of 4od 8hich is
natural only to 4od Himself/ In the in$nitely !erfect act of understanding
8hich is in no 8ay really distinct from Himself' the Triune 4od sees Himself
!erfectly in the Trinity of His Persons' really distinct from one another' but
subsisting in one and the same divine nature 8ith 8hich each of the three
Persons is identi$ed/
The basic truth about 4odGs dealings 8ith His intellectual creatures is to
be found in the fact that it has !leased His goodness and 8isdom to endo8
these intellectual creatures 8ith the 7ind of 7no8ledge of Him 8hich He
!ossesses Himself/ Thus' for the created !ure s!irits Ethe angelsF' and for
the entire human race' 4od has established an end or a $nal !erfection
com!letely distinct from and su!erior to the $nal end to 8hich these
intellectual creatures 8ould naturally have been ordered/ By the force of
His decree the only ultimate and eternal !erfection and beatitude available
to these intellectual creatures is this intrinsically su!ernatural good' the
7no8ledge and the !ossession of Himself in the Trinity of the &ivine Persons
in the clarity of the Beati$c >ision/
This immediate intellectual cogniHance of 4od in the Trinity of His Persons
is' by its very essence' something above and beyond the natural needs and
deserts of intellectual creatures/ #urthermore' it is a vital act' accom!anied
by and belonging 8ith a com!le9us of other acts 8hich' ta7en together'
constitute a true su!ernatural life/ The love of friendshi! for 4od' as
understood in the Trinity of His Persons' is one of those acts/
)o8' the second truth about the su!ernatural order is the fact that 4od'
in His 8isdom and goodness' has 8illed to give the Beati$c >ision to His
intellectual creatures as something 8hich they have earned or merited/
Suite obviously this bene$t is not to be earned through the !erformance of
any activity on a merely natural !lane/ The only 7ind of activity 8hich can
truly merit the Beati$c >ision is activity 8ithin the su!ernatural order itself'
the 8or7ing of the essentially su!ernatural life/ Hence' for every intellectual
creature called to the !ossession and enCoyment of the Beati$c >ision'
there is a !eriod in 8hich this life of the Beati$c >ision is meant to be lived
in a !re!aratory or militant stage/ #or the children of Adam' this !eriod is to
be found in the life in this 8orld/
Hence 4od 8ills that men should live and gro8 in the life of the Beati$c
>ision in this 8orld so as to be able to merit the eternal !ossession and
enCoyment of the Triune 4od in the 8orld to come/ In this !eriod of trial and
!re!aration it is Buite obvious that the Beati$c >ision itself is not available/
The thing being merited is not being enCoyed 8hile it is being merited/
ConseBuently' during the !eriod of this life' Gthe su!ernatural a8areness of
4od 8hich guides and enlightens the su!ernatural life is that of divine faith/
This consists in the certain acce!tance of 4odGs o8n message about
Himself and about the eternal and salvi$c decrees of His !rovidence our
regard/ It is essentially su!ernatural' in that it tells us of 4od in the Trinity
of His Persons/ #aith is intrinsically a !re!aration and a substitute for the
Beati$c >ision itself' since it conveys information about that very Reality
8hich 8e ho!e eventually to understand and to see in the glory of the
Beati$c >ision/ At the same time it is com!letely distinct from and su!erior
to any merely natural 7no8ledge about 4od/
The love of charity 8hich 8ill accom!any the Beati$c >ision in the
saints for all eternity also is meant to accom!any the act and the virtue of
divine faith in this 8orld/ And' 8here this charity is !resent' the
su!ernatural life itself e9ists and o!erates/ *here it is not !resent' there is
no su!ernatural life' although faith and ho!e may still e9ist/
The immediate su!ernatural !rinci!les of the su!ernatural life in
this 8orld are the various infused theological and moral virtues and the
seven gifts of the Holy 4host/ The ultimate intrinsic and created
su!ernatural !rinci!le of this life is the Buality 8hich 8e call sanctifying
grace/ This Buality acts as the ultimate intrinsic created !rinci!le of the
su!ernatural life in this 8orld and in the ne9t/
)o8 the !rocess of salvation Gconsists !rimarily in the besto8al of
this life of sanctifying grace u!on a !erson 8ho LS hitherto not !ossessed
it/ %ltimately it consists in the granting of the Beati$c >ision to this
individual/ #or' according to 4odGs o8n institution' as He has made this
7no8n to us in the message He has revealed to us in esus Christ His Son'
the life of sanctifying grace in heaven' the life of the Beati$c >ision itself'
can be enCoyed only as the continuation and the fruition of the life of grace
8hich has begun to o!erate in this 8orld' and 8hich is e9istent at the very
moment 8hen the individual !asses from this life to the ne9t/ The only men
8ho 8ill see 4od in heaven are those 8ho have !assed from this life in the
state of grace/
Thus there are t8o factors to be considered in the besto8al of the
Beati$c >ision/ The $rst is the giving of the life of grace to the !erson in this
8orld/ The second is the actual attainment of the clear understanding and
!ossession of the Triune 4od in heaven/ It is the teaching of the Unam
sanctam that both of these factors or bene$ts are available only 8ithin the
Catholic Church/
THE TERMINUS A QUO IN THE PROCESS OF SALVATION
The gift 8hich the documents of the Church designate as LsalvationL is
the Beati$c >ision' the ultimate Po8ering of the su!ernatural life of
sanctifying grace 8hich must begin to e9ist in this 8orld/ A man is said to
be saved' ultimately' 8hen he receives this su!ernatural bene$t of the
Beati$c >ision/ The term Lsalvation'L ho8ever' involves more than this/
The 7ey fact 8hich must be ta7en into consideration in any theological
e9!lanation of salvation is the truth that actually the besto8al of the life of
sanctifying grace is inse!arable from the remission of original or mortal sin
in the 8orld in 8hich 8e live/ There have been cases in 8hich this 8as not
so/ 3ur Lord' in His human nature' !ossessed in a com!letely !erfect
manner all the gifts of sanctifying grace and' both by reason of the divinity
of His Person and by reason of the fact that He 8as not descended from
Adam by a !rocess of carnal generation' He 8as never in any 8ay stained
8ith the guilt of sin/ His Blessed Mother 8as immaculately conceived' by
the !re:a!!lied merits of His Passion and death' she 8as !reserved free
from any taint of sin from the very moment she began to e9ist/ In her case'
also' the granting of the gift of sanctifying grace 8as not accom!anied by
any remission of sin/ *ith her' the beginning of e9istence coincided 8ith
the beginning of the su!ernatural life of sanctifying grace/ Li7e8ise' Adam
and (ve' before the #all' 8ere constituted in grace from the $rst moment of
their e9istence/ *ith them' ho8ever' the second granting of the life of
grace 8as brought about in and through the remission of sin/
In every one of their descendants this same thing has occurred'
e9ce!t for the cases of 3ur Lord and His Blessed Mother/ Mary e9ce!ted'
every !erson born into the family of Adam through the !rocess of carnal
generation has come into this 8orld in the state of original sin/ Both this
original sin and the mortal sins men commit during the course of their lives
are incom!atible 8ith the life of grace/ And' by the institution of 4od
Himself' the stain of sin can be removed only by the granting of the life of
grace/
The state of sin' original or mortal' is a state of aversion from or enmity
8ith 4od/ The removal of that state is accom!lished 8hen' and only 8hen'
the !erson 8ho has' hitherto been in the state of sin is constituted in the
condition of friendshi! 8ith 4od and is !ro!erly ordered to Him/ And there
is no situation other than that of sanctifying grace itself in 8hich a man can
be 8ell ordered to8ard 4od/
To be 8ell ordered to8ard 4od' or to be in a state of r friendshi! 8ith
Him' a man must be 8or7ing to8ard the goal 8hich 4od Himself has set for
him/ And' according to 4odGs o8n revealed message' the one goal or end in
the attainment of 8hich man may $nd his ultimate and eternal beatitude is
that of the Beati$c >ision/ There is no other ultimate end available to man/
If he fails to attain this obCective then' 8hatever he may seem to have
accom!lished during the course of his' earthly life' he 8ill have been
forever a failure/ There /is no state of neutrality to8ard 4od' and there is no
!ossible state of merely natural friendshi! 8ith Him available to the
children of Adam/
In other 8ords' all and only the !ersons 8ho are not in the state of grace
are in the state of original or mortal sin/ All and only the !ersons 8ho are
not in the state of original sin or mortal sin or both !ossess the life of
sanctifying grace/ Hence' according to 4odGs o8n institution' the !rocess
byG 8hich a man 8ho has hitherto not been in the state of grace receives
this su!ernatural life from 4od is necessarily the !rocess by 8hich his
original or mortal sin is forgiven/ The terminus a !uo of the transfer by
8hich a man is brought into the state of su!ernatural grace is necessarily'
for the children of Adam' the state of original or mortal sin/
OUR LORD'S FUNCTION IN THE REMISSION OF SIN AND
THE GRANTING OF THE LIFE OF GRACE
It is a basic and central !art of 4odGs revealed message that the remission
of sin' the !rocess in 8hich the su!ernatural life of sanctifying grace is
infused into a soul 8hich has hitherto been de!rived of it' is !ossible only
through and in 3ur Lord and Saviour esus Christ/ It is in 3ur Lord' accord:
ing to St/ PaulGs (!istle to the (!hesians' that L8e have redem!tion through
his blood' the remission of sins' according to the riches of his grace/L
++
And
St/ Peter' in his $rst (!istle' s!ea7s of Lthe 4od of all grace' 8ho hath called
us unto his eternal glory in Christ esus/L
+5
In fact one may say that the
central message of the )e8 Testament is the fact that salvation and the
remission of sins are !ossible only in and through 3ur Lord/
By His su"ering and death' He redeemed us and freed us from the bonds
of our iniBuities/ The actual graces or divine aids by 8hich a man is enabled
to move to8ards the love of charity for 4od and the hatred of sin 8hich
come together at the moment of Custi$cation have been merited for us by
3ur Lord/ So too are graces by 8hich a man is e"ectively and freely moved
11
Eph%' ID ;/
12
6 4et%' -D +@/
to Custi$cation and to the increase in the life of grace acBuired' along 8ith
the remission of sin' in the !rocess of Custi$cation/
Moreover' Custi$cation' the actual transfer of a man from the state of
original or mortal sin into the state of sanctifying grace' is !ossible only in
3ur Lord/ Here the dogma of the Catholic ChurchGs necessity for the
attainment of eternal salvation and for the remission of sin manifests itself
as the clear and accurate statement of the meaning actually conveyed in
the scri!tural e9!ression Lin Christ esus/L )either Custi$cation nor
glori$cation:::that is' neither the remission of our sins nor the attainment of
the Beati$c >isionTis !ossible e9ce!tL in Christ esus/L And the Church' in
the divinely ins!ired e!istles of St/ Paul' is re!resented !recisely though
meta!horically as Mthe body of Christ/L To be Min Christ esus'L then' is to be
M8ithinL the Mystical Body of Christ' 3ur LordGs one and only true Church or
7ingdom/ And' Cust as Custi$cation and glori$cation are absolutely
im!ossible other than Lin Christ esus'L they are li7e8ise absolutely
im!ossible MoutsideL His Mystical Body' 8hich is the Church/
It is highly im!ortant for us to realiHe that' in asserting the dogma of its
o8n necessity for salvation and for the living of the life of sanctifying grace'
the Catholic Church is sim!ly stating in a non:$gurative fashion the very
truth 8hich 3ur Lord Himself e9!ounded through His use of the meta!hor
of the vine and the branches/ 3ur Lord taughtD
I am the true vineD and my #ather is the husbandman/
(very branch in me that beareth not fruit' he 8ill ta7e a8ayD and
every one that beareth fruit' he 8ill !urge it' that it may bring forth
more fruit/
)o8 you are clean' by reason of the 8ord 8hich I have s!o7en to you/
Abide in meD and I in you/ As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself'
unless it abide in the vine' so neither can you' unless you abide in
me/
I am the vineD you the branches/ He that abideth in me' and I in him'
the same beareth much fruitD for 8ithout me you can do nothing/
If anyone abide not in me' he shall be cast forth as a branch and
shall 8itherD and they shall gather
him u! and cast him into the $reD and he burneth/
If you abide in me and my 8ords abide in you' you shall as7 8hatever
you 8illD and it shall be done unto you/
In this is my #ather glori$edD that you bring forth very much fruit and
become my disci!les/
+<
3ur Lord Himself e9!lained the reality of this MabidingN in Him 8hich 8as
reBuisite for the life of grace and of salvation in the (ucharistic &iscourse
itself/
Then esus said to themD Amen' amen' I say unto youD e9ce!t you
eat the Pesh of the Son of
man and drin7 his blood' you shall not have life in you/
He that eateth my Pesh and drin7eth my blood hath everlasting lifeD
and I 8ill raise him u! in
the last day/
#or my Pesh is meat indeedD and my blood is drin7 indeed/
He that eateth my Pesh and drin7eth my blood abideth in meD and
I in him/
As the living #ather hath sent me and I live by the #atherD so he that
eateth me' the same also
shall live by me/
This is the bread that came do8n from heaven/ )ot as your fathers
did eat manna and are dead/
He that eateth this bread shall live for ever/
+?
