Introduction
I. The Fullness and Definitiveness
of the Revelation of Jesus Christ
II. The Incarnate Logos and the Holy
Spirit in the Work of Salvation
III. Unicity and Universality of the
Salvific Mystery of Jesus Christ
IV. Unicity and Unity of the Church
V. The Church: Kingdom of God and
Kingdom of Christ
VI. The Church and the Other Religions
in Relation to Salvation
Conclusion
Introduction
1. The Lord Jesus,
before ascending into heaven, commanded
his disciples to proclaim the Gospelto
the whole world and to baptize all nations:
"Go into the whole world and proclaim
the Gospel toevery creature. He who
believes and is baptized will be saved;
he who does not believe will becondemned"
(Mk 16:15-16); "All power in heaven
and on earth has been given to me. Go
thereforeand teach all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the HolySpirit, teaching
them to observe all that I have commanded
you. And behold, I am with you always,until
the end of the world" (Mt 28:18-20;
cf. Lk 24:46-48; Jn 17:18,20,21; Acts
1:8).
The Church's universal mission is
born from the command of Jesus Christ
and is fulfilled in thecourse of the
centuries in the proclamation of the
mystery of God, Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit, andthe mystery of the incarnation
of the Son, as saving event for all
humanity. The fundamental contents of
the profession of the Christian faith
are expressed thus:
"I believe in one God, the Father,
Almighty, maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is,seen and unseen. I believe
in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only
Son of God, eternallybegotten of the
Father, God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,begotten, not
made, of one being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation,
he came down from heaven: by the power
of theHoly Spirit he became incarnate
of the Virgin Mary, and became man.
For our sakehe was crucified under Pontius
Pilate; he suffered, died, and was buried.
On the thirdday he rose again in accordance
with the Scriptures; he ascended into
heaven and isseated at the right hand
of the Father. He will come again in
glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end. I
believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord,the
giver of life, who proceeds from the
Father. With the Father and the Son
he isworshipped and glorified. He has
spoken through the Prophets. I believe
in one holycatholic and apostolic Church.
I acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness
of sins.
I look for the resurrection of the
dead, and the life of the world to come."1
2. In the course
of the centuries, the Church has proclaimed
and witnessed with fidelity to the Gospel
of Jesus. At the close of the second
millennium, however, this mission is
still far from complete.2 For that reason,
Saint Paul's words are now more relevant
than ever: "Preaching the Gospel
is not a reason for me to boast; it
is a necessity laid on me: woe to me
if I do not preach the Gospel!"
(1 Cor 9:16). This explains the Magisterium's
particular attention to giving reasons
for and supporting the evangelizing
mission of the Church, above all in
connection with the religious traditions
of the world.3
In considering the values which these
religions witness to and offer humanity,
with an open and positive approach,
the Second Vatican Council's Declaration
on the relation of the Church to non-Christian
religions states: "The Catholic
Church rejects nothing of what is true
and holy in these religions. She has
a high regard for the manner of life
and conduct, the precepts and teachings,
which, although differing in many ways
from her own teaching, nonetheless often
reflect a ray of that truth which enlightens
all men."4 Continuing in this line
of thought, the Church's proclamation
of Jesus Christ, "the way, the
truth, and the life" (Jn 14:6),
today also makes use of the practice
of inter-religious dialogue. Such dialogue
certainly does not replace, but rather
accompanies the missio ad gentes, directed
toward that "mystery of unity",
from which "it follows that all
men and womenwho are saved share, though
differently, in the same mystery of
salvation in Jesus Christ through his
Spirit."5 Inter-religious dialogue,
which is part of the Church's evangelizing
mission,6 requires an attitude of understanding
and a relationship of mutual knowledge
and reciprocal enrichment, in obedience
to the truth and with respect for freedom.7
3. In the practice
of dialogue between the Christian faith
and other religious traditions, as well
as in seeking to understand its theoretical
basis more deeply, new questions arise
that need to be addressed through pursuing
new paths of research, advancing proposals,
and suggesting ways of acting that call
for attentive discernment. In this task,
the present Declaration seeks to recall
to Bishops, theologians, and all the
Catholic faithful, certain indispensable
elements of Christian doctrine, which
may help theological reflection in developing
solutions consistent with the contents
of the faith and responsive to the pressing
needs of contemporary culture.
