Questions / The Church and the Pope
Does the Church say people outside it cannot be saved?
Answered on video by Catholic Answers
Video: How Can Catholics Say There's No Salvation Outside the Church?, Catholic Answers Live, published Jul 10, 2024. Checked 10 October 2026. Loads from YouTube (privacy-enhanced mode) only when you press play. Watch on YouTube
In short: All salvation comes from Christ, through the Church that’s His Body. That’s different from saying nobody else can be saved. CCC 846
The answer, in writing
The Church reads the old saying positively: all salvation comes from Christ the Head through the Church, His Body. CCC 846
It is not aimed at those who, through no fault of their own, don’t know Christ and His Church but seek God sincerely and try to do His will; they too may be saved. CCC 847
The Church is sure where salvation comes from: Jesus. She is humble about who God can reach. Those are two different questions.
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How we know · 2 Catechism paragraphs
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