Thus' according to this teaching by 3ur Lord' the beginning' the
continuation' the develo!ment' and the eternal !ossession of the
su!ernatural life' the life on the level of 4od rather than the mere natural
life of the creature' is com!letely de!endent u!on abiding in Him/ And' as
He has clearly e9!lained' the individual in 8hom 3ur Lord abides' and 8ho
d8ells or abides in 3ur Lord' is the one 8ho !arta7es of the (ucharistic
banBuet of 3ur LordGs Body and Blood/ Suite obviously 3ur Lord is s!ea7ing
13
7ohn' +-D +:./
14
7ohn' =D-?:-,/
in terms of a 8orthy rece!tion of the (ucharist/
)o8' by the divine constitution of the Church militant of the )e8
Testament' this social unit is the one social unit 8ithin 8hich men may
!arta7e 8orthily of the (ucharistic banBuet/ 3ur LordGs o8n ecclesia is the
one and only com!any 8ithin 8hich the (ucharist itself 8as instituted and
for 8hich it 8as intended/ The (ucharistic sacri$ce is o"ered' and the
Sacrament of the Holy (ucharist is received rightly and !ro!erly only 8ithin
this community/ Conversely' any man 8ho fruitfully and 8orthily !arta7es of
this (ucharistic feast is 8ithin the true Church' at least by intention/
3ur LordGs statement that Lhe that eateth my Pesh and drin7eth my blood
abideth in meD and I in himL is de$nitely not restricted to the !hysical
rece!tion of the Sacrament of the Holy (ucharist/ A s!iritual rece!tion of
the (ucharist' 8hich consists in a desire Eeven an im!licit desireF to !arta7e
of the Sacrament and to !ro$t from that rece!tion is su6cient for this union
8ith 3ur Lord in the case of a !erson for 8hom the actual rece!tion or
!hysical rece!tion of the Sacrament is' for one reason or another' really
im!ossible/
Thus' as 3ur Lord e9!lains the matter' salvation and the su!ernatural life of
sanctifying grace are !ossible for the member of the Church 8ho is 8ithin
this society as one of its integral !arts' and 8ho is vitally Coined to 3ur Lord
by the 8orthy rece!tion of the Sacrament of His love/ It is also !ossible for
the Catholic 8ho is unable !hysically to receive the Sacrament' but 8ho'
8ith a desire of the Sacrament and of its e"ects and 8ith the intention of
charity animating that desire' is integrated into the Church' the household
of the living 4od' 8ithin 8hich and for 8hich that sacri$ce is o"ered and
that sacrament is confected/ It is also !ossible for the non:member of the
Church 8ho' unable to attain membershi! in ChristGs Mystical Body and
enlightened by true and su!ernatural divine faith' loves 4od 8ith the
a"ection of true charity and' in that love' forms at least an im!licit desire of
the sacrament and of its salvi$c e"ects/ In this last case the man 8ho
!ossesses this desire' !resenting it to 4od in the form of !rayer' 8ill receive
the guerdon he see7s' union 8ith 3ur Lord in His com!any' 8hich is the
Church/ The man is brought into the Church Ethough obviously not
constituted as a member of the ChurchF and into s!iritual and salvi$c
rece!tion of 3ur LordGs Body and Blood' through the force of his !rayer and
desire that are animated and motivated by divine charity/
This is the meaning of the teaching about the ChurchGs necessity for the
attainment of eternal salvation and for the remission of sins 8hich has been
brought out so !o8erfully and !rofoundly in the Unam sanctam% In this
great document Po!e Boniface >III brings out his teaching !rinci!ally by the
use of t8o of the meta!horical scri!tural names or designations of the
Church/ He em!loys the name and the notion of the Church as LS!ouse of
ChristL to sho8 that those 8ho are 8ithin the Church are 8ithin the reality
8hich may be said to constitute one body 8ith Him/ And he em!loys the
term LMystical BodyL to designate the Church as the social unit 8ithin
8hich alone there is intimate and salvi$c contact 8ith 3ur &ivine
Redeemer/ And thus' in his enunciation and e9!lanation of the dogma' he
brings out' in the technically e9!ressive terminology of sacred theology' the
very lesson 8hich 3ur Lord brought out so forcefully in the $gurative
language He used in teaching His disci!les/
THE DOGMA AND THE ERROR OF QUESNEL
*hen the Unam sanctam teaches us that there can be no remission of sins
outside the Catholic Church' it is telling us' actually' that it is im!ossible to
obtain the life of sanctifying grace or to live that life outside this
su!ernatural 7ingdom of 4od/ It is bringing out the divinely revealed truth
that' by 4odGs o8n institution' the life of sanctifying grace is to be
!ossessed and derived from 3ur Lord by those 8ho are united 8ith Him'
abiding in Him' in His Mystical Body' 8hich is the Catholic Church/
*e must be es!ecially clear' both in our conce!ts and in our terminology'
on this !oint/ *hat the Unam sanctam certainly im!lies' in declaring the
necessity of the Church for the remission of sins' is the truth that the life of
sanctifying grace and the su!ernatural habitus of sanctifying grace can be
obtained and !ossessed only 8ithin the Church/ In the light of Catholic
doctrine' ho8ever' it is both certain and obvious that actual graces are
really o"ered to and received by men 8ho are de$nitely Loutside the
Church'L in the sense in 8hich this e9!ression is em!loyed in the
ecclesiastical documents 8hich state the dogma of the ChurchGs necessity
for the attainment of eternal salvation/ As a matter of fact the !ro!osition
that Lno grace is granted outside the Church *e)tra ecclesiam nulla
conceditur gratia,/ is one of the theses condemned e9!licitly by Po!e
Clement AI in his dogmatic constitution Unigenitus' issued Se!tember .'
+;+<' and directed against the teachings of PasBuier Suesnel/
+-
It is certain 8ith the certitude of divine faith itself that actual graces are
really necessary to !re!are men for and to move them to the very acts by
8hich they come to be L8ithin the Church/L Thus' in the light of Catholic
teaching' it is obvious that these graces are o"ered and granted to men
8ho are really outside the Church' lac7ing both real membershi! in the
su!ernatural 7ingdom of 4od and any real desire of membershi!/
(9ce!t in the case of a true moral miracle' such as that 8hich occurred in
the instantaneous conversion of St/ Paul' the !rocess of Custi$cation E8hich
can terminate only 8ithin the true ChurchF is !receded by a series of acts
8hich' together' constitute the !re!aration for Custi$cation/ In a famous
cha!ter of its decree on Custi$cation the Council of Trent has listed and
briePy e9!lained some of these acts' as they occur in the case of one 8ho
has hitherto lac7ed the true faith/ %nder this heading it s!ea7s of acts of
faith' of salutary fear' of ho!e' of initial love of 4od' and of !re:ba!tismal
!enance/ The !rocess of !re!aration for Custi$cation' according to this
cha!ter' ends 8ith the intention to receive ba!tism' to begin a ne8 life' and
to observe 4odGs commandments/
+=
)o8 an unba!tiHed !erson 8ho has not the Christian faith is in no sense
8ithin the Catholic Church/ He does not begin to be 8ithin it' either as a
member or as one 8ho sincerely desires to become a member' even 8hen
he ma7es his initial act of faith/ 0et' according to the clear and infallibly true
teaching of the Catholic Church' divine grace is absolutely reBuisite' not
15
(en./' +<;,/
16
Cf/ (en./' ;,./
only for the eliciting of the act of faith itself' but even for 8hat the Second
Council of 3range Lcalls theL a17ectus credulitatis'N
+;
the dis!osition or the
8illingness to believe/ This actual grace is de$nitely given to men 8ho are
outside the Church/ And thus the assertion that no grace is granted outside
the Church is com!letely incom!atible 8ith Catholic teaching' even though
it is Catholic doctrine that the life of su!ernatural grace itself is not to be
obtained or !ossessed outside the Church/
THE CHURCH'S UNITY AND UNICITY
The basic teaching of this o!ening section of the Unam sanctam is the
truth that the su!ernatural life of sanctifying grace can neither begin nor
continue a!art from and outside 3ur LordGs Mystical Body/ Thus it
constitutes a !o8erful and su!remely accurate commentary on those
!assages of Sacred Scri!ture 8hich sho8 us that the su!ernatural life of
grace cannot e9ist other than in and through 3ur Lord' and thus in His
com!any' the society 8hich 8as and is so intimately Coined to 3ur Saviour
that !ersecution of it 8as described by Him as !ersecution of Himself/
The !resentation of this truth is made es!ecially forceful in this
document by its insistence that this community' outside 8hich there is
neither salvation nor the remission of sins' is genuinely one and uniBue/
Po!e Boniface >III a!!eals to scri!tural images' li7e that of the ar7 of )oe
and the seamless robe of Christ/ He adduces the teaching in the Canticle of
Canticles that the beloved' the $gure of the Church' is truly and only one/
He a!!eals to the fact that in the Church there is Mone Lord' one faith' one
17
Cf/ (en.%' +;./
ba!tism'L and to the bonds of unity e9isting 8ithin the Church/ #inally' he
!oints to the unity of the ChurchGs leadershi!' e9ercised by the Bisho! of
Rome by the authority and in the name of one s!iritual and su!reme Head'
esus Christ/
In thus insisting on the unity of the com!any outside 8hich there is no
salvation' the Unam sanctam brings out the su!remely !ractical im!lication
of the dogma/ The Church 8ithin 8hich men must enter and d8ell if they
are to attain the remission of their sins and the !ossession and $nal
Po8ering of the su!ernatural life is de$nitely one community' undivided in
itself' and Buite distinct from every other social unit in e9istence/ This one
com!any is the ecclesia 8hich all must see7 to enter' and 8ithin 8hich they
must remain if they are to be !leasing to 4od in this 8orld and in the ne9t/
The dogma of the ChurchGs necessity for the attainment of eternal
salvation' as seen in this light' is certainly not an a"air of mere theory or
s!eculation' but a truth 8hich men must acce!t as revealed by 4od
Himself' and 8hich they must use as a guiding !rinci!le of their o8n lives/
THE CHURCH'S VISIBILITY
The intensely !ractical !resentation of the dogma in the Unam sanctam
is increased by this documentGs insistence on the visibility of the one
society 8ithin 8hich alone men may $nd salvation and the forgiveness o1
their sins/ The true Church 8hich is necessary for the attainment of
salvation is the one society over 8hich Peter and his successors rule by 3ur
LordGs o8n commission/ 3ur Lord con$ded all of His shee!' all of the !eo!le
8hom the #ather had given to Him' to be brought to eternal life' to the care
of Peter/ Those individuals 8ho describe themselves as not con$ded to St/
Peter and his successors' and thus are not o8ing obedience to them'
characteriHe themselves as not being among the shee! of U Christ/ They
sho8 themselves to be outside the com!any 8ithin 8hich alone there is
salvi$c contact 8ith 3ur Lord/ This strong and realistic teaching of the
Unam sanctam is most !erfectly manifested in the de$nition in 8hich this
document endsD
Hence *e declare' state' de$ne' and assert that for every human
creature submission to the Roman Ponti" *subesse Romano 4onti#ci,
is absolutely necessary for salvation *omnino de necessitate
salutisF/
+.
&uring our o8n times' !rior to the issuance of the encyclical $ystici
Corporis Christi' there 8as a manifest tendency on the !art of some
Catholic 8riters to teach the e9istence of a so:called Linvisible Church'L in
some 8ay distinct from the organiHation over 8hich the Roman Ponti"
!resides' and to ascribe to this imaginary' entity the necessity for salvation/
The closing sentence of the Unam sanctam had long ago rendered this
!osition absolute untenable from a theological !oint of vie8/ As this
document sho8ed most clearly' the Church outside 8hich there is neither
salvation nor the remission of sins is' in fact' the society over 8hich the
Roman Ponti" !resides as the >icar of Christ and as the successor of St/
Peter/ It is the society designated by the Bellarminian de$nition of the true
Church' as the assembly of men united in the !rofession of the same
Christian faith and by the communion of the same sacraments' under the
rule of the legitimate !astors' and es!ecially of the Roman Ponti"' the one
18
(en./' ?=,/
>icar of Christ on earth/
+,
These !oints are brought out 8ith !articular clarity in the Unam sanctam:
E+F The Church is necessary' not only (ar the attainment of salvation
itself' but for the forgiveness of sins' 8hich is inse!arable from the granting
of the su!ernatural life of sanctifying grace/
E5F The Church is necessary for the attainment of salvation and of the life
of grace !recisely because it is the Body and the S!ouse of esus Christ/
E<F Attainment of salvation in the Church involves union 8ith the
Bisho! of Rome/
E?F The dogma of the ChurchGs necessity for the attainment of eternal
salvation cannot be e9!lained accurately in terms of any Linvisible Church.