The expository language of the Declaration
corresponds to its purpose, which is
not to treat in a systematic manner
the question of the unicity and salvific
universality of the mystery of Jesus
Christ and the Church, nor to propose
solutions to questions that are matters
of free theological debate, but rather
to set forth again the doctrine of the
Catholic faith in these areas, pointing
out somefundamental questions that remain
open to further development, and refuting
specific positions that are erroneous
or ambiguous. For this reason, the Declaration
takes up what has been taught in previous
Magisterial documents, in order to reiterate
certain truths that are part of the
Church's faith.
4. The Church's constant
missionary proclamation is endangered
today by relativistic theories which
seek to justify religious pluralism,
not only de facto but also de iure (or
in principle). As a consequence, it
is held that certain truths have been
superseded; for example, the definitive
and complete character of the revelation
of Jesus Christ, the nature of Christian
faith as compared with that of belief
in other religions, the inspired nature
of the books of Sacred Scripture, the
personal unity between the Eternal Word
and Jesus of Nazareth, the unity of
the economy of the Incarnate Word and
the Holy Spirit, the unicity and salvific
universality of the mystery of Jesus
Christ, the universal salvific mediation
of the Church, the inseparability —
while recognizing the distinction —
of the kingdom of God, the kingdom of
Christ, and the Church, and the subsistence
of the one Church of Christ in the Catholic
Church.
The roots of these problems are to
be found in certain presuppositions
of both a philosophical andtheological
nature, which hinder the understanding
and acceptance of the revealed truth.
Some of these can be mentioned: the
conviction of the elusiveness and inexpressibility
of divine truth, even by Christian revelation;
relativistic attitudes toward truth
itself, according to which what is true
for some would not be true for others;
the radical opposition posited between
the logical mentality of the West and
the symbolic mentality of the East;
the subjectivism which, by regarding
reason as the only source of knowledge,
becomes incapable of raising its "gaze
to the heights, not daring to rise to
thetruth of being";8 the difficulty
in understanding and accepting the presence
of definitive and eschatological events
in history; the metaphysical emptying
of the historical incarnation of the
Eternal Logos, reduced to a mere appearing
of God in history; the eclecticism of
those who, in theological research,
uncritically absorb ideas from a variety
of philosophical and theological contexts
without regard for consistency, systematic
connection, or compatibility with Christian
truth; finally, the tendency to read
and to interpret Sacred Scripture outside
the Tradition and Magisterium of the
Church.
On the basis of such presuppositions,
which may evince different nuances,
certain theological proposals are developed
-- at times presented as assertions,
and at times as hypotheses -- in which
Christian revelation and the mystery
of Jesus Christ and the Church lose
their character of absolute truth and
salvific universality, or at least shadows
of doubt and uncertainty are cast upon
them.
I. The Fullness and Definitiveness
of the Revelation of Jesus Christ
5. As a remedy for
this relativistic mentality, which is
becoming ever more common, it is necessary
above all to reassert the definitive
and complete character of the revelation
of Jesus Christ. In fact, it must be
firmly believed that, in the mystery
of Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Son of
God, who is "the way, the truth,
and the life" (Jn 14:6), the full
revelation of divine truth is given:
"No one knows the Son except the
Father, and no one knows the Father
except the Son and anyone to whom the
Son wishes to reveal him" (Mt 11:27);
"No one has ever seen God; God
the only Son, who is in the bosom of
the Father, has revealed him" (Jn
1:18); "For in Christ the whole
fullness of divinity dwells in bodily
form" (Col 2:9-10). Faithful to
God's word, the Second Vatican Council
teaches: "By this revelation then,
the deepest truth about God and the
salvation of man shines forth in Christ,
who is at the same time the mediator
and the fullness of all revelation."9
Furthermore, "Jesus Christ, therefore,
the Word made flesh, sent 'as a man
to men', 'speaks the words of God' (Jn
3:34), and completes the work of salvation
which his Father gave him to do (cf.
