← The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 118: The Church and Non-Christians (2026)
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Fr. Mike examines the relationship between the Church and non-Christian religions. He discusses that while there is some degree of goodness and truth in every religion, the fullness of truth exists in the Catholic Church. Fr. Mike concludes with a reflection on the statement from the early Church Fathers that “outside the Church there is no salvation.” Today's readings are Catechism paragraphs 839-848.
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Hi, my name is Fr. Mike Schmitz and you're listening to the Catechism in a Year podcast where we encounter God's plan of sheer goodness for us revealed in Scripture and passed down through the tradition of the Catholic faith. The Catechism in a Year is brought to you by ascension. In 365 days we'll read through the Catechism of the Catholic Church, discovering our identity in God's family as we journey together toward our heavenly home. This is day 118. We're reading paragraphs 839 to 848. As always, I'm using the Ascension edition of the Catechism, which includes the Foundations of Faith approach you can follow along with any recent version of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It's all the same words. It's great. You can also download your own Catechism and year reading plan by visiting ascensionpress.com ciy and lastly, you can click Follow or subscribe on your podcast app for daily updates and daily notifications. Today is day 118. As I said, we're reading paragraphs 839, 848, so we're still on the articles. The four marks of the church church's one holy, Catholic and Apostolic Yesterday we talked about what does Catholic mean? Remember, it means universal or according to the totality in keeping with the whole. The Church is Catholic in a double sense, right? Because Christ is fully present in her. The fullness of the means of salvation, the fullness of truth subsists in the Catholic Church. So that fullness, that totality, that universality. But also because the Church is meant to go out to all of the world, like the entire universe essentially. Also we noted that there's dioceses and dioceses need to be united in faith, in their worship of sacraments, worship of God through the sacraments, united with their apostolically ordained Bishop, united with the Holy Father in Rome. All these things we also noted in those last paragraphs 836, 837 and 838 who belongs to the Catholic Church? And there's this pretty bold statement that says all human beings are called to this Catholic unity in the people of God. And to it in different ways belong or are ordered first of all the Catholic faithful, others who believe in Christ, so non Catholic Christians, and finally all mankind who are called by God's grace to salvation. Now we taking that next step today and the question is so what is the relationship that the Church has with other religions? What's the relationship the Church has to the Jewish people? What's the relationship the Church has to the Muslim people or to a non Christian religion? So we're going to look at those things. We're also going to look at this big statement. And the statement is right above paragraph 846. And the statement is, outside the Church there is no salvation. That's a quote essentially from the early Church Fathers that was often repeated. It says that in paragraph 846, outside the church there is no salvation. What does that mean? Does that mean that one has to be a card carrying Roman Catholic in order to enter heaven? That's a good question. Thank you for asking. The short answer is let's wait, let's actually read it because the Church gives us a great explanation of how we are to understand what this statement means. So that's paragraph 846 to 848 today. So that's what we're looking at. We're looking at what's the Church's relationship with religions around the world, with non Christian religions, with Muslims, with the Jewish people, and also how does the Church see herself as the universal sacrament of salvation. That's what we're looking at today. And that's such an incredible gift because we realize the Church doesn't give herself these gifts. She has simply been given them by the Lord Himself. And it's our duty, it's our privilege, it's our responsibility to exercise them and to understand what this means. That's why we're diving into this today. So here we are. Since we're tackling this big topic, let us ask the Lord to give us his grace, to give us his understanding, to give us a spirit of love and a spirit of truth as we call upon God, our Father. Father in heaven. We thank you and we give you praise. We ask you to please enlighten our minds. Help us to understand clearly exactly what it is you wish to reveal to us. Not only about yourself, your heart, your love, who you are, but also about your Church. Your son, Jesus Christ is the head of the Church and the Church is the body of Christ. We ask you, Lord, help us to actually live united with our head. Help us live in union with your will. Help us to always see ourselves as constantly in need of reformation and at the same time constantly being given your grace. Help us to acknowledge the goodness that we find in every person and all peoples around us. Help us to find the goodness and the truth that we find in varying degrees in all religions. Help us to acknowledge the dignity of every human being, our brothers and our sisters who are close to us and those people who are strangers who are far away from us. Help us to acknowledge and express the dignity that they have inherited by being made in your image. Help