III
THE DECREE FOR THE JACOBITES
The seventeenth in the series of 3ecumenical Councils 8as that of
#lorence/ It 8as a gathering called to end some longstanding se!arations of
3riental dissident grou!s from the true Church/ 3ne of its acts 8as the
famed decree for the acobites' included in the dogmatic Bull Cantate
(omino' issued by Po!e (ugenius I> on #ebruary ?' +??5/ The follo8ing
!aragra!h is found in this decreeD
It Ithe sacrosanct Roman Church' established by the voice of 3ur
Lord and SaviourJ $rmly believes' !rofesses' and teaches that none of
those 8ho do not e9ist 8ithin the Catholic Church' not only !agans'
but e8s' heretics' and schismatics' can become !arta7ers of eternal
lifeO but that they are going into the everlasting $re 8hich is !re!ared
for the devil and his angels' unless they become associated 8ith it
Enisi/ / / eidem 1uerint aggregatiF before they die/ And Iit $rmly
believes' !rofesses' and teachesJ that the unity of the ecclesiastical
body is of such value that the ChurchGs sacraments are !ro$table
unto salvation' and that fastings' almsgivings' and the other duties of
!iety and e9ercises of the Christian militancy' bring forth eternal
19
Cf/ (e ecclesia rnilitante' c/ 5/
re8ards only for those 8ho remain 8ithin it Ithe unity of the
ecclesiastical bodyJD and that' ho8ever great his almsgiving may be'
and even though he might shed his blood for the name of Christ' no
one can be saved unless he remains 8ithin the embrace and the
unity of the Catholic Church/
5@
Actually this declaration of the Cantate (omino sim!ly ma7es more
e9!licit the lessons brought out in the #ourth Lateran Council and in the Bull
Unam sanctam% #irst of all' it mentions and classi$es those 8ho are outside
of the true Church/ These include the !agans' 8ho do not acce!t any !art
of divine !ublic revelationO the e8s' 8ho acce!t the 3ld Testament as
4odGs messageO the heretics' 8ho acce!t certain !arts of the teaching
contained in the )e8 TestamentO and $nally the schismatics' 8ho have not
reCected any !ortion
of the divinely revealed message' but 8ho sim!ly have cut themselves o"
from communion 8ith the true Church/ It insists that none of these !eo!le
can attain to eternal life unless they enter the true Church before they !ass
from this 8orld/ In issuing this teaching' the Cantate (omino sim!ly
re!eated' 8ith a little more e9!licitness about the individuals 8ho are
LoutsideL the Church' 8hat !revious documents had already taught about
the necessity of the Catholic Church for the attainment of eternal salvation/
This is !lain in both the $rst and the second !arts of the teaching on this
subCect set forth in the Cantate (omino% The $rst !art asserts that the
various classes of individuals LoutsideL the Catholic Church not only cannot
become !arta7ers of eternal life' but also that Lthey are going into the ever:
lasting $re 8hich is !re!ared for the devil and his angelsL unless they
become united to the Church before they !ass from this 8orld/ In this
20
(en.%' ;+?/
assertion' 8hich' incidentally' has been designated as LrigorousL by
o!!onents of the Church and by some badly instructed Catholics' Po!e
(ugenius I> merely too7 cogniHance of the reality of 3ur LordGs 8or7 of
redem!tion/
)o8' the alternative to being saved is being lost/ The !erson 8ho is
saved is' in the ultimate and !erfect sense' the one 8ho $nally attains to
the Beati$c >ision through the salvi$c !o8er of 3ur LordGs sacri$cial death/
The !erson 8ho is not saved is inevitably one 8ho is debarred for all
eternity from the !ossession of the Beati$c >ision' in 8hich alone the ulti:
mate and eternal end of man is to be found/ The individual 8ho attains the
one and only ultimate end available to man 8ill have been a shining
success for all eternity' 8hatever su"erings and humiliations he may have
been called u!on to undergo during the !eriod of his !re!aration and trial
in this 8orld/ 3n the other hand' the !erson 8ho does not attain to that end
8ill have been a failure for all eternity' des!ite any success and !leasure he
may have had during the course of his earthly life/
#urthermore' no one is e9cluded from the everlasting !ossession of the
Beati$c >ision e9ce!t for reasons of sin/ In the case of an infant 8ho has
died 8ithout receiving the sacrament of ba!tism' that sin is not !ersonal'
but is original sin' the aversion from 4od 8hich is conseBuent u!on the
o"ense committed by Adam himself/ 3bviously' according to the teaching
of the Catholic Church' an infant 8ho dies in that state 8ill not be !unished
by the all:Cust and all:merciful 4od for some sin 8hich he did not !ersonally
commit/ But' for such an infant' the Beati$c >ision is a good to 8hich the
infant is not entitled and 8hich he 8ill not receive/
The adult 8ho dies in the state of mortal sin' 8hether his original sin has
been remitted in the sacrament of ba!tism or not' 8ill not only be e9cluded
from the !ossession of the Beati$c >ision' but 8ill also be !unished for his
unre!ented o"enses against 4od/ And' since there is no forgiveness of sin
a!art from the Catholic Church' the Mystical Body of esus Christ' there is
no salvation for the individual 8ho !asses from this life LoutsideL the
Catholic Church/ The !erson 8ho dies 8ith unremitted mortal sins against
4od 8ill not only be e9cluded from the Beati$c >ision Ethus su"ering the
!enalty of lossF' but 8ill also receive the !unishment due to the sin for
8hich he has not re!ented Ethe !enalty of senseF/
3ur Lord is our &ivine Saviour !recisely because' through His sacri$cial
death on Calvary' He has earned for us the salvation from our sins' both
original and actual/ )o8' the salvation 8hich He merited for us 8as
!recisely a rescue from our sins and from the e"ects conseBuent u!on
them/ Those e"ects are !rinci!ally the loss of 4odGs friendshi!O subCection
to Satan' the !rince of this 8orldO the eternal loss of the Beati$c >isionO and
the !unishments of hell/ 3ur Lord did not su"er the tortures and the
ignominy of the most horrible of deaths to 8in any unim!ortant favor for
us/
The 7ey truth in all of this !ortion of sacred theology is the fact that the
Catholic Church is actually the Mystical Body of esus Christ/ In order to be
saved from the condition in 8hich 8e are born into the 8orld' and the
condition in 8hich 8e !lace ourselves by our o8n mortal sins' 8e must be
in salvi$c contact 8ith our &ivine Redeemer/ And the one and only social
unit 8ithin 8hich this salvi$c contact can be made is the institution 8hich
St/ Paul designated as the Body of Christ' the society 8e 7no8 as the
Catholic Church/
The !eo!le 8ho do not come into salvi$c contact 8ith 3ur Lord do not
avail themselves of the salvation 8hich is in Him alone/ As a result they are
not saved' and they remain in the condition in 8hich they have come into
the 8orld' or in the condition in 8hich they have !laced themselves
through their o8n !ersonal and mortal sins/ If they die in this condition'
they inevitably receive the e"ects 8hich follo8 u!on their condition/ They
are e9cluded from the Beati$c >ision and' if they !ass from this life guilty of
mortal sin for 8hich they have not been re!entant' they su"er the !ain of
hell forever/
This is the section of Catholic doctrine 8hich is most shar!ly o!!osed to
the s!irit of the times in 8hich 8e live/ The enunciation of this truth seems
al8ays to be designated as LrigorousL or as something 8orse by those 8ho
are animated by the s!irit of the 8orld' 8hether they are o!enly enemies of
the Church or not/
0et' if 8e e9amine the mentality of this sort of o!!osition' 8e $nd that it is
directed ultimately' not against the teachings about the com!etence and
the necessity of the Catholic Church' but actually against the redem!tive
8or7 of esus Christ 3ur Lord/ *hat is obviously bac7 of obCection to this
!ortion of Catholic teaching is the conviction' or at least the claim' that
eternal ha!!iness is in some 8ay the native right of all human beings
8ithout e9ce!tion' or at least something 8ithin the $eld of com!etence of
these same human beings/
A man 8ho feels in this 8ay is inevitably inclined to loo7 u!on the e"ects
of 3ur LordGs redem!tive sacri$ce as in reality either non:e9istent or Buite
unim!ortant/ If the best man can obtain is something to 8hich he is entitled
by the very fact of being a man' or something 8hich he is com!etent to
obtain through the e9ercise of his o8n natural !o8ers' then of course it is
hardly more than a mere verbalism to s!ea7 of a redem!tion/ And if 4od is
going to give everlasting life to any man' 8ithout regard for any contact
8ith 3ur Lord' then the most 3ur Lord could have done has been to obtain
some e9tra and accidental advantages in the su!ernatural order for those
8ho come and stay in contact 8ith Him/
Such' ho8ever' has not been the case' and any system of thought 8hich
bases itself on such false assum!tions is com!letely and fatally unrealistic/
As a matter of fact' all man7ind' all the !rogeny of Adam' absolutely
needed the forgiveness of sin and the liberation 8hich actually came only
through the redem!tive sacri$ce of esus Christ 3ur Lord/ If manGs sins had
remained unforgiven by 4od' then man 8ould have been Custly and
necessarily shut a8ay from the Beati$c >ision forever/ If manGs !ersonal
mortal sins had not been forgiven' man 8ould have been Custly and
necessarily subCect to everlasting !unishment for those sins/
In reality the only motive force for the forgiveness of manGs sins is to be
found in the redem!tion by esus Christ/ And the only !ossible 8ay for a
man to have his o8n sins remitted is to come into contact 8ith 3ur Lord
and 8ith His salvi$c !o8er in the one and only social unit 8hich has been
divinely constituted as His Mystical Body/ This means being 8ithin His
Church as a member or at least by a sincere' even though !erha!s only an
im!licit' desire or intention/ The man 8ho is not thus in contact 8ith 3ur
Lord cannot have the remission of sin/ And he cannot have the e"ects that
follo8 u!on that remission of sin/
3nce again' if 8e are to loo7 u!on this section of Catholic teaching
accurately and obCectively' 8e must ta7e the trouble to realiHe that 3ur
Lord did not die the terrible death of the Cross for the attainment of any
!altry or merely accidental obCective/ He died to save men from sin and
from the !enalties of sin/ He died to save men from servitude to Satan' the
leader of all 8ho are turned against 4od' and to save them from everlasting
e9clusion from the Beati$c >ision/ He died to save them from the
everlasting !enalties of hell/ )o one can have this gift of salvation a!art
from Him/
Moreover' 8e must not lose sight of the fact that all men stand in need of
redem!tion/ There is absolutely no one 8ho can come to the love and
friendshi! of 4od by his o8n unaided natural !o8ers/ All men need the
remission of sin' 8hich is to be found only in the redem!tive sacri$ce of 3ur
Lord/ The infusion or granting of the su!ernatural life of grace is the
!ositive as!ect of the remission of original or mortal sin' and this life of
grace is a sharing of the divine life' a sharing 8hich is not to be obtained
a!art from the Incarnate *ord of 4od/ Since the sin of Adam there never
has been and there never 8ill be the remission of sin or the granting of the
life of sanctifying grace to any human being a!art from the force of 3ur
LordGs redem!tive sacri$ce/
It is a further fact that' in the designs of 4odGs !rovidence' men come into
salvi$c contact 8ith 3ur Lord in His 7ingdom or His Mystical Body/ Such' as
a matter of fact' is the basic conce!t of 4odGs 7ingdom even here on earth'
for it is inherently the community of 4odGs chosen !eo!le/ The 7ingdom of
4od on earth is the social unit or the com!any of those 8ho are LsavedL in
the sense that they are removed from the dominion of the !rince of this
8orld/ It is the society 8ithin 8hich 3ur Lord d8ells and over 8hich He
!resides as the true and invisible Head/ And' in 4odGs o8n dis!ensation'
this society' in the !eriod of the )e8 Testament' is the Catholic Church/
Some of those 8ho have 8ritten 8ith 8hat seems to be the avo8ed
intention of 8ea7ening or obscuring this section of Catholic doctrine have
admitted Eas anyone 8ho claims to be a Catholic must admitF that there is
no salvation a!art from 3ur LordGs redem!tion' but have li7e8ise taught
that 8e do not 7no8 the direction of those graces 8hich 4od gives' through
3ur Lord' to those 8ho are outside the Catholic Church/ This assertion is
de$nitely untrue/
All of the su!ernatural aids granted by 4od to any man tend to lead him to
the eternal !ossession of the Beati$c >ision/ They li7e8ise direct him
to8ard those realities 8hich' either by their very nature or by 4odGs o8n
institution' are reBuisite for the attainment of the Beati$c >ision/ 3ne of
those realities is the visible Catholic Church' the religious society over
8hich the Bisho! of Rome !resides as the >icar of Christ on earth/ The
graces 8hich 4od grants to any man outside the Church 8ill inevitably
guide him in the direction of the Church/
If a man continues faithful to the graces given him by 4od he 8ill
certainly attain to eternal salvation/ And he 8ill Cust as certainly obtain that
salvation L8ithinL the true Church of esus Christ/ 4odGs grace 8ill lead a
man in the direction of Custi$cation' according to the !attern set forth in the
teaching of the Council of Trent/ It 8ill direct him to believe 4odGs revealed
message 8ith a certain assent based on the authority of 4od Himself
revealing/ It 8ill lead him in the direction of salutary fear and of ho!e and of
initial love of 4od and of !enance/ %ltimately it 8ill lead him to a desire of
ba!tism' even though' in some cases' that desire may be only im!licit in
character/ And ba!tism is of itself the gate8ay to the Church' the Mystical
Body of Christ' 8ithin 8hich the life of grace and salvation are to be found/
In the case of a man 8ho is already ba!tiHed' the !re!aration for
