salvation of the unbaptized (1 of 2)

Father Mateo (76776.306@compuserve.com)
27 Dec 95 11:43:54 EST

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To: Breier W. Scheetz

> From: breier@halcyon.com (Breier W. Scheetz)
> Subject: Where do the unbaptized go after death?
>
> This question has probably been answered dozens of times,
> but what is the Catholic Church's official teaching (if it
> has one) regarding the status of unbaptized individuals
> after their death? I know that it's trendy nowdays to say
> that "everyone" goes to heaven, but if that is explicitly
> the case, then aren't many of the sacraments, such as
> Baptism and Reconciliation, made irrelevant? After all, if
> everyone goes to heaven, regardless of their beliefs, then
> isn't everything relative? I'm heard some people talk about
> Limbo, does that play a role in this question? Thanks for
> your help.
> --------------------------------
> "Nothing except a battle lost Breier W. Scheetz is half as
> melancholy as a battle won"-Wellington
> breier@halcyon.com Seattle, WA USA

Dear Breier,

Your message requires two messages from me. Here is the first.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches:

"Outside the Church there is no salvation"
846 How are we to understand this affirmation, often repeated
by the Church Fathers? Re-formulated positively, it means that
all salvation comes from Christ the Head through the Church
which is his Body:

Basing itself on Scripture and Tradition, the Council teaches
that the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for
salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of
salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the
Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of
faith and Baptism, and thereby affirmed at the same time the
necessity of the Church which men enter through Baptism as
through a door. Hence they could not be saved who, knowing
that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God
through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or to remain
in it. (Vatican II. The Church, sec. 14)

847: This affirmation is not aimed at those who, through no
fault of their own, do not know Christ and his Church:

Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the
Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek
God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their
actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates
of their conscience - those too may achieve eternal salvation.
(ibid., sec. 16)

848 "Although in ways known to himself God can lead those
who, through no fault of their own, are ignorant of the Gospel,
to that faith without which it is impossible to please him, the
Church still has the obligation and also the sacred right to
evangelize all men." (Vatican II. Missionary Activity, sec. 7)

Please read here:
Hebrews 11:6; 1st Timothy 2:4-5; Romans 3:29; Acts 10:35.