Jn 5:36; 17:4). To see Jesus is to see
his Father (cf. Jn 14:9). For this reason,
Jesus perfected revelation by fulfilling
it through his whole work of making
himself present and manifesting himself:
through his words and deeds, his signs
and wonders, but especially through
his death and glorious resurrection
from the dead and finally with the sending
of the Spirit of truth, he completed
and perfected revelation and confirmed
it with divine testimony...The Christian
dispensation, therefore, as the new
and definitive covenant, will never
pass away, and we now await no further
new public revelation before the glorious
manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ
(cf. 1 Tim 6:14 and Tit 2:13)."10
Thus, the Encyclical Redemptoris missio
calls the Church once again to the task
of announcing the Gospel as the fullness
of truth: "In this definitive Word
of his revelation, God has made himself
known in the fullest possible way. He
has revealed to mankind who he is. This
definitive self-revelation of God is
the fundamental reason why the Church
is missionary by her very nature.
She cannot do other than proclaim
the Gospel, that is, the fullness of
the truth which God has enabled us to
know about himself."11 Only the
revelation of Jesus Christ, therefore,
"introduces into our history a
universal and ultimate truth which stirs
the human mind to ceaseless effort."12
6. Therefore, the
theory of the limited, incomplete, or
imperfect character of the revelation
of Jesus Christ, which would be complementary
to that found in other religions, is
contrary to the Church's faith. Such
a position would claim to be based on
the notion that the truth about God
cannot be grasped and manifested in
its globality and completeness by any
historical religion, neither by Christianity
nor by Jesus Christ.
Such a position is in radical contradiction
with the foregoing statements of Catholic
faith according to which the full and
complete revelation of the salvific
mystery of God is given in Jesus Christ.
Therefore, the words, deeds, and entire
historical event of Jesus, though limited
as human realities, have nevertheless
the divine Person of the Incarnate Word,
"true God and true man"13
as their subject. For this reason, they
possess in themselves the definitiveness
and completeness of the revelation of
God's salvific ways, even if the depth
of the divine mystery in itself remains
transcendent and inexhaustible. The
truth about God is not abolished or
reduced because it is spoken in human
language; rather, it is unique, full,
and complete, because he who speaks
and acts is the Incarnate Son of God.
Thus, faith requires us to profess that
the Word made flesh, in his entire mystery,
who moves from incarnation to glorification,
is the source, participated but real,
as well as the fulfilment of every salvific
revelation of God to humanity,14 and
that the Holy Spirit, who is Christ's
Spirit, will teach this "entire
truth" (Jn 16:13) to the Apostles
and, through them, to the whole Church.
7. The proper response
to God's revelation is "the obedience
of faith (Rom 16:26; cf. Rom 1:5; 2
Cor 10:5-6) by which man freely entrusts
his entire self to God, offering 'the
full submission of intellect and will
to God who reveals' and freely assenting
to the revelation given by him."15
Faith is a gift of grace: "in order
to have faith, the grace of God must
come first and give assistance; there
must also be the interior helps of the
Holy Spirit, who moves the heart and
converts it to God, who opens the eyes
of the mind and gives 'to everyone joy
and ease in assenting to and believing
in the truth.'"16 The obedience
of faith implies acceptance of the truth
of Christ's revelation, guaranteed by
God, who is Truth itself:17 "Faith
is first of all a personal adherence
of man to God. At the same time, and
inseparably, it is a free assent to
the whole truth that God has revealed".18
Faith, therefore, as "a gift of
God" and as "a supernatural
virtue infused by him",19 involves
a dual adherence: to God who reveals
and to the truth which he reveals, out
of the trust which one has in him who
speaks.
Thus, "we must believe in no
one but God: the Father, the Son and
the Holy Spirit."20
For this reason, the distinction between
theological faith and belief in the
other religions, must be firmly held.
If faith is the acceptance in grace
of revealed truth, which "makes
it possible to penetrate the mystery
in a way that allows us to understand
it coherently",21 then belief,
in the other religions, is that sum
of experience and thought that constitutes
the human treasury of wisdom and religious
aspiration, which man in his search
for truth has conceived and acted upon
in his relationship to God and the Absolute.22
This distinction is not always borne
in mind in current theological reflection.
Thus, theological faith (the acceptance
of the truth revealed by the One and
Triune God) is often identified with
belief in other religions, which is
religious experience still in search
of the absolute truth and still lacking
assent to God who reveals himself. This
is one of the reasons why the differences
between Christianity and the other religions
tend to be reduced at times to the point
of disappearance.