Custi$cation includes an intention Eat least im!licitF of remaining 8ithin the
7ingdom of 4od to 8hich ba!tism itself is the gate8ay/
It is both idle and misleading to characteriHe the teaching of the Cantate
(omino as in any 8ay LrigorousL or e9igent/ This doctrine' 8hich is
standard Catholic teaching' is only the e9!ression of 8hat 4od has taught
about the !lace of His SonGs Mystical Body in the economy of manGs
salvation/ )either the Catholic Church itself nor the teachers of the Church
have made the Church something reBuisite for the attainment of the
Beati$c >ision/ *hen the Church ma7es the sort of statement that is found
in the Cantate (omino' it is acting merely as the teacher of 8hat 4od
Himself has revealed/ As the Mystical Body of Christ' the society 8ithin
8hich 3ur Lord Himself is the su!reme Teacher' the Church could not do
other8ise/
&isagreeable as the tas7 may seem to some individuals' the Catholic
Church has to face the facts/ Basic among
those facts is the truth that' a!art from the redem!tion 8hich is in esus
Christ' all men 8ould inevitably have been e9cluded for all eternity from the
!ossession of the Beati$c >ision' in 8hich alone the ultimate and eternal
end and ha!!iness of man may be attained/ Another fact is that the
!unishment for unforgiven mortal sin Esin of 8hich the guilty !arty has not
re!entedF is the everlasting !enalty of hell' a !enalty 8hich includes both
the poena damni and poena sensus% Still another fact is that the
forgiveness of sin and the infusion of the life of grace is available by the
!o8er of Christ only L8ithinL His 7ingdom' His Mystical Body' 8hich' in this
!eriod of the )e8 Testament' is the visible Catholic Church/ Such' in the
$nal analysis' is this teaching of the $rst section of our citation from the
Cantate (omino%
The second sentence in the !ortion of the document translated at the
beginning of this cha!ter brings out the fact that acts 8hich 8ould
other8ise be most conducive to salvation are de!rived of their e"ect if they
are !erformedL outsideL the bond of unity of the Catholic Church/ It teaches
that even the rece!tion of the sacraments cannot be L!ro$table unto
salvation'L that is' cannot !roduce their e"ects in the life of divine grace for
those 8ho are outside of the unity of the ecclesiastical body/ #urthermore it
asserts that no 8or7 8hich of its very nature ought to be salutary can be
!ro$table in the line of salvation unless these 8or7s are !erformedL 8ithinL
the true Church of esus Christ/
)o8' the sacraments !roduce grace of themselves' e) opere operato' as
the technical language of sacred theology says/ They bring about this e"ect
e9ce!t 8here there is some dis!osition on the !art of the reci!ient 8hich is
incom!atible 8ith the rece!tion of the life of sanctifying grace/ According to
the terminology of the Cantate (omino' such an obstacle e9ists in a !erson
8ho is LoutsideL the unity of the ecclesiastical body' the Mystical Body of
esus Christ/
3nce again' at this !oint it is absolutely im!erative to remember that
beingL 8ithinL the Church is not e9actly the same thing as being a member
of this social unit/ A man is a member of the Church 8hen he is ba!tiHed'
and 8hen he has neither !ublicly renounced his ba!tismal !rofession of the
true faith nor 8ithdra8n from the fello8shi! of the Church' and 8hen he
has not been e9!elled from the com!any of the disci!les by having
received the fullness of e9communication/ But a man is L8ithinL the Church
to the e9tent that he can be saved L8ithinL it 8hen he is a member or even
8hen he sincerely' albeit !erha!s only im!licitly' desires to enter it/ The
condition reBuisite for !ro$ting from the rece!tion of the sacraments or
from the !erformance of acts 8hich should be salutary is being L8ithinL the
Church/
)o8' 8hile it is !ossible to have a desire to be 8ithin the Church' and'
indeed even to be a member of the Church' 8ithout having the love of
charity for 4od' it is Buite im!ossible to have charity 8ithout being 8ithin
the true Church' at least by an im!licit desire to d8ell in it/ The love of
charity is' by its very nature' a sovereign a"ection/ It is de$nable in terms
of intention rather than of mere velleityO and it necessarily embodies an
intention' rather than a mere velleity' to do 8hat 3ur Lord actually 8ills 8e
should do/ And 3ur Lord 8ills that all men should enter and remain 8ithin
the one society of His disci!les' His 2ingdom and His Mystical Body in this
8orld/
An intention' incidentally' is an act of the 8ill 8hich is e9!ressed by the
statement that I am actually setting out to do a certain thingO a velleity' on
the other hand' is an act of the 8ill e9!ressed in the declaration that I
8ould li7e to do a thing/ If I really intend to do a certain thing:to ta7e a
de$nite tri!' for e9am!le:that intention necessarily a"ects all the rest of my
!lans and my conduct at the time/ The man 8ho really intends to ta7e a
!lane to )e8 0or7 certainly 8ill not ma7e any !lans or enter into any
agreements incom!atible 8ith the ta7ing of the tri! he has set out to ma7e/
The mere velleity' on the other hand' has no such e"ectiveness/ If I say I
8ould li7e to ta7e a tri! to )e8 0or7' this statement and the act of the 8ill
of 8hich it is the e9!ression have no inPuence 8hatsoever on the rest of
my !lans/ The velleity is a mere com!lacency in an idea/ It involves no
actual !re!aration to accom!lish its obCective/
The love of charity is essentially something in the line of intention rather
than of mere velleity/ The man 8ho loves 4od 8ith the true a"ection of
charity actually intends' insofar as it is !ossible for him to do so' to do the
8ill of 4od/ It is de$nitely the 8ill of 4od that all men should enter and live
8ithin the Mystical Body of esus Christ/ It is im!ossible for a man 8ho
really loves 4od 8ith the a"ection of divine charity not to be 8ithin the
Church as a member or at least to desire 8ith a sincere and e"ective' even
though !erha!s only an im!licit' intention to enter this com!any/
Hence' if a man is not L8ithinL the Church at least by a sincere desire or
a"ection' he has not the genuine love of charity for 4od/ In such a case
there is some intention 8hich runs counter to 4odGs 8ill acting as the
guiding and the motivating force of his life/ If that intention !ersists' it
remains incom!atible 8ith the love of charity and 8ith the life of sanctifying
grace' 8hich is inse!arable from the love of charity/ The man 8ith such an
intention is not in a !osition to !ro$t from the sacraments or from a 8or7
8hich' of its very nature' ought to be salutary/ The life of sanctifying grace
is im!ossible for a man 8ho !ossesses an intention incom!atible 8ith the
intention of charity itself/ The man 8ho is outside the Church' in the sense
that he does not even have an im!licit desire to enter the 7ingdom of 4od
on earth' obviously acts as moved by such an intention/
Thus the Cantate (omino brings out very clearly the follo8ing facts
8hich 8ere !reviously set forth in a more im!licit manner in !revious
declarations of the Church/
E+F All of those outside the Church' even the individuals 8ho have
committed no sin against the faith itself' are in a !osition in 8hich they
cannot be saved unless they in some 8ay enter or Coin the Church before
they die/
E5F The alternative to eternal and su!ernatural salvation is de!rivation of
the Beati$c >ision/ In the case of those 8ho are guilty of mortal sin 8hich
remains unre!ented' this in' eludes both the !enalty of loss and the !enalty
of sense in hell/
E<F The s!iritual condition of one 8ho is notL 8ithinL the Church at least
by an act of im!licit desire is incom!atible 8ith the rece!tion of the life of
sanctifying grace/
#urthermore' a study of the Cantate (omino should ma7e it a!!arent that
the dogma of the ChurchGs necessity for the attainment of eternal salvation
is not directed LagainstL any individuals or any societies/ This dogma is only
a statement by the Church of the truth 8hich 4od has revealed and 8hich
He has con$ded to the Church/ According to 4odGs o8n message' men in
this 8orld stand in need of genuine salvation' and' in His goodness and
mercy' 4od has made His su!ernatural 7ingdom on earth the com!any in
8hich alone this salvation is to be achieved/
It is 8ell to remember that the teaching of the Cantate (omino is not that
men must actually become members of the Church in order to attain to
eternal salvation/ The document insists that !agans' e8s' heretics' and
schismatics 8ill not be saved unless' before the end of their lives they are
Coined *aggregati, to the one true Church/ It is Catholic doctrine no8' and it
8as Catholic doctrine 8hen the Cantate (omino 8as 8ritten' that a man
8ho is in the Church in the sense that he sincerely' even though only
im!licitly' desires to live 8ithin it' is in a !osition to be saved if he should
die before he is able to attain membershi! in the Church/
IV
THE ALLOCUTION SINGULARI QUADAM
T8o declarations of Po!e Pius IA on the subCect of the Catholic ChurchGs
necessity for the attainment of eternal salvation are of !rimary im!ortance
in the study of this section of sacred theology/ The $rst is found in his
allocution ingulari !uadam' delivered on &ecember ,' +.-?' the day after
the solemn de$nition of the dogma of 3ur LadyGs Immaculate Conce!tion'
to the Cardinals' Archbisho!s' and Bisho!s 8ho had gathered in Rome to be
8itnesses of that de$nition/ The second is contained in his encyclical
"uanta can#ciamur maerare' addressed to the Bisho!s of Italy on August
+@' +.=</
Both of these statements are tremendously !rofound and rich in
theological im!lication/ Moreover they are much more di6cult to e9!lain
than any other !ronouncements of the teaching Church on this subCect/ As
a matter of fact' they have all too freBuently been misinter!reted by
Catholic 8riters 8ho have e9amined them su!er$cially or 8ho have' in
some instances' even acce!ted translations 8hich 8ere something less
than fully adeBuate/ In both of these documents it is im!erative to consider
the conte9t in 8hich Po!e Pius IA !laced his statement and e9!lanation of
the dogma/
The !ertinent section of the ingulari !uadam includes the follo8ing
!aragra!hsD
)ot 8ithout sorro8 have 8e seen that another error' and one not less
ruinous Ithan the error of crass rationalism dealt 8ith in the !revious
section of the allocutionJ' has ta7en !ossession of certain !ortions of
the Catholic 8orld' and has entered into the souls of many Catholics
8ho thin7 that they can 8ell ho!e for the eternal salvation of all
those 8ho have in no 8ay entered into the true Church of Christ/ #or
that reason they are accustomed to inBuire time and time again as to
8hat is going to be the fate and the condition after death of those
8ho have never yielded themselves to the Catholic faith and'
convinced by com!letely inadeBuate arguments *vanissimis!ue
adductis rationibus,' they a8ait a res!onse that 8ill favor this evil
teaching/ #ar be it from %s' >enerable Brethren' to !resume to
establish limits to the divine mercy' 8hich is in$nite/ #ar be it from %s
to 8ish to scrutiniHe the hidden counsels and Cudgments of 4od'
8hich are La great dee!'L and 8hich human thought can never
!enetrate/ In accordance 8ith 3ur a!ostolic duty' *e 8ish to stir u!
your e!isco!al solicitude and vigilance to drive out of menGs minds' to
the e9tent to 8hich you are able to use all your energies' that
o!inion' eBually im!ious and deadly' that the 8ay of eternal salvation
can be found in any religion *!uavis in religione reperiri posse
aeternae salutis viam,% *ith all the s7ill and learning at your
command' you should !rove to the !eo!le entrusted to your care that
this dogma of the Catholic faith is in no 8ay o!!osed to the divine
mercy and Custice/
Certainly 8e must hold it as of faith that no one can be saved
outside the a!ostolic Roman Church' that this is the only Ar7 of
salvation' and that the one 8ho does not enter it is going to !erish in
the deluge/ But' nevertheless' 8e must li7e8ise hold it as certain that
those 8ho labor in ignorance of the true religion' if that IignoranceJ
be invincible' 8ill never be charged 8ith any guilt on this account
before the eyes of the Lord/ )o8' 8ho is there 8ho 8ould arrogate to
himself the !o8er to indicate the e9tent of such IinvincibleJ
ignorance according to the nature and the variety of !eo!les'
regions' talents' and so many other thingsR #or really 8hen' loosed
from these bodily bonds' 8e see 4od as He is' 8e shall certainly
understand 8ith 8hat intimate and beautiful a connection the divine
mercy and Custice are Coined together/ But' 8hile 8e live on earth'
8eighed do8n by this mortal body that dar7ens the mind' let us hold
most $rmly' from Catholic doctrine' that there is one 4od' one faith'
one ba!tism/ It is 8rong to !ush our inBuiries further than this/
#or the rest' as the cause of charity demands' let us !our forth
continual !rayers to 4od that all nations every8here may be con:
verted to Christ/ And let us do all in our !o8er to bring about the
common salvation of men' for the hand of the Lord is not shortened
and the gifts of heavenly grace 8ill never be lac7ing to those 8ho
sincerely 8ish and !ray to be comforted in this light/ Truths of this
7ind must be dee!ly im!lanted in the minds of the faithful so that
they may not be corru!ted by the false doctrines that tend to
encourage the religious indi"erence *doctrinis eo spectantibus' ut
religionis 1oveant indi18erentiam, 8hich 8e see being s!read abroad
and strengthened to the ruination of souls/
5+
The teaching of the ingulari !uadam is of s!ecial im!ortance since this
allocution 8as the $rst LmodernL statement by the Roman Ponti" on the
dogma that there is no salvation outside the Catholic Church/ The
intellectual bac7ground against 8hich Po!e Pius IA taught over one hundred
years ago is much the same' fundamentally' as that 8hich e9ists in our o8n
21
(en.%' +=?=:?.