us to love everyone, especially those closest to us. And we ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. We're reading paragraphs 8:39, 8:48 day 118 the church and non Christians, those who have not yet received the Gospel, are related to the people of God in various the relationship of the Church with the Jewish people When she delves into her own mystery, the Church, the people of God in the new covenant discovers her link with the Jewish people to whom the Lord our God spoke first. The Jewish faith, unlike other non Christian religions, is already a response to God's revelation in the Old Covenant to the Jews. As St. Paul wrote in his letter to the to the Jews belong the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs and of their race, according to the flesh is the Christ, for the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable. And when one considers the future, God's people of the Old Covenant and the new people of God tend towards similar expectation of the coming or the return of the Messiah. But one awaits the return of the Messiah who died and rose from the dead and is recognized as Lord and Son of God. The other waits for the coming of a Messiah whose features remain hidden till the end of time. And the latter waiting is accompanied by the drama of not knowing or of misunderstanding Christ Jesus. The Church's relationship with the Muslims the plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator in the first place, amongst whom are the Muslims. These profess to hold the faith of Abraham and together with us they adore the one merciful God, mankind's judge on the last day. The Church's bond with non Christian religions is in the first place the common origin and end of the human race. As the Church document Nostra Aetate states, all nations form but one community. This is so because all stem from the one stock which God created to people the entire earth, and also because all share a common destiny, namely God, His Providence, evident goodness and saving designs extend to all against the day when the elect are gathered together in the holy city. The Catholic Church recognizes in other religions that search among shadows and images for the God who is unknown yet near, since he gives life and breath and all things and wants all men to be saved. Thus the Church considers all goodness and truth found in these religions as a preparation for the Gospel, and given by him who enlightens all men that they may at length have life. In their religious behavior, however, men also display the limits and errors that disfigure the image of God in them. As lumen gentium. Very often deceived by the evil one, men have become vain in their reasonings and have exchanged the truth of God for a lie and served the creature rather than the Creator. Or else living and dying in this world without God, they are exposed to ultimate despair. To reunite all his children scattered and led astray by sin, the Father willed to call the whole of humanity together into His Son's Church. The Church is the place where humanity must rediscover its unity and salvation. The Church is the world reconciled. She is that bark which in the full sail of the Lord's cross, by the breath of the Holy Spirit, navigates safely in this world. According to another image dear to the Church fathers, she is prefigured by Noah's Ark, which alone saves from the flood. Outside the Church there is no salvation. How are we to understand this affirmation often repeated by the Church fathers? Reformulated positively, it means that all salvation comes from Christ the Head, through the Church, which is his body, as lumen gentium. 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. 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. These too may achieve eternal salvation, 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. All right, so there we are, day 118, paragraphs 839, 848. Wow, what a. Again, challenging and yet I think really compelling day. What is the Church doing in this section? Well, obviously, since the Church is Catholic, right, and is universal, we recognize that there's a relationship with those around us who don't believe what we believe. And so if you think about in these terms, okay, there's kind of three different groups of people the Church is looking at when it comes to non Christians. And then lastly maybe a fourth group which is everybody who's not Catholic, if that makes any sense. So first is Jewish people, then the Muslims, and then any other non Christian religions. And then kind of lastly is. Is everyone who's just not Catholic. Right, so that's the last section about outside the Church, there's no salvation. What does that mean for all those who, you know, from all the way from non Christian religions to Muslims to Jews to other Christians who aren't Catholic? What is the. Our relationship? One of the images that I think could be helpful is the image of these concentric circles. And I like it like this or think of it like this. So the Church here is trying to affirm that there is goodness and there's truth in almost every religion. So even the Church didn't mention this. But I'll say, like Satanism, Satanism, they have a degree of truth. They believe Satan exists. That's true. But then they also would say worship him. And we say, no, no, no, that's, that's false. That's, that's error. That's evil. So similarly, we have the Church's relationship with non Christian religions in paragraph 842, say, for example, Hinduism. So Hindus believe in a spiritual world. There's spiritual reality beyond the material world. Yeah, that's true. But they also believe in thousands or millions of deities. Gods. We say, okay, that's