8. The hypothesis
of the inspired value of the sacred
writings of other religions is also
put forward. Certainly, it must be recognized
that there are some elements in these
texts which may be de facto instruments
by which countless people throughout
the centuries have been and still are
able today to nourish and maintain their
life-relationship with God. Thus, as
noted above, the Second Vatican Council,
in considering the customs, precepts,
and teachings of the other religions,
teaches that "although differing
in many ways from her own teaching,
these nevertheless often reflect a ray
of that truth which enlightens all men."23
The Church's tradition, however, reserves
the designation of inspired texts to
the canonical books of the Old and New
Testaments, since these are inspired
by the Holy Spirit.24 Taking up this
tradition, the Dogmatic Constitution
on Divine Revelation of the Second Vatican
Council states:
"For Holy Mother Church, relying
on the faith of the apostolic age, accepts
as sacred and canonical the books of
the Old and New Testaments, whole and
entire, with all their parts, on the
grounds that, written under the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit (cf. Jn 20:31; 2
Tim 3:16; 2 Pet 1:19-21; 3:15-16), they
have God as their author, and have been
handed on as such to the Church herself."25
These books "firmly, faithfully,
and without error, teach that truth
which God, for the sake of our salvation,
wished to see confided to the Sacred
Scriptures."26
Nevertheless, God, who desires to
call all peoples to himself in Christ
and to communicate to them the fullness
of his revelation and love, "does
not fail to make himself present in
many ways, not onlyto individuals, but
also to entire peoples through their
spiritual riches, of which their religions
are the main and essential expression
even when they contain 'gaps, insufficiencies
and errors.'"27
Therefore, the sacred books of other
religions, which in actual fact direct
and nourish the existence of their followers,
receive from the mystery of Christ the
elements of goodness and grace which
they contain.
II. The Incarnate Logos And the Holy
Spirit In the Work of Salvation
9. In contemporary
theological reflection there often emerges
an approach to Jesus of Nazareth that
considers him a particular, finite,
historical figure, who reveals the divine
not in an exclusive way, but in a way
complementary with other revelatory
and salvific figures. The Infinite,
the Absolute, the Ultimate Mystery of
God would thus manifest itself to humanity
in many ways and in many historical
figures: Jesus of Nazareth would be
one of these. More concretely, for some,
Jesus would be one of the many faces
which the Logos has assumed in the course
of time to communicate with humanity
in a salvific way.
Furthermore, to justify the universality
of Christian salvation as well as the
fact of religious pluralism, it has
been proposed that there is an economy
of the eternal Word that is valid also
outside the Church and is unrelated
to her, in addition to an economy of
the incarnate Word. The first would
have a greater universal value than
the second, which is limited to Christians,
though God's presence would be more
full in the second.
10. These theses
are in profound conflict with the Christian
faith. The doctrine of faith must be
firmly believed which proclaims that
Jesus of Nazareth, son of Mary, and
he alone, is the Son and the Word of
the Father. The Word, which "was
in the beginning with God" (Jn
1:2) is the same as he who "became
flesh" (Jn 1:14). In Jesus, "the
Christ, the Son of the living God"
(Mt 16:16), "the whole fullness
of divinity dwells in bodily form"
(Col 2:9). He is the "only begotten
Son of the Father, who is in the bosom
of the Father" (Jn 1:18), his "beloved
Son, in whom we have redemption... In
him the fullness of God was pleased
to dwell, and through him, God was pleased
to reconcile all things to himself,
on earth and in the heavens, making
peace by the blood of his Cross"(Col
1:13-14; 19-20).
Faithful to Sacred Scripture and refuting
erroneous and reductive interpretations,
the First Council of Nicaea solemnly
defined its faith in: "Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, the only begotten generated
from the Father, that is, from the being
of the Father, God from God, Light from
Light, true God from true God, begotten,
not made, one in being with the Father,
through whom all things were made, those
in heaven and those on earth. For us
men and for our salvation, he came down
and became incarnate, was made man,
suffered, and rose again on the third
day. He ascended to the heavens and
shall come again to judge the living
and the dead."28 Following the
teachings of the Fathers of the Church,
the Council of Chalcedon also professed:
"the one and the same Son, our
Lord Jesus Christ, the same perfect
in divinity and perfect in humanity,
the same truly God and truly man...,
one in being with the Father according
to the divinity and one in being with
us according to the humanity..., begotten
of the Father before the ages according
to the divinity and, in these last days,
for us and our salvation, of Mary, the
Virgin Mother of God, according to the
humanity."29
For this reason, the Second Vatican
Council states that Christ "the
new Adam...'image of the invisible God'
(Col 1:15) is himself the perfect man
who has restored that likeness to God
in the children of Adam which had been
disfigured since the first sin... As
an innocent lamb he merited life for
us by his blood which he freely shed.