time/ Hence it is im!erative' for a !ro!er understanding of this !ortion of
Catholic teaching' to analyHe this statement so as to see e9actly 8hat is
brought out in this allocution/
The basic thesis of the ingulari !uadam is the assertion that the
teaching Lno one can be saved outside the a!ostolic Roman ChurchL is a
dogma of the faith/ It is something to 8hich the assent of faith itself must
be given/ As such' it is of course com!letely infallible/ It is something 8hich
can never be corrected or modi$ed/ It must be received as an absolutely
true !ro!osition/
It is interesting' incidentally' to note that Po!e Pius IA 8as faced 8ith a
situation Buite similar to that 8hich Po!e Pius AII described 8hen he 8rote
his encyclical &umani generis' in August' +,-@/ The attac7 on the dogma of
the ChurchGs necessity for salvation a hundred years ago 8as not
conducted by men 8ho !resumed to deny or to su!!ress the statement
that there is no salvation outside the Church/ Their tactic 8as much more
subtle and dangerousD they tried to em!ty this statement of all real
meaning/ They tried to ma7e Catholics believe that there 8as some ho!e of
salvation for !eo!le 8ho had never entered the Church in any 8ay/ The
ingulari !uadam characteriHes this contention as a ruinous error/
Po!e Pius AII dealt 8ith a similar situation 8hen he condemned the e"orts
of those teachers 8ho 8ere trying to reduce the teaching that the Church is
necessary for the attainment of eternal salvation Lto an em!ty formula/L
55
Pius IA 8or7ed in this direction 8hen he condemned the teaching that there
22
In the encyclical &umani generis%
is some ho!e for the salvation of men 8ho have in no 8ay entered the true
Church of esus Christ/
Those 8ho taught inaccurately about the necessity of the Church for
salvation a century ago used still another tactic/ They tried to ma7e it
a!!ear that there 8as something unCust about this basic Catholic teaching/
They claimed' directly or by im!lication' that there 8as some contradiction
bet8een this dogma and the assertions of the faith 8hich teach us that 4od
is all:Cust and all:merciful/ The allocution ingulari !uadam deals 8ith this
maneuver also/ Po!e Pius IA made it !erfectly clear that it is the duty of the
hierarchy to !rove to the !eo!le entrusted to their care that there is no
o!!osition 8hatsoever bet8een the teaching on the necessity of the
Church for the attainment of eternal salvation and the dogmas of the divine
Custice and mercy/ He !resented this teaching' then' as an integral !art of
true Catholic doctrine/
As a !art of their tactic the o!!onents of the true Catholic teaching tried to
ma7e it a!!ear that a genuine acce!tance of the dogma that there is no
salvation outside the Church im!lied the teaching that 4od 8ould !unish
men for being invincibly ignorant of the true Church/ Po!e Pius IA set out to
meet this contention also in the ingulari !uadam% He stated sim!ly that it
is certain Catholic truth that 4od 8ill blame no man for invincible ignorance
of the Catholic Church' any more than He 8ill blame anyone for invincible
ignorance of anything else/
Incidentally' on this !oint' there have been Catholic 8riters 8ho have
been led astray by an incom!lete translation of this !ortion of the ingulari
!uadam% The allocution says that !eo!le 8ho are invincibly ignorant of the
true religion L8ill never be charged 8ith any guilt on this account before
the eyes of the Lord/L The Latin te9t reads L/ / / !ui verae religionis
ignorantiam laborent' si ea sit invincibilis' nulla ipsos obstringi huiusce rei
culpa ante oculos (omini%/ Some !ersons have attem!ted a translation of
this !assage 8hich ta7es no account of the 8ords Lhuiusce rei%/ Such
translations tend to !resent invincible ignorance of the true religion as a
sort of sacrament' since they ma7e it a!!ear that the Sovereign Ponti"
taught that !ersons invincibly ignorant of the true religion are sim!ly not
blame8orthy in the eyes of the Lord/
The fact of the matter is Eand this is the gist of the teaching of Po!e Pius
IA here and in the encyclical "uanto con#ciamur moerore, that non:
a!!urtenance to the Catholic Church is by no means the only reason 8hy
men are de!rived of the Beati$c >ision/ %ltimately' the only factor that 8ill
e9clude a man from the eternal and su!ernatural enCoyment of 4od in
heaven is sin' either original or mortal/ An infant 8ho dies 8ithout having
been ba!tiHed 8ill not have the Beati$c >ision because original sin has
rendered him inca!able of it/ Any man 8ho dies after having attained the
use of reason and 8ho is eternally e9cluded from the Beati$c >ision is being
!unished for actual mortal sin 8hich he has committed/ Such a man may
be further !revented from enCoying the Beati$c >ision because of the
original sin 8hich has not been deleted by ba!tism/ /
If 8e are to understand this teaching' 8e must not allo8 ourselves to fail
to realiHe that there is absolutely no middle ground bet8een the state of
su!ernatural sanctifying grace and the state of sin or aversion from 4od/
Any man 8ho loves 4od 8ith a love of friendshi! or benevolence' sincerely
desiring and intending to do His 8ill and !referring to su"er anything rather
than to o"end Him has divine su!ernatural charity and is in the state of
grace/ If he dies in that state' he 8ill inevitably attain to the Beati$c >ision/
And' incidentally' if he has the love of charity for 4od' he is L8ithinL the
true Church of esus Christ' at least by sincere Ealthough !erha!s merely
im!licitF intention and desire/
If' on the other hand' a man has not a love of charity for 4od' he is in the
state of sin/ If an adult for 8hom 3ur Lord died on the Cross has not this
love of charity for 4od' it can only be because he has chosen some obCect
of a"ection incom!atible 8ith the love of charity/ If he !asses from this life
in that condition' voluntarily averted from 4od' he 8ill not gain the glory of
heaven/ This is true 8hether the man dies as a member or as a non:
member of the true Catholic Church/
Thus it is !erfectly !ossible for a man to die LoutsideL the true Church and
to be e9cluded from the Beati$c >ision ' forever 8ithout having his
ignorance of the true Church or of the true religion counted as a moral
fault/ That is !recisely 8hat Po!e Pius IA said in the ingulari !uadam% He
said it' as the conte9t sho8s' as !art of his e9!lanation of the fact that the
Catholic dogma of the ChurchGs necessity for the attainment of eternal
salvation in no 8ay involves a contradiction of the doctrines about 4odGs
sovereign mercy and Custice/
In this section of the ingulari !uadam Po!e Pius IA goes on to urge the
Bisho!s of the Catholic Church to use all of their energies to drive from the
minds of men the deadly error that the 8ay of salvation can be found in
any religion/ To a certain e9tent this is a mere restatement of the erroneous
o!inion according to 8hich 8e may 8ell ho!e for the salvation of men 8ho
have never entered in any 8ay into the Catholic Church' the $rst
misinter!retation of Catholic teaching re!roved in this section of the
allocution/ 0et' in another 8ay' the error that the 8ay of salvation can be
found in any religion has its o8n !eculiar and individual malignity/ It is
based on the false im!lication that the false religions' those other than the
Catholic' are in some measure a !artial a!!roach to the fullness of truth
8hich is to be found in Catholicism/ According to this doctrinal aberration'
the Catholic religion 8ould be distinct from others' not as the true is dis:
tinguished from the false' but only as the !lenitude is distinct from
incom!lete !artici!ations of itself/ It is this notion' the idea that all other
religions contain enough of the essence of that com!leteness' of truth
8hich is to be found in Catholicism' to ma7e them vehicles of eternal
salvation' 8hich is thus re!roved in the ingulari !uadam%
3ne of the most interesting factors in this section of the allocution is the
fact that Po!e Pius IA forbids his !eo!le to inBuire into the !resence or the
lac7 or the e9tent of invincible ignorance in individual cases/ He actually
goes so far as to insist that it is 8rong to go beyond the teaching that there
is one 4od' one faith' and one ba!tism/ In issuing this order and in ma7ing
the assertion' Po!e Pius IA 8as actually ta7ing cogniHance of one of the
basic conditions of the Christian doctrinal ministry/
The !rimary and central obCect of the ChurchGs doctrinal ministry is to be
found in the body of truth revealed by 4od through 3ur Lord esus Christ'
and delivered to the Church by His A!ostles as doctrine to be acce!ted 8ith
the assent of divine faith/ The secondary obCect of that ministry embraces
all arid only those truths 8hich the Church must be able to teach inerrantly
in order to teach its !rimary obCect adeBuately as a living and infallible
teaching body/ The decision as to Cust 8hat 8ould constitute invincible' as
distinct from vincible or cul!able' ignorance of the Catholic Church in any
individual case does not fall 8ithin the con$nes of either obCect/ And' as a
matter of fact' this decision is something 8hich man in his life is Buite
inca!able of forming rightly/
It is de$nitely the business of the teacher of Catholic truth to bring out the
fact that 4od is all:merciful and all:Cust in Himself and in His dealings 8ith
all His creatures/ (very man 8ho comes into this 8orld is the reci!ient of
4odGs Custice and of His mercy/ In the light of the Beati$c >ision 8e shall see
ho8 4odGs mercy and His Custice have been e9ercised in the case of each
individual 8ho is saved' and of each individual 8ho is lost' or de!rived of
the su!ernatural enCoyment of 4od' forever/ It is 8rong to see7 to $nd out
ho8 this is so in this life' since the evidence 8e 8ould need for such an
inBuiry is de$nitely not available to us' and' in striving to bring statements
about an un7no8able subCect into the fabric of Catholic teaching' 8e 8ould
only succeed in confusing and adulterating the body of truth 8hich 4od has
deigned to give to His Church/
In the ingulari !uadam Po!e Pius IA reminded the members of the
a!ostolic hierarchy that' on this subCect' it should be their concern to limit
their teaching and to limit the inBuiries of the Christians subCect to their
care to the body of revealed truths themselves/ They are to see to it that
their !eo!le 7no8 that' according to the teaching of 4od Himself' there is
but one Lord in 8hom and by 8hom and through 8hom salvation is
achieved/ They are to instruct their !eo!le so that the Poc7 may be a8are
of the fact that there is only one faith' only one body of revealed truth
8hich constitutes 4odGs !ublic and su!ernatural message for the salvation
of men/ And they are to !reach and teach in such a 8ay that their !eo!le
8ill realiHe that there is only one ba!tism' only one sacrament of
regeneration 8hich is the entrance into the one true Church' the
su!ernatural 7ingdom of 4od' the Mystical Body of Christ' in 8hich alone
there is salvi$c contact 8ith the Triune 4od/ This is !art of the divine
message 8hich they are commissioned and commanded to teach/ The
invincibility of the ignorance of some individual 8ho is not a member of the
Church is de$nitely not contained in the divine message 8hich has been
con$ded to the a!ostolic collegium%
The ingulari !uadam contains still another immediately im!ortant
contribution to Catholic teaching about the !ossibility of salvation 8ithin
the Church on the !art of individuals 8ho die before they can actually
attain membershi! in this society/ It is contained in these t8o sentencesD
#or the rest' as the cause of charity demands' let us !our forth
continual !rayers to 4od that all nations every8here may be con:
verted to Christ/ And let us do all in our !o8er to bring about the
common salvation of men' for the hand of the Lord is not shortened
and the gifts of heavenly grace 8ill never be lac7ing to those 8ho
sincerely 8ish and !ray to be comforted in this light/
These t8o sentences contain 8hat might be called the chart or the !lan
of the a!ostolic 8or7 for the salvation of men/ Po!e Pius IA called u!on his
brother Bisho!s of the Catholic Church to unite in !raying Lthat all nations
every8here may be converted to ChristL and in em!loying their energies
and talents to the utmost Lto bring about the common salvation of men/L
Thus the Sovereign Ponti" reminded his hearers and the entire Church of
4od that' in the !lan of 3ur LordGs o8n teaching' salvation is described as
coming to men through the e"orts of His follo8ers' and !articularly through
the labors of His a!ostolic college/ Such' of course' is the signi$cance of
3ur LordGs $nal instruction to His a!ostles before His ascension into heaven'
as recorded in the 4os!el according to St/ Mar7D
And he said to themD 4o ye into the 8hole 8orld and !reach the
gos!el to every creature/
He that believeth and is ba!tiHed shall be savedD but he that
believeth not shall be condemned/
5<
Behind the errors 8hich Po!e Pius IA 8as $ghting in his allocution 8as
the vague notion that salvation 8as in some 8ay inde!endent of the e"orts
of the Catholic Church and of its hierarchy/ The religious indi"erence 8hich
8as s!reading throughout the 8orld a century ago and 8hich 8as directly
or indirectly a"ecting some of the Catholic !eo!le themselves tried to ma7e
it a!!ear that in some 8ay or another salvation 8as due to men by the
very fact that they 8ere human beings' descendants of Adam and (ve/ To
counter the vicious inPuence of this indi"erence' Po!e Pius IA recalled to
the minds of the Bisho!s of the Church the fact that salvation 8as
something meant to come to men through the !o8er of these Bisho!sG o8n
23
$ar9' +=D +- f/
8or7 and !rayers/ In that 8ay it 8as com!letely in line 8ith the teaching of
St/ Paul in his (!istle to the RomansD
#or 8hosoever shall call u!on the name of the Lord 8ill be saved/
Ho8 then shall they call on him in 8hom they have not believedR 3r
ho8 shall they believe him of 8hom they have not heardR And ho8
shall they hear 8ithout a !reacherR
And ho8 shall they !reach unless they be sent' as it is 8rittenD Ho8
beautiful are the feet of them that !reach the gos!el of !eace' of
them that bring glad tidings of good thingsR
5?
The !eo!le 8ho are sent to !reach the gos!el of salvation are !recisely
the members of the teaching Church' the Bisho!s of the Catholic Church'
the a!ostolic college instituted and commissioned by 3ur Lord Himself/
These men' together 8ith the !eo!le they call u!on to hel! them in their
8or7' are the ones through 8hom the message of salvation and the
!ossibility of salvation must come' according to the divine teaching itself'
to the children of men/
The e9hortation in the ingulari !uadam recalls the res!onse of St/ Paul to
his res!onsibility in the 8ay of bringing salvation to those for 8hom 3ur
Lord died/ The A!ostle of the 4entiles 8as 8illing to do and to su"er so
much because he realiHed that he 8as acting as 4odGs instrument in
bringing salvation to men/ He sa8 himself as in some 8ay the cause of the
salvation of men 8ho bene$tted from his a!ostolic labors/ He too7
cogniHance of the fact that he 8as 8or7ing to gain for Christ and to save
those for 8hom he 8or7ed/ I He brings this out in a magni$cent !assage in
the #irst (!istle I to the CorinthiansD
#or 8hereas I 8as free as to all' I made myself the servant of
all' that I might gain the more/
And I became to the e8s a e8' that I might gain the e8s/
To them that are under the la8' as if I 8ere under the la8
24
Rom%' +@D +<:+-/
E8hereas myself 8as not under the la8F' that I might gain
them that 8ere under the la8/ To them that 8ere 8ithout the
la8' as if I 8ere 8ithout the la8 E8hereas I 8as not 8ithout the
la8 of 4od' but as in the la8 of ChristF' that I might gain them
that 8ere 8ithout the la8/
To the 8ea7 I became 8ea7' that I might gain the 8ea7/ I
became all things to all men' that I might save all/
And I do all things for the gos!elGs sa7e' that I may be made
!arta7er thereof/
5-
Perha!s the most eloBuent statement of the fact that salvation comes from
3ur LordGs message is to be found in St/ PaulGs (!istle to the Romans/ It is in
!reaching this message' and in !raying that men may acce!t it 8ith the
assent of divine faith and live in conformity to its teachings' that the
Bisho!s of the Catholic Church are' according to the teaching of the
ingulari !uadam' to 8or7 for the common salvation of men/ St/ Paul 8roteD
To the 4ree7s and to the barbarians' to the 8ise and to the
un8iseO I am a debtor/
So Eas much as is in meF I am ready to !reach the gos!el to
you also that are at Rome/
#or I am not ashamed of the gos!el/ #or it is the !o8er of 4od
unto salvation to every one that believethD to the e8 $rst and
to the 4ree7/
#or the Custice of 4od is revealed therein' from faith unto faith'
as it is 8rittenD The Cust man liveth by faith/
5=
The act of divine faith is entirely reBuisite in order that a man may be
converted to 3ur Lord' in 8hom alone salvation is to be found/ It 8as of
L3ur Lord esus Christ of )aHarethL that St/ Peter saidD L)either is there
salvation in any other/ #or there is no other name under heaven given to
men' 8hereby 8e must be saved/N
5;
Po!e Pius IA !ut for8ard this !rayer and 8or7 incumbent u!on the
Bisho!s of the Catholic Church as something 8hich 8as to be done out of
25
I Cor/' ,D +,:5</
26
Rom/' +D +?:+;/
27
Acts' ?D +5/
charity/ It is' indeed' essentially the 8or7 of this virtue/ Charity is the
su!ernatural love of friendshi! for 4od' a love 8hich necessarily carries
8ith it the love of our neighbor based u!on this a"ection for 4od/ The love
of friendshi! for 4od necessarily involves a sincere 8ill to do His 8ill/ )o8'
it is the 8ill of 4od that all men be saved/ In the #irst (!istle to Timothy 8e
read of 4od our Saviour that He L8ill have all men to be saved and to come
to the 7no8ledge of the truth/L
5.