not true, but there is some truth there. I mean, how many times have you read something from Eastern mysticism or Eastern teaching and thought, oh yeah, that's wise there. So the Church is affirming that all around us there is degrees of truth that abide and then even more truth. Say paragraph 841, the church's relationship with Muslims. It says this. It says in the first place, among whom are Muslims, they acknowledge their Creator. They profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us, they adore the one merciful God, mankind's judge on the last day. So whereas Hindus would believe in Multiple gods. And that's error. Muslims believe in one God. We say, yeah, that's true, but they don't believe that God is their father. And we say, okay, they don't believe in the Trinity or in Jesus Christ himself. And so we'd say, okay, that's false, that's error. That's where that religion is wrong. The first religion that's mentioned, of course, is the one that's closest to Christianity, because Christianity comes from Judaism. So in paragraph 839 and 840, it looks at the Church's relationship with the Jewish people, and there's so much affirmation. I just, I really want to highlight this. You know, Dr. Brant Petrie is this phenomenal scripture scholar, and he has a kind of a whole series of books on like, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist, Jesus and the. Or Mary and the Jewish Roots of. Or the Jewish Roots of Mary. There's all Jewish roots, basically. And he does this podcast where these talks, where he talks about, here's the way in which we understand the New Testament, always in light of the Old, because why? Because we recognize that Jesus was Jewish and Jesus comes from the Jewish people. That the old covenant that God established with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, with Moses, this whole. Well, it says here in paragraph 839, these are the people to whom the Lord our God spoke first. And this is remarkable. The Jewish faith In this paragraph 839, again, the Jewish faith, unlike other non Christian religions, is already a response to God's revelation in the old covenant. And there's this long quote from St. Paul's letter to the Romans, which affirms so much goodness. To the Jews belong the sonship, the glory, the covenant, the giving of the law, the worship, the promises. To them belong the patriarchs and of their race according to the flesh, and is the Christ. For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable. There is something so profound. There's a lot of truth in Judaism. And at the same time, they don't accept Jesus as the Christ. And so that's false, that's wrong, that's error. And so after all of the affirmation, the church says that, yes, in paragraph 8, 43, the Church recognizes in other religions that search among shadows and images for the God who is unknown, yet near, since he gives life and breath and all things, and he wants all men to be saved. So here's this affirmation. End that sentence or that section of paragraph 843. It says, Therefore, or thus the Church considers all goodness and truth found in these religions as a preparation for the Gospel and given by him who enlightens all men that they may at length have life. So basically all truth comes from God. So if there's truth mixed in with error, if there's goodness mixed in with evil, that goodness, that truth comes from the Lord. And we say, and that's a preparation for them to receive the gospel. Now at the same time, the Church is not being mamby pamby, if you want to say it like that, because paragraph 8, 44 says, yeah, there's limits here. In their religious behavior, however, men also display the limits and errors that disfigure the image of God in them. You know, because of original sin, all of us are tempted and deceived, all of us are fallen. And here's this quote from Lumen Gentium says, very often deceived by the evil one, men have become vain in their reasonings and have exchanged the truth of God for a lie and serve the creature rather than the Creator or else living and dying in this world without God, they're exposed to ultimate despair. And so that recognition is, we need the Church, we need Jesus Christ, we need the fullness of truth. I mentioned there's truth in all these different religions. The fullness of truth subsists in the Catholic Church. And the Church is saying, yes, and we need that. The fullness of grace means of salvation or it subsists in the Catholic Church. Yes, and we need that. Why? Because we are so prone to error, we are so prone to darkness, we are so prone to evil, that the only thing that can save us is this ship, right, this in paragraph 8, 45, the bark, meaning like the boat which in the full sail of the Lord's Cross, by the breath of the Holy Spirit navigates safely in this world. So that leads us to the last three paragraphs. And these three paragraphs could initially seem challenging, and they might ultimately be challenging, but I think they're incredibly beautiful. The first is this line, outside the Church there is no salvation. Say, what is that? And the Church, the Catechism asks the question, how are we to understand that? What does that mean? Outside the Church there is no salvation. Now, back in the 20th century, there was a priest in the United States who held that what that meant was unless you were a card carrying Roman Catholic, you could not enter heaven. The Church basically said, that's not what that means. And you are not to teach that. Here is what it means. I love. This is so powerful. Again, comes from the Second Vatican Council Lumen Gentium says, basing itself on Scripture and tradition, the Council teaches that