In him God reconciled us to himself
and to one another, freeing us from
the bondage of the devil and of sin,
so that each one of us could say with
the apostle: the Son of God 'loved me
and gave himself up for me' (Gal 2:20)."30
In this regard, John Paul II has explicitly
declared: "To introduce any sort
of separation between the Word and Jesus
Christ is contrary to the Christian
faith... Jesus is the Incarnate Word
-- a single and indivisible person...
Christ is none other than Jesus of Nazareth;
he is the Word of God made man for the
salvation of all... In the process of
discovering and appreciating the manifold
gifts -- especially the spiritual treasures
-- that God has bestowed on every people,
we cannot separate those gifts from
Jesus Christ, who is at the centre of
God's plan of salvation."31 It
is likewise contrary to the Catholic
faith to introduce a separation between
the salvific action of the Word as such
and that of the Word made man. With
the incarnation, all the salvific actions
of the Word of God are always done in
unity with the human nature that he
has assumed for the salvation of all
people. The one subject which operates
in the two natures, human and divine,
is the single person of the Word.32
Therefore, the theory which would
attribute, after the incarnation as
well, a salvific activity to the Logos
as such in his divinity, exercised "in
addition to" or "beyond"
the humanity of Christ, is not compatible
with the Catholic faith.33
11. Similarly, the
doctrine of faith regarding the unicity
of the salvific economy willed by the
One and
Triune God must be firmly believed,
at the source and centre of which is
the mystery of the incarnation of the
Word, mediator of divine grace on the
level of creation and redemption (cf.
Col 1:15-20), he who recapitulates all
things (cf. Eph 1:10), he "whom
God has made our wisdom, our righteousness,
and sanctification and redemption"
(1 Cor 1:30). In fact, the mystery of
Christ has its own intrinsic unity,
which extends from the eternal choice
in God to the parousia: "he [the
Father] chose us in Christ before the
foundation of the world to be holy and
blameless before him in love"
(Eph 1:4); "In Christ we are
heirs, having been destined according
to the purpose of him who accomplishes
all things according to his counsel
and will" (Eph 1:11); "For
those whom he foreknew he also predestined
to be conformed to the image of his
Son, in order that he might be the firstborn
among many brothers; those whom he predestined
he also called; and those whom he called
he also justified; and those whom he
justified he also glorified" (Rom
8:29-30).
The Church's Magisterium, faithful
to divine revelation, reasserts that
Jesus Christ is the mediator and the
universal redeemer: "The Word of
God, through whom all things were made,
was made flesh, so that as perfect man
he could save all men and sum up all
things in himself. The Lord...is he
whom the Father raised from the dead,
exalted and placed at his right hand,
constituting him judge of the living
and the dead."34 This salvific
mediation implies also the unicity of
the redemptive
sacrifice of Christ, eternal high
priest (cf. Heb 6:20; 9:11; 10:12-14).
12. There are also
those who propose the hypothesis of
an economy of the Holy Spirit with a
more universal breadth than that of
the Incarnate Word, crucified and risen.
This position also is contrary to the
Catholic faith, which, on the contrary,
considers the salvific incarnation of
the Word as a trinitarian event. In
the New Testament, the mystery of Jesus,
the Incarnate Word, constitutes the
place of the Holy Spirit's presence
as well as the principle of the Spirit's
effusion on humanity, not only in messianic
times (cf. Acts 2:32-36; Jn 7:39, 20:22;
1 Cor 15:45), but also prior to his
coming in history (cf. 1 Cor 10:4; 1
Pet 1:10-12).