3bCectively' then' a !erson is doing the 8or7 of charity 8hen he 8or7s
and !rays to bring his fello8 men to acce!t divine !ublic revelation' to
enter and to remain in the true su!ernatural 7ingdom of 4od on earth' and
to !re!are for the !ossession and enCoyment of the Beati$c >ision/ The
obligation to do this 8or7 is all the more incumbent u!on the men 8hom
3ur Lord has made res!onsible for the s!iritual 8ell:being of their fello8s'
the members of the a!ostolic college/ The Bisho!s of the Catholic Church'
under the leadershi! of the Bisho! of Rome' the successor of St/ Peter'
constitute this a!ostolic college/ ustice as 8ell as charity demands that
these men 8or7 and !ray for the accom!lishment of this end as !o8erfully
as they can/ This is the obligation of 8hich Po!e Pius IA s!o7e in the
ingulari !uadam%
(ssential to this tas7 is an e"ort to bring men to enter and to remain
8ithin the true Church/ The Holy #ather had already recalled the fact that it
is a dogma of divine faith that no one 8ill attain salvation outside the
Catholic Church/ It 8ould be 8orse than idle to imagine that one could 8or7
28
I Tim%' 5D ?/
for the salvation of men 8ithout trying to inPuence them to enter and to
stay 8ithin the Mystical Body of esus Christ/
Thus' in the $nal !aragra!h of the section of the ingulari !uadam
that deals 8ith the necessity of the Catholic Church' the Holy #ather recalls
the intimate connection bet8een this dogma and the missionary nature of
the Church itself/ The Catholic Church' by reason of that charity 8hich
forms the cro8ning !art of 8hat the old theologians designated as the
in8ard or s!iritual bond of unity 8ithin it' has no choice but to 8or7 8ith all
the force at its command to inPuence men IGto come and to d8ell 8ithin it'
so that 8ithin it they may /attain the eternal Coys of the Beati$c >ision/ The
Holy Church 8or7s necessarily and al8ays for the glory of 4od' to be
achieved in the salvation of those souls for 8hom 3ur Lord died on the
Cross/ By 4odGs institution' and de$nitely not by reason of any move on the
!art of the Church as such, eternal salvation is available only to those 8ho die in
some manner L8ithinL the Catholic Church/ Hence' in 8or7ing to achieve its
ultimate obCective' the Church necessarily and al8ays see7s the means
reBuisite for the attainment of that obCective/
*ithin this same !aragra!h is one of the most !rofound observations
on the subCect of the ChurchGs necessity for salvation to be found in any
!onti$cal document/ After insisting on the duty of the Bisho!s of the
Catholic Church to do all in their !o8er to bring about the common
salvation of men' the Sovereign Ponti" reminded his hearers that Lthe hand
of the Lord is not shortened' and the gifts of heavenly grace 8ill never be
8anting to those 8ho sincerely 8ish and !ray to be comforted in this light/L
Thus he taught that the 8or7 of salvation and the 8or7 of conversion to the
Catholic Church are de$nitely labors of divine grace/ The a!ostolic 8or7er
for 3ur Lord need not fancy that the e"ects of this 8or7 8ill ' de!end
ultimately merely' or even !rinci!ally' u!on his o8n !o8ers and initiative/
Those 8ho are summoned into that Church 8ithin 8hich alone salvation is
to be found are called' $rst of all' by divine grace itself/ If they corres!ond
8ith that grace' and sincerely 8ill Eeven though only im!licitlyF entrance
into the Church' and if they e9!ress that 8ill or intention in the infallibly
e"ective act of Christian !rayer' 4od 8ill grant them both entrance into the
Church and the salvation 8hich they desire/
It must be understood that the inPuence of the actual grace 8hich 4od in
His mercy besto8s u!on men is al8ays in the direction of the attainment of
the Beati$c >ision/ The man 8ho has not the virtue of divine faith and 8ho
is in the state of sin is led by the force of grace to ma7e an act of faith' to
fear 4od' to ho!e for Him as his o8n good to be enCoyed forever' to begin
to love Him' and thus to turn against sin by that !enance 8hich comes
before ba!tism' to resolve to amend his life' and to be ba!tiHed' and thus
to enter the true Church/ 3nce a man is 8ithin the Church and in the state
of sanctifying grace' the force of divine grace urges him on to an ever:
increasing !erfection' 8hich involves an ever:increasing intensity of charity/
If a man continues to corres!ond 8ith these graces' he 8ill ultimately attain
to his eternal salvation/
Should he sin after the rece!tion of ba!tism' the direction of the force of
grace is to8ard the rece!tion of absolution in the sacrament of !enance'
and' of course to the contrition' confession' and satisfaction 8hich belong
to the sacrament/ In every case the im!ulse of actual grace leads a man to
salvation and to the means reBuisite for the attainment of salvation 8hich
the man u!on 8hom the grace is 8or7ing has not as yet em!loyed or
!ossessed/ #or a man 8ho is entirely and essentially LoutsideGL the Church'
the force of divine grace 8ill inPuence him to8ard entrance into this
society/
Corres!ondence to divine grace' 8hich has brought a man to believe in
4od and to ho!e in Him' 8ill lead him to !ray for the gift of salvation and
for the means necessary to salvation 8hich the man does not yet enCoy/
)o8' !rayer 8hich is o"ered for oneGs o8n salvation and for the gifts 8hich
are reBuisite for the attainment of that salvation is infallibly e6cacious
8hen it is sincere' !ious' and !ersevering/ Thus' even 8hen a man dies
before he is actually able to become a member of the Church through the
rece!tion of ba!tism or through canonical reconciliation 8ith the Church'
his sincere' !ersevering' and !ious !rayer for salvation and for entrance
into this society 8ill be ans8ered by 4od/ Contrary to the insinuations and
the statements of the indi"erentists against 8hich the ingulari !uadam
8as directed' 4od is not being outdone in generosity by any of His
creatures/ Those 8ho corres!ond 8ith the graces He o"ers them 8ill
receive the ans8er to their !rayers/
This' then' is the teaching 8hich Po!e Pius IA insisted that the
Bisho!s of the Catholic Church should give to their !eo!le' in order to 7ee!
out of the minds of those !eo!le the false doctrines 8hich could ruin their
s!iritual lives/
The ingulari !uadam brings out the follo8ing teachings much more
clearly and e9!licitly than !revious ecclesiastical declarations on the
necessity of the Church for salvation had done/
E+F It is a ruinous error to imagine that one can have grounds of ho!e that
!eo!le no8 dead' and 8ho had not entered into the Church in any 8ay
during the course of their lives' are saved/
E5F The dogma that there is no salvation outside the Catholic Church is in
no 8ay o!!osed to the truth that 4od is all merciful and all:Cust/
E<F The doctrine that no one is saved outside the Catholic Church is a truth
revealed by 4od through esus Christ' and a truth 8hich all men must
believe 8ith the assent of divine faith/ It is a Catholic dogma/
E?F Invincible ignorance' of the true Church or of anything else' is not
considered by 4od as a sin/ The dogma that there is no salvation outside
the Catholic Church in no 8ay im!lies that invincible ignorance is sinful/
E-F It is an im!ious and deadly error to hold that salvation may be attained
in any religion/
E=F It is not 8ithin the $eld either of our com!etence or of our rights to
search out the 8ay in 8hich 4odGs mercy and His Custice o!erate in any
given case of a !erson ignorant of the true Church or of the true religion/
*e shall see ho8 these divine attributes have o!erated in the light of the
Beati$c >ision itself/
E;F It is the business of the Church to 8or7 and to !ray that all men 8ill
attain salvation in the Church/
E.F 4od is never outdone in generosity/ The !erson 8ho tries to come to
Him 8ill never be forsa7en/ As a matter of fact' the movement to8ard 4od'
li7e all good things' originates from 4od Himself/
>
TH( ()C0CLICAL "UANT3 C3N06C6A$UR $3ER3RE
The teaching of this encyclical is !arallel 8ith that of the allocution
ingulari !uadam% In both of these documents Po!e Pius IA insisted u!on
the fact that it is a dogma of the faith that no man can be saved outside
the Catholic Church/ Indeed the language of the encyclical on this !oint is
even more forceful and e9!licit than that of the allocution/ Li7e8ise in both
of these documents there is a very clear im!lication of the truth that a man
can be L8ithinL the true Church in such a 8ay as to be saved 8ithout being
a member of this society and' indeed' 8ithout having a e9!licit 7no8ledge
of it at all/ Moreover both the "uanto con#ciamur moerore and ingulari
!uadam insist u!on the missionary nature of the Church and bring this
truth into !lay in their e9!lanations of the dogma/ The encyclical' ho8ever'
brings out some as!ects of the teaching not touched u!on directly in the
allocution 8hich 8as delivered almost nine years !reviously/ The follo8ing
t8o !aragra!hs of the "uanto con#ciamur moerore have to do 8ith the
dogma of the ChurchGs necessity for salvationD
And here' 3ur Beloved Sons and >enerable Brethren' *e must
mention and re!rove a most serious error into 8hich some Catholics
have fallen' imagining that men living in errors and a!art *alienos,
from the true faith and from the Catholic unity can attain to eternal
life/ This' of course' is com!letely o!!osed to Catholic doctrine/ It is
7no8n to %s and to you that those 8ho labor in invincible ignorance
of our most holy religion' and 8ho' carefully observing the natural
la8 and its !rece!ts 8hich 4od has inscribed in the hearts of all' and
8ho' being ready to obey 4od' live an honest and u!right life' can'
through the 8or7ing of the divine light and grace' attain eternal life'
since 4od' 8ho clearly sees' ins!ects' and 7no8s the minds' the
intentions' the thoughts' and the habits of all' 8ill' by reason of His
goodness and 7indness' never allo8 anyone 8ho has not the guilt of
8illful sin to be !unished by eternal su"ering/ But it is a !erfectly
8ell 7no8n Catholic dogma that no one can be saved outside the
Catholic Church' and that those 8ho are contumacious against the
authority of that same Church' and 8ho are !ertinaciously se!arated
from the unity of that Church and from PeterGs successor' the Roman
Ponti"' to 8hom the custody of the vineyard has been entrusted by
the Saviour' cannot obtain eternal salvation/
4od forbid' ho8ever' that the children of the Catholic Church should
in any 8ay ever be the enemies of those 8ho are in no 8ay Coined to
us in the same bonds of faith and of charity/ But let them Ithe
CatholicsJ rather strive al8ays to ta7e care of these !eo!le 8hen
they Ithose outside the ChurchJ are !oor or sic7 or aVicted by any
other ills/ Primarily' let them strive' to ta7e these !eo!le out of the
dar7ness of error in 8hich they unfortunately live' and bring them
bac7 to the Catholic truth and to the loving Mother Church that never
ceases to hold out its maternal hands a"ectionately to them' and to
call them bac7 to its embrace so that' established and strengthened
in faith' ho!e' and charity' and bringing forth fruit in every good
8or7' they may attain eternal salvation/
5,
There are three most im!ortant lessons contained in this section of the
"uanto con#ciamur moerore' the Holy #atherGs insistence u!on the real
necessity of the Church for salvation' his im!lied indication of a distinction
bet8een the necessity of means and the necessity of !rece!t' and his
teaching about the !ossibility of salvation for a man 8ho is invincibly
ignorant of the true religion but 8ho faithfully observes the natural la8/ All
of these lessons must be studied carefully by a man 8ho see7s to 7no8 the
genuine doctrine o1 the Catholic Church on the necessity of the Church for
the attainment of eternal salvation/ The teaching of the "uanto con#ciamur
moemre has a s!ecial im!ortance because this encyclical has been mis:
inter!reted more than once by men 8ho o"ered inadeBuate or inaccurate
e9!lanations of the dogma that there is no salvation outside the Church/
#irst of all it must be noted that the statement of the dogma that there is
no salvation outside the Church is more forceful and e9!licit in this
encyclical than in any other document' e9ce!t !erha!s the Cantate (omino
itself/ Po!e Pius IA condemned as a most serious error *gravissimum
errorem, the notion that Lmen living in errors and a!art from the true faith
29
(en.%' +=;; f/
and from the Catholic unity can attain to eternal life/L He denounced this
false teaching as something most com!letely o!!osed to Catholic doctrine/
#urthermore he brought out 8ith s!ecial clarity the !ractical im!ort of
this teaching/ He reminded the Bisho!s of Italy' and through them the
entire Christian 8orld' that the members of the Catholic Church have
de$nite obligations of charity to8ard non:Catholics/ )ot only are Catholics
forbidden to be enemies of those outside the fold' but they are so bound to
e9ercise the cor!oral and s!iritual 8or7s of mercy for the bene$t of non:
Catholics/ Po!e Pius IA stressed the im!ortance of the cor!oral 8or7s of
mercy/ He asserted that Catholics are obligated to be Healous in ta7ing care
of non:members of the Church L8hen they are !oor or sic7 or aVicted 8ith
any other ills/L But he also insisted u!on the fact that their most im!ortant
duty in the line of charity 8as an e"ort to free these !eo!le from their
errors and to lead them bac7 to the true Church so that therein Lthey may
attain eternal salvation/L
In other 8ords' according to the "uanto con#ciamur moerore' the
Catholics are obliged in conscience to be realistic in their !rayers and 8or7s
of charity for the bene$t of their non:Catholic associates/ Po!e Pius IA did
not 8ant his !eo!le to forget that charity for oneGs neighbor is essentially a
!art of charity to8ard 4od/ It is not a 8or7 of merely secularistic
humanitarianism/ The love for oneGs neighbor 8hich is truly a !art of divine
charity is essentially a desire to give this neighbor' insofar as it lies 8ithin
our !o8er' 8hat he needs or 8ill $nd hel!ful for the attainment of the
Beati$c >ision/ The basic desire of charity for oneGs neighbor is the 8ill of