the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation. So the Church is necessary. Goes on to say, the One Christ is the Mediator and the way of salvation. Remember, Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. So Jesus, he's the Mediator, the way of salvation. He's present to us in his body, which is the Church. Yes, that's a huge affirmation. We just need to hear that. Goes on to say he Himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and baptism. Right. Jesus, in John chapter three, he says, unless you're born again of water and the Holy Spirit, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. And we recognize also that Jesus also said that unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life in you, that you cannot enter eternal life unless you have the Eucharist. So there's this piece in here that we need to pay attention to. Goes on to say, when he did this, when he asserted this necessity of faith in baptism, Jesus himself affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through baptism as through a door. Therefore, or 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. And so here is what is affirmed. God's grace comes to us through his body. Right. Here's the head. United to his body. God's grace of salvation comes to us through his body. So if I knew that and rejected it, I'd be rejecting Him. That's really important to understand. So again, that last sentence, they could not be saved. If I knew the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, but I refused to enter it or I refused to remain in it, I would be rejecting. I'd be saying no to the Lord. I'd be saying no to God. Now, paragraph 847 makes some clarifications. It says, this affirmation is not aimed at those who, through no fault of their own, do not know Christ and His Church. And this is a sentence that I will often share with many, many people when they ask the big question about, like what about people who never know? What about someone far off tribe in the middle of the Amazon who have never heard of Jesus? It says this. 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 two may achieve eternal salvation. So what's that saying? Okay, they seek God with a sincere heart. Okay, first of all, it's this. No fault of their own. So it's not someone who is like, well, you know, who really cares. I'm not going to take a look, but. Because that would be. That's the responsibility of every human being, is to try to find the truth. We're all obligated to do that regardless of our story, right? And. But only to the degree that we can. But who, through no fault of their own, don't know the gospel of Christ or His church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart. No, what that looks like, what that sounds like is seeking God. That sounds like a pursuit. It doesn't sound like I'm drifting towards heaven. I must actually be seeking God with a sincere heart. And goes on to say, and moved by grace. Remember, we don't do any of this without God's help. We're moved by grace. So not only no fault of my own, but I'm also seeking God. This is a pursuit of God. I'm actively trying to choose God as best as I can. Also, God's grace is moving me. His grace is helping me. And he goes on to say, try in their actions to do his will as they know it. Which means it's not just kind of this thought, oh, I guess I'd like to know who God is. But they're trying to live this out just like you and I. We're trying to live out our faith in Jesus as best we know him, to live out our faith in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the best as we know Him. We have to do that in our actions, not just in our minds, not just in our hearts. Those two may achieve eternal salvation. Hope. That makes sense. Basically, what we're saying is God is just. We're saying God is good and God will judge us. He'll give us what we. What we choose because of his grace. Because Jesus Christ has opened the gates to heaven. Now heaven is possible. Heaven is choosable. You're going to say it like that, but we have to choose it. Like we have to actually choose heaven. And secondly, we choose imperfectly. And so God's graciousness is okay, if you're choosing me as you know me, I'll let you find me essentially, if that makes any sense. Now, here's the last note. That doesn't mean that we don't share the gospel. That doesn't mean that we don't say, well, people, yeah, gosh, if they're no fault of their own, they don't know Jesus or his church, then, you know, why tell them? Let them just pursue the Lord on their own. No, paragraph 848 says this very clearly. Although in ways known to God himself, he could. He could lead those who are ignorant of the gospel to himself, the church still has the obligation and also the sacred right to evangelize all men. That's what we're talking about tomorrow. The mission of the church. We still have, no matter what. Even if God can save. Even if God can save those who do not know him or do not know his church, we still have an absolute duty, an absolute obligation, and a sacred right to bring the gospel to every part of this world. Does that make sense? Hopefully it does. Okay. Today may be challenging. Hopefully clarifying. I hope so. Hopefully exciting, too, because this is. I don't know. I was so excited for today. Day 118. I think that it is a powerful and beautiful teaching of the church that is so. It honors the Lord. And I think it is, well, completely true, which is pretty amazing. But if you're struggling with today, please know we're praying for each other. I know you're praying for each other. I'm praying for you. Please pray for me. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.