The Second Vatican Council has recalled
to the consciousness of the Church's
faith this fundamental truth. In presenting
the Father's salvific plan for all humanity,
the Council closely links the mystery
of Christ from its very beginnings with
that of the Spirit.35 The entire work
of building the Church by Jesus Christ
the Head, in the course of the centuries,
is seen as an action which he does in
communion with his Spirit.36
Furthermore, the salvific action of
Jesus Christ, with and through his Spirit,
extends beyond the visible boundaries
of the Church to all humanity. Speaking
of the paschal mystery, in which Christ
even now associates the believer to
himself in a living manner in the Spirit
and gives him the hope of resurrection,
the Council states: "All this holds
true not only for Christians but also
for all men of good will in whose hearts
grace is active invisibly. For since
Christ died for all, and since all men
are in fact called to one and the same
destiny, which is divine, we must hold
that the Holy Spirit offers to all the
possibility of being made partners,
in a way known to God, in the paschal
mystery."37
Hence, the connection is clear between
the salvific mystery of the Incarnate
Word and that of the Spirit, who actualizes
the salvific efficacy of the Son made
man in the lives of all people, called
by God to a single goal, both those
who historically preceded the Word made
man, and those who live after his coming
in history: the Spirit of the Father,
bestowed abundantly by the Son, is the
animator of all (cf. Jn 3:34).
Thus, the recent Magisterium of the
Church has firmly and clearly recalled
the truth of a single divine economy:
"The Spirit's presence and activity
affect not only individuals but also
society and history, peoples, cultures
and religions... The Risen Christ 'is
now at work in human hearts through
the
strength of his Spirit'... Again,
it is the Spirit who sows the 'seeds
of the word' present in various customs
and cultures, preparing them for full
maturity in Christ."38 While recognizing
the historical-salvific function of
the Spirit in the whole universe and
in the entire history of humanity,39
the Magisterium states: "This is
the same Spirit who was at work in the
incarnation and in the life, death,
and resurrection of Jesus and who is
at work in the Church. He is therefore
not an alternative to Christ nor does
he fill a sort of void which is sometimes
suggested as existing between Christ
and the Logos. Whatever the Spirit brings
about in human hearts and in the history
of peoples, in cultures and religions,
serves as a preparation for the Gospel
and can only be understood in reference
to Christ, the Word who took flesh by
the power of the Spirit 'so that as
perfectly human he would save all human
beings and sum up all things.'"40
In conclusion, the action of the Spirit
is not outside or parallel to the action
of Christ. There is only one salvific
economy of the One and Triune God, realized
in the mystery of the incarnation, death,
and resurrection of the Son of God,
actualized with the cooperation of the
Holy Spirit, and extended in its salvific
value to all humanity and to the entire
universe: "No one, therefore, can
enter into communion with God except
through Christ, by the working of the
Holy Spirit."41
III. Unicity and Universality of the
Salvific Mystery of Jesus Christ
13. The thesis which
denies the unicity and salvific universality
of the mystery of Jesus Christ is also
put forward. Such a position has no
biblical foundation. In fact, the truth
of Jesus Christ, Son of God, Lord and
only Saviour, who through the event
of his incarnation, death and resurrection
has brought the history of salvation
to fulfilment, and which has in him
its fullness and centre, must be firmly
believed as a constant element of the
Church's faith.
The New Testament attests to this
fact with clarity: "The Father
has sent his Son as the Saviour of the
world" (1 Jn 4:14); "Behold
the Lamb of God who takes away the sin
of the world" (Jn 1:29).
In his discourse before the Sanhedrin,
Peter, in order to justify the healing
of a man who was crippled from birth,
which was done in the name of Jesus
(cf. Acts 3:1-8), proclaims: "There
is salvation in no one else, for there
is no other name under heaven given
among men by which we must be saved"
(Acts 4:12). St. Paul adds, moreover,
that Jesus Christ "is Lord of all",
"judge of the living and the dead",
and thus "whoever believes in him
receives forgiveness of sins through
his name" (Acts 10: 36,42,43).
Paul, addressing himself to the community
of Corinth, writes: "Indeed, even
though there may be so-called gods in
heaven or on earth -- as in fact there
are many gods and many lords -- yet
for us there is one God, the Father,
from whom are all things and for whom
we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ,
through whom are all things and through
whom we exist" (1 Cor 8:5-6). Furthermore,
John the Apostle states: "For God
so loved the world that he gave his
only Son, so that everyone who believes
in him may not perish but may have eternal
life. God did not send his Son into
the world to condemn the world, but
in order that the world might be saved
through him" (Jn 3:16-17). In the
New Testament, the universal salvific
will of God is closely connected to
the sole mediation of Christ: "[God]
desires all men to be saved and to come
to the knowledge of the truth. For there
is one God; there is also one mediator
between God and men, the man Jesus Christ,
who gave himself as a ransom for all"
(1 Tim 2:4-6).