intention that this neighbor should have the life of sanctifying grace' and' if
he already !ossesses this su!ernatural life' that he should gro8 and
!ersevere in it/ It is thus in line 8ith the motive of the Incarnation' the
motive that guided 3ur Lord Himself/ He e9!ressed that motive 8hen He
declaredD LI am come that they may have life and have it more
abundantly/L
<@
Hence' 8hen true Catholic charity ta7es care of a man 8ho is sic7 or
aVicted in any other 8ay' it does not loo7 u!on this man as one 8hose
destiny is limited to this 8orld and to this life/ 3n the contrary' it ta7es
e9!licit cogniHance that the !erson it 8or7s to bene$t is one for 8hom 3ur
Lord died on the CrossO one 8hom 4od 8ills to have 8ith Him forever in the
glory of the Beati$c >ision/ In the encyclical "uanto con#ciamur moerore'
Po!e Pius IA reminded the Catholics of the entire 8orld that this e9!licit
cogniHance should be eminently !ractical/ The 8or7 of Catholic charity is
de$nitely not com!lete unless every e"ort has been e9!ended to free men
from the errors that 7ee! them from the eternal !ossession of 4od 8hich is
their only ultimate end/ And' since' by 4odGs o8n institution' the true
Church of esus Christ is really reBuisite for the attainment of manGs eternal
and su!ernatural salvation' the 8or7 of Catholic charity is lamentably
incom!lete unless every reasonable e"ort has been made to !ersuade non:
Catholics to enter this society/
The "uanto con#ciamur moerore is su!remely realistic in that it
recogniHes religious error as an evil' and as a de$nite and serious
30
ohn' +@O +@/
misfortune for the !eo!le 8ho are a"ected by it/ Its obCectivity and !lain
s!ea7ing must have been as startling to the moderns of nearly a century
ago as it is to some of the men of our o8n day/ Some of the men of the
nineteenth century and of the t8entieth have been !rone to lose sight of
the fact that actually a manGs life is vitiated by a mista7e about his eternal
destiny or about the means 4od has established for the attainment of that
destiny' Thus there could be nothing more catastro!hic in human life than
the acce!tance of the errors of atheism or agnosticism' or errors about 3ur
&ivine Redeemer' His Church' His religion' and His sacraments/ It is strange
that some individuals 8ho 8ould be $rst to ac7no8ledge the calamitous
nature of an error in aviation engineering' 8hich 8ould result in the loss of
a !lane' are not 8illing to ac7no8ledge the inherent evil of error about
Christ and His Church' 8hich 8ould result in manGs eternal failure/
Po!e Pius IA incor!orated into this section of the encyclical "uanto
con#ciamur moerore a fundamental teaching about the missionary nature
or activity of the Catholic Church/ Besides bringing out the fact that the
Church e9!ects its o8n children to !erform their obligation of charity to
those outside the fold by striving to bring these !eo!le into the Mystical
Body of esus Christ' the encyclical e9!lains that the Church invites non:
Catholics to enter it Lso that' established and strengthened in faith' ho!e'
and charity' and bringing forth fruit in every good 8or7' they may attain
eternal salvation/L The ultimate and fundamental reason 8hy the Catholic
Church has al8ays sought and must al8ays see7 converts is that these
converts may attain the Beati$c >ision/ The Church is essentially and
necessarily a missionary society only because 4od Himself has established
this society as a means necessary for the attainment of eternal salvation/
#urthermore' the "uanto con#ciamur moerore is realistic enough to ta7e
cogniHance of the fact that faith itself comes from and through the Church/
*e must not lose sight of the fact that the formula for the administration of
ba!tism' in the Rituale Romanum' contains this dialogD
L*hat do you as7 of the Church of 4odRL
L#aith/L
L*hat does faith o"er youRL
L(verlasting life/L
&ivine faith is de$nitely something 8hich men are e9!ected to see7 and
to $nd in the true Church of esus Christ/ (ssentially the true Church is and
has been since the time of our $rst !arents the congregation of the faithful'
the congregation #delium% A man reasonably and !rudently as7s the
Church for faith since the Church is the society authoriHed and em!o8ered
by 3ur Lord Himself to teach His message' the doctrine 8e acce!t 8ith the
assent of Christian faith/ And the Church is far more than merely the
society authoriHed by 3ur Lord to teach in His name/ It is actually His
Mystical Body' the congregation 8ithin 8hich He acts as the Sovereign
Teacher' in such a 8ay that the members of the hierarchy' the ecclesia
docens' are His instruments or ambassadors in the !resentation of His
#atherGs message/
Thus the teaching o1 the "uanto con#ciamur moerore is Buite accurate
in describing the Church as the social unit 8ithin 8hich !eo!le are
established and strengthened in the faith itself/ The (!istle to the Hebre8s
describes 3ur Lord as Lthe author and $nisher of faith/L
<+
The Catholic
Church is His Mystical Body/ In see7ing faith from the Church' 8e see7 it
from Him/
#aith' ho!e and charity' together 8ith all the other Bualities that enable
us to live the su!ernatural life' come to us from 3ur Lord/ He is actually the
Head of His Mystical Body' and invites those 8ho do not as yet belong to it
to Coin it so that they may be established and strengthened in these virtues
by 3ur Lord' the Head of the Church/ There is no other source from 8hich
these bene$ts can come/
#urthermore' faith' ho!e' charity' and the rest actually constitute 8hat
the older theologians used to call the s!iritual or inner bond of unity 8ithin
the Catholic Church/ If a man actually believes in 4od by holding as certain'
on the authority of 4od revealing' the content of that message 3ur Lord
!reached and continues to !reach in the midst of the society of His
disci!les' and if' in the light of that faith' and moved by 4odGs grace' a man
ho!es for 4od as his o8n eternal 4ood and loves Him 8ith the su!ernatural
friendshi! of charity' he is by that very fact Coined to 3ur Lord and to His
disci!les 8ithin the su!ernatural 7ingdom of 4od/
There have' unfortunately' been some rather serious misinter!retations
of the second and third lessons contained in that !ortion of the encyclical
"uanto con#ciamur moerore that deals 8ith the necessity of the Catholic
Church for the attainment of eternal salvation/ The second lesson is to be
found in the teaching of Po!e Pius IA on the distinction bet8een the
ChurchGs necessity of means and its necessity of !rece!t/ This lesson is
31
&eb%' +5D +5/
brought out in a rather long and com!licated sentence in the te9t/ The
encyclical tells us that Lit is a !erfectly 8ell 7no8n Catholic dogma that no
one can be saved outside the Catholic Church' and that those 8ho are
contumacious against the authority of that same Church' and 8ho are
contumaciously se!arated from the unity of that Church and from PeterGs
successor' the Roman Ponti"' to 8hom the custody of the vineyard has
been entrusted by the Saviour' cannot obtain eternal salvation/L
Some careless 8riters and teachers' have tried to ma7e !eo!le imagine
that the second !ortion of this sentence is an e9!ression of the entire
meaning conveyed in the $rst section of that same sentence/ *riters of
this sort incidentally' have even misinter!reted the Holy 36ce letter of
+,?,' the uprema haec sacra' 8here the terminology is even clearer than
that em!loyed in the "uanto con#ciamur moerore% In both instances there
has been an attem!t to give the im!ression that these authoritative
documents 8ere re!resenting the Catholic Church as necessary for the
attainment of eternal salvation by the necessity of !rece!t only/ In both
instances the attem!ts 8ere manifestly 8rong/ Here' ho8ever' 8e shall
consider only the te9t of the encyclical 8ritten by Po!e Pius IA/ *e shall
study the uprema haec sacra in a later cha!ter/
The immediate te9t in the "uanto con#ciamur moerore indicates Buite
clearly that the Sovereign Ponti" 8as dealing 8ith t8o distinct 7inds of
necessity/ The conte9t !roves this !oint beyond any !ossibility of doubt/
The sentence Buoted t8o !aragra!hs above tells us of the 8ell 7no8n
dogma that no one can be saved outside the Church and states that !eo!le
contumaciously se!arated from the Church and its visible head cannot be
saved/ The te9t itself thus indicates Buite obviously that the Church is'
according to its o8n doctrine' necessary in t8o distinct 8ays/ #irst of all' it
is re!resented as something necessary for all men/ )o one 8ill attain to
eternal salvation unless he is in some 8ay L8ithinL this society at the
moment of his death/ Again' it is sho8n as necessary in still another
manner/ Peo!le 8ho obstinately stay se!arated from it and from its visible
head' the Roman Ponti"' cannot obtain eternal salvation/
)o8 it is immediately evident that the $rst statement 8ould not be true
at all if the Catholic Church 8ere necessary for salvation merely 8ith the
necessity of !rece!t/ A thing is said to be necessary for salvation 8ith the
necessity of !rece!t 8hen 4od has issued a command 8hich cannot be
disobeyed e9ce!t at the cost of the loss of friendshi! 8ith Him/ A thing
8hich is merely the obCect of 4odGs command and no more 8ould be
something necessary 8ith the necessity of !rece!t alone/ The only !ersons
8ho could be e9cluded from salvation on this count 8ould be the men and
8omen 8ho 7no8ingly and deliberately disobeyed the command given by
4od/ Persons invincibly ignorant of that command 8ould not be and could
not be de!rived of eternal salvation because they had not obeyed the
command/
Thus' if the Church 8ere necessary for salvation merely 8ith the
necessity of !rece!t' or' to !ut the same thing in another 8ay' if the Church
8ere necessary for the attainment of eternal salvation only in the sense
that individuals contumaciously se!arated from it could not be saved' it
8ould de$nitely not be true to say that no man could be saved outside the
Catholic Church/ 0et this is !recisely 8hat the encyclical "uanto
con#ciamur moerore' together 8ith many other authoritative documents of
the ecclesia docens' does assert/ The language of the encyclical is most
e9!licitD Lneminem scilicet e)tra catholicam Ecclesiam posse salvari%/
The only !ossible 8ay a man could logically hold that the statement Lno
one can be saved outside the Catholic ChurchL means nothing more than
L!eo!le 8ho are contumaciously se!arated from the Church cannot be
saved'L is to !ostulate that the only !eo!le outside of the Church are those
obstinately and 8illfully se!arated from it/ Such a teaching 8ould' of
course' constitute a denial of any invincible ignorance of the Church on the
!art of non:Catholics/ An inter!retation of this sort 8ould run counter to the
very conte9t of the document it set out to e9!lain/ 0et this fanciful teaching
is necessarily and clearly im!lied in any attem!t to !ersuade !eo!le that
the Catholic dogma of the ChurchGs necessity for salvation means only that
!ersons 8ho 8illfully remain se!arated from the Church and from the
Roman Ponti" cannot obtain eternal salvation/
The conte9t of the "uanto con#ciamur moerore ma7es it even more
evident that 8e cannot e9!lain the dogma of the ChurchGs necessity for
salvation as meaning merely that the Church is necessary 8ith the
necessity of !rece!t/ The !rimary !oint brought out in this section of the
"uanta can#ciamur moerore is the vigorous re!udiation by Po!e Pius IA of
the erroneous teaching Lthat men living in errors and a!art from the true
faith and from the Catholic unity can attain to eternal life/L Here the
Sovereign Ponti" referred to all the !eo!le of this class/ He did not restrict
his statement to those 8ho are 8illfully or contumaciously d8elling and
remaining a!art from the Church and its teaching/ It is only by doing
manifest violence to the te9t of his encyclical that his statement could be
inter!reted as a!!lying only to those 8ho are 8illfully se!arated from the
faith and from Catholic unity/
By clear im!lication' though obviously not 8ith the e9!licitness of the
uprema haec sacra' the encyclical "uanto con#ciamur moerare brings out
the fact that the dogma of the Catholic ChurchGs necessity for the
attainment of eternal salvation means that the Church is necessary in t8o
8ays/ #irst' it is necessary 8ith the necessity of !rece!t since 4od Himself
has commanded all men to d8ell 8ithin this society/ Then' it is also
necessary 8ith the necessity of means since it has been constituted by 4od
Himself as a factor a!art from 8hich men 8ill not and cannot obtain the
Beati$c >ision/
The third and most di6cult lesson of the encyclical "uanta con#ciamur
moerore on the subCect of the ChurchGs necessity for salvation is to be
found in its teaching on the !ossibility of salvation for !ersons invincibly
ignorant of the true religion/ *hat the encyclical has to say on this !oint is
contained in a single long and highly com!licated sentenceD
It is 7no8n to %s and to you that those 8ho labor in invincible
ignorance of our most holy religion' and 8ho' carefully observing the
natural la8 and its !rece!ts 8hich 4od has inscribed in the hearts of
all' and 8ho' being ready to obey 4od' live an honest and u!right life'
can' through the 8or7ing of the divine light and grace' attain eternal
life' since 4od' 8ho clearly sees' ins!ects and 7no8s the minds' the
intentions' the thoughts and the habits of all' 8ill' by reason of His
su!reme goodness and 7indness' never allo8 anyone 8ho has not
the guilt of 8illful sin to be !unished by eternal su"erings/
This sentence is tremendously rich in theological im!lication/ It can
never be adeBuately understood other than against the bac7ground and in
the conte9t of the Catholic theology of grace and of sin/ %nfortunately this
sentence has sometimes been e9!lained in an inadeBuate manner/
In order to have an adeBuate and accurate analysis of this teaching 8e
must see clearly' $rst of all' 8hat !recise class of !eo!le Po!e Pius IA refers
to in this sentence/ They are !eo!le 8ho are described as carefully or
diligently *sedulo, obeying the natural la8/ They are !re!ared to obey 4od/