It was in the awareness of the one
universal gift of salvation offered
by the Father through Jesus Christ in
the Spirit (cf. Eph 1:3-14), that the
first Christians encountered the Jewish
people, showing them the fulfilment
of salvation that went beyond the Law
and, in the same awareness, they confronted
the pagan world of their time, which
aspired to salvation through a plurality
of saviours.
This inheritance of faith has been
recalled recently by the Church's Magisterium:
"The Church
believes that Christ, who died and
was raised for the sake of all (cf.
2 Cor 5:15) can, through his Spirit,
give man the light and the strength
to be able to respond to his highest
calling, nor is there any other name
under heaven given among men by which
they can be saved (cf. Acts 4:12). The
Church likewise believes that the key,
the centre, and the purpose of the whole
of man's history is to be found in its
Lord and Master."42
14. It must therefore
be firmly believed as a truth of Catholic
faith that the universal salvific will
of the One and Triune God is offered
and accomplished once for all in the
mystery of the incarnation, death, and
resurrection of the Son of God. Bearing
in mind this article of faith, theology
today, in its reflection on the existence
of other religious experiences and on
their meaning in God's salvific plan,
is invited to explore if and in what
way the historical figures and positive
elements of these religions may fall
within the divine plan of salvation.
In this undertaking, theological research
has a vast field of work under the guidance
of the Church's Magisterium. The Second
Vatican Council, in fact, has stated
that: "the unique mediation of
the Redeemer does not exclude, but rather
gives rise to a manifold cooperation
which is but a participation in this
one source."43 The content of this
participated mediation should be explored
more deeply, but must remain always
consistent with the principle of Christ's
unique mediation:
"Although participated forms
of mediation of different kinds and
degrees are not excluded, they acquire
meaning and value only from Christ's
own mediation, and they cannot be understood
as parallel or complementary to his."44
Hence, those solutions that propose
a salvific action of God beyond the
unique mediation of Christ would be
contrary to Christian and Catholic faith.
15. Not infrequently
it is proposed that theology should
avoid the use of terms like "unicity",
"universality", and "absoluteness",
which give the impression of excessive
emphasis on the significance and value
of the salvific event of Jesus Christ
in relation to other religions. In reality,
however, such language is simply being
faithful to revelation, since it represents
a development of the sources of the
faith themselves. From the beginning,
the community of believers has recognized
in Jesus a salvific value such that
he alone, as Son of God made man, crucified
and risen, by the mission received from
the Father and in the power of the Holy
Spirit, bestows revelation (cf. Mt 11:27)
and divine life (cf. Jn 1:12; 5:25-26;
17:2) to all humanity and to every person.
In this sense, one can and must say
that Jesus Christ has a significance
and a value for the human race and its
history, which are unique and singular,
proper to him alone, exclusive, universal,
and absolute. Jesus is, in fact, the
Word of God made man for the salvation
of all. In expressing this consciousness
of faith, the Second Vatican Council
teaches: "The Word of God, through
whom all things were made, was made
flesh, so that as perfect man he could
save all men and sum up all things in
himself. The Lord is the goal of human
history, the focal point of the desires
of history and civilization, the centre
of mankind, the joy of all hearts, and
the fulfilment of all aspirations. It
is he whom the Father raised from the
dead, exalted and placed at his right
hand, constituting him judge of the
living and the dead."45 "It
is precisely this uniqueness of Christ
which gives him an absolute and universal
significance whereby, while belonging
to history, he remains history's centre
and goal:
'I am the Alpha and the Omega, the
first and the last, the beginning and
the end' (Rev 22:13)."46
IV. Unicity and Unity of the Church
16. The Lord Jesus,
the only Saviour, did not only establish
a simple community of disciples, but
constituted the Church as a salvific
mystery: he himself is in the Church
and the Church is in him (cf. Jn 15:1ff.;
Gal 3:28; Eph 4:15-16; Acts 9:5).Therefore,
the fullness of Christ's salvific mystery
belongs also to the Church, inseparably
united to her Lord. Indeed, Jesus