They lead an honest and u!right life/ And they are invincibly ignorant of the
true Catholic religion/
)o8 it is !erfectly obvious that this descri!tion does not a!!ly to all the
individuals 8ho are invincibly ignorant of the Catholic Church and of the
Catholic faith/ Invincible ignorance is by no means a sacrament'
communicating goodness of life to those 8ho are aVicted 8ith it/ The fact
that a man is invincibly ignorant of the true religion does not in any 8ay
guarantee that he 8ill observe the natural la8 Healously' that he 8ill be
ready to obey 4od' or that he 8ill actually lead an u!right life/
The invincibly ignorant !eo!le described by Po!e Pius IA in the encyclical
"uanto con#ciamur moerore' ho8ever' have attained their s!iritual
!osition by co:o!erating 8ith divine grace/ It must be clearly understood' of
course' that !eo!le in the state of sin' !eo!le 8ho are not co:o!erating 8ith
4odGs grace can !erform 8or7s that are good/ The "uanto con#ciamur
moerore' ho8ever' s!ea7s of !ersons 8ho are carefully or Healously
observing the natural la8 and 8ho are leading honest and u!right lives/
Such individuals are not turned a8ay from 4od by sin/
Actually the !ersons of the 7ind described here in the "uanto
con#ciamur moerore are most !robably in the state of sanctifying grace'
and hence they are individuals 8ho have true faith' ho!e' and charity/ It is'
of course' a dogma of the Church that not all the 8or7s or acts of !eo!le in
the state of sin are actually sins against 4od/ A!art from any su!ernatural
aid of divine grace a sinner is ca!able of !erforming some naturally good
8or7s and of avoiding individual mortal and venial sins/ But in order to
avoid mortal sin for a long time a man needs the aid of su!ernatural divine
grace/
<5
In order to observe all the !rece!ts of the natural la8 over any
considerable !eriod of time' men must most !robably be strengthened by
sanctifying grace itself/ They certainly could not do this 8ithout some
su!ernatural hel! of divine grace/
This is !recisely the condition described in the encyclical of Po!e Pius IA/
The !ertinent !assage of the "uanto con#ciamur moerore refers only to
those !ersons invincibly ignorant of the true Catholic religion 8ho' at the
same time' are diligently observing the natural la8' are !re!ared to obey
32
Cf/ The Salmanticenses' Cursus theologicus EParis and Brussels' +.;.F' IA' tract/
AI>' dis!/ 5' dub/ -' 55< if/O Billuart' Cursus theologiae EParis' +,@?F ' III' Tractatus
de gratia' diss/ III' art/ -' =' <?< "/ Billuart teaches that Lfallen man cannot obey
the entire natural la8 !uoad substantiam 8ithout gratia sanans/ E<??F' and that
Lfallen man in the state of mortal sin cannot' 8ithout a s!ecial and su!eradded
grace of 4od' avoid for a long time *diu, all mortal sins against the natural la8 and
overcome all tem!tations Iagainst the natural la8JL E<?.F/
The Thomistic theologians !oint to the teaching of St/ Thomas ABuinas in his
umma theologica' Ia:IIae' B/ +@,' a/ ? and ./ They a!!eal es!ecially to one
statement of the magisterium' that of the si9teenth Council of Carthage' can/ <D
LLi7e8ise it has !leased Ithe CouncilJ that 8hoever shall have said that the grace
of 4od by 8hich a man is Custi$ed through esus Christ 3ur Lord is good only for
the remission of sins that have already been committed' but not as a hel! to
!revent sins being committed' should be anathemaL *(en.%' +@<F/
4od' and are leading honest and u!right lives/ Such individuals are
obviously not merely avoiding some mortal sins and doing some good
deeds/ Rather they are continuing over a long !eriod of time to obey the
!rece!ts of the natural la8 and to avoid serious o"ense against 4od/
3ther8ise it 8ould not be correct to say that they 8ere leading honest and
u!right lives/
But 8hether' as seems most !robable' the individuals referred to in
this section of the encyclical are in the state grace' or they are being
moved by actual grace in the direction of Custi$cation' it is im!ortant to
note that the "uanto con#ciamur moerore teaches that they Lcan' through
the wor9ing o1 the divine light and grace' attain eternal life/L 3bviously
there is no hint here that these !eo!le are in a !osition to attain eternal
life or salvation other than L8ithinL the Catholic Church/ There is'
ho8ever' a de$nite im!lication' that they can be saved even though they
remain invincibly ignorant of the true religion/
The Ldivine lightL to 8hich the encyclical refers is' of course' the
illumination of true su!ernatural faith/ )o one is going to attain the
Beati$c >ision unless he has !assed from this life 8ith faith' acce!ting as
true' on the authority of 4od Himself' the su!ernatural teaching that 4od
has revealed/
The LgraceL s!o7en of in the document is ultimately sanctifying or
Custifying grace' the Buality by 8hich men are rendered connaturally able to
act on the divine level' and to live as ado!ted sons of 4od and as brothers of
esus Christ/ The man 8ho !ossesses this Buality has al8ays' along 8ith it'
the full !ano!ly of the su!ernatural or infused virtues and the gifts of the
Holy 4host/ The su!reme virtue in all of this su!ernatural organism is
that of charity/ )o one is going to attain to the Beati$c >ision unless he
leaves this life in !ossession of sanctifying grace' charity' and the virtues of
8hich charity is at once the cro8n and the bond of !erfection/ Actual graces
tend to move a sinner to8ard the !ossession of sanctifying grace in the
Church/
)o8' that faith 8hich is absolutely reBuisite for the attainment of eternal life
is de$nitely not a mere 8illingness to believe/ It is the actual acce!tance' as
!erfectly true' of the su!ernatural message 8hich 4od has revealed/
S!eci$cally' it is the acce!tance of the message 8hich 4od has revealed
through 3ur Lord esus Christ' the teaching 8hich theology designates as
divine !ublic revelation/
The divine !ublic revelation is com!osed of a certain number of truths
or statements/ It is Buite manifest that genuine and su!ernatural divine faith
can e9ist and does e9ist in individuals 8ho have no clear and distinct
a8areness of some of these truths' but 8ho sim!ly acce!t them as they are
contained or im!lied in other doctrines/ But' in order that faith may e9ist'
there certainly must be some minimum of teachings 8hich are gras!ed
distinctly by the believer and 8ithin 8hich the rest of the revealed message
is im!lied or im!licit/ Catholic theology holds that it is !ossible to have
genuine divine faith 8hen t8o' or' according to some 8riters' four' of these
revealed truths are believed distinctly or e9!licitly/ There can be real divine
faith 8hen a man believes e9!licitly' on the authority of 4od revealing'
the e9istence of 4od as the Head of the su!ernatural order' the fact
that 4od re8ards good and !unishes evil' and the doctrines of the
Blessed Trinity and of the Incarnation/
It is de$nitely not a teaching of the Catholic theologians that there can
be no true act of divine and su!ernatural faith a!art from an e9!licit
a8areness and acce!tance of the Catholic religion as the true religion and
of the Catholic Church as the true 7ingdom of 4od/ 3n the contrary' it is the
common teaching of the theologians that true su!ernatural faith can e9ist
even 8here there is only an im!licit belief in the Catholic Church and in the
Catholic religion/ This' in the last analysis' is the fact brought out in the
"uanto con#ciamur moerore' 8hen that document tells us that a !erson
invincibly ignorant of the true religion can attain eternal life through the
8or7ings of the divine light and of grace/
Any act of genuine su!ernatural divine faith' ho8ever com!aratively
!oor it may be in e9!licit content' can be the intellectual basis for an act
of divine charity/ True su!ernatural charity is an act of the love of
benevolence and friendshi! for 4od 7no8n su!ernaturally' in the light of
the Beati$c >ision in the ne9t 8orld' or in the light of divine faith in
this life/ Any man 8ho believes in 4od 8ith true su!ernatural divine faith
can' 8ith the hel! of 4odGs grace' love Him as He is 7no8n in this 8ay/ And
this su!ernatural love for 4od' if it is a love of benevolence and friendshi!' is
the act of divine charity/
Sanctifying grace al8ays accom!anies the love of charity/ The man 8ho
dies in the state of sanctifying grace 8ill inevitably attain to the Beati$c
>ision/ Hence' since it is !ossible for a man to have genuine
su!ernatural faith and charity and the life of sanctifying grace' 8ithout
having a distinct and e9!licit 7no8ledge of the true Church and of the
true religion' it is !ossible for this man to be saved 8ith only an im!licit
7no8ledge and desire of the Church/
The "uanto con#ciamur moerore e9!lained that 4od 8ill Lnever allo8
anyone 8ho has not the guilt of 8ilful sin to be !unished by eternal
su"erings *minim'e patiatur' !uempiam aeternis puniri suppliciis' !ui
voluntariae culpae reatum non habeat,%N In this 8ay the Sovereign Ponti"
once again focussed attention on the fact that there is no such thing as
neutrality to8ard 4od' the Head of the su!ernatural order/ (very
individual in the 8orld is either in the state of grace' the condition of
su!ernatural friendshi! 8ith 4od' or in the state of sin' the state of
aversion from Him/ Infants 8ho die unba!tiHed !ass from this life in the
state of sin' but they have no !ersonal or actual o"enses against 4od/
They are not being !unished' !ro!erly s!ea7ing' 8hen they are not
admitted to the Beati$c >ision/ They are sim!ly being de!rived of
something 8hich does not belong to them' something 8hich their $rst
earthly father' Adam' abdicated for them or renounced for them 8hen he
committed his sin of disobedience against 4od/
3n the other hand' those 8ho live to attain the use of reason are
li7e8ise either in the state of grace or in the state of sin/ In the case of
these individuals' ho8ever' it is the teaching of St/ Thomas ABuinas and
of his commentators that' if they do not !ossess the life of sanctifying
grace' they arein the state of mortal sin/ *e $nd this teaching' 8hich
must be understood if 8e are going to have any really theological
gras! of the dogma of the Catholic ChurchGs necessity for the
attainment of eternal salvation' in the article of the umma theologica
in 8hich St/ Thomas considers and ans8ers the Buestion about the
!ossibility of a manGs being in a condition in 8hich he 8ould be in the
state of original sin and guilty of venial' but not mortal' sin/ The
translation of the body of the article runs as follo8sD
I ans8er saying that it is im!ossible that venial sin should be in
anyone together 8ith original sin but 8ithout mortal sin/ The
reason is that' before anyone arrives at the age of discretion' the
defect of age that !revents the use of reason e9cuses him from
mortal sin/ Hence' for a much greater reason' it e9cuses him from
venial sin if he should !erform some act 8hich 8ould be e)
genere suo a venial sin/ But 8hen he shall have begun to have the
use of reason' he is not entirely e9cused from the guilt of
venial and mortal sin/ But the $rst thing 8hich then occurs to a
man to thin7 of is to consider about himself/ And if he should
order himself to the !ro!er end' through grace he obtains the
remission of original sin/ But if' on the other hand' he does not set
himself to8ard the !ro!er end' according to the ca!acity for
discretion he has at that age' he 8ill sin mortally' not doing
8hat he is able to do *non 1aciens !uod in se est, % And from
that time on' venial sin 8ill not be in him 8ithout mortal sin until
after the 8hole has been forgiven in him by grace/
In ans8er to the third obCection raised against his conclusion St/
Thomas brings out the ultimate foundation of this teaching/ LThe $rst
thing' he tells us' L that occurs to a man having discretion Ithe use of
reasonJ is to thin7 of that to 8hich he may order other things as to
an end/ But the end is !rior in the order of intention/ ConseBuently'
it is at this time that a man is bound by that a6rmative divine
!rece!t 8hich the Lord e9!ressed in the 8ordsD WTurn ye to me' and
I 8ill turn to you/G L
=
Bac7 of this teaching of the umma theologica is the realistic and
dynamic a!!reciation of the order of salvation 8hich' unfortunately'
has been some8hat obscured for some individual teachers by a
defective ty!e of casuistry/ The teaching of St/ Thomas ABuinas ta7es
cogniHance of the fact that the adult human being in the state of
grace is not merely one endo8ed by 4od 8ith a certain su!ernatural
Buality' but is actually a !erson 8ho' by the force of that Buality and
the various su!ernatural and actual graces he has received from 4od'
is really 8or7ing for the attainment of 4odGs su!ernatural glory/ The
!erson 8ho has the use of reason and 8ho is
++
in !ossession of the
state of grace is one 8ho lives a life motivated by the act of
su!ernatural charity/
3n the other hand' the individual 8hose life is motivated by a
!ur!ose other than that of divine charity is 8or7ing for some !ur!ose
other than the one 4od 8ills to have/ This man is 8or7ing against
4odGs orders/ He is badly dis!osed to8ard 4od/ He is in a condition of
aversion from 4od' his only $nal and su!ernatural (nd/ He is in the
condition or state of mortal sin/
Hence' any man 8ho has the use of reason and 8ho dies in a state of
aversion from 4od is turned a8ay from 4od through his o8n fault/ If
he does not attain the Beati$c >ision' it is because of a free choice he
has made to 8or7 for some ultimate !ur!ose distinct from and
o!!osed to the one 8hich 4od Himself has set for him/ He is in a
!osition in 8hich lie is Custly subCect to !unishment by 4od Himself/
So it is that the "uanto con1ciansur moerore teaches us that 4od
!unishes 8ith everlasting torments only those men 8ho have !assed
from this life in a state of aversion from +:$in 8hich they have freely
chosen by a sinful act/
3n the other hand' the decision to 8or7 for the end of divine and
su!ernatural charity is an act of love for the Triune 4od/ As such it is
the terminus of the !rocess of conversion/ It is the act 8hich
necessarily carries 8ith it hatred and detestation of sin 8hich o"ends
4od' and thus the act in 8hich sin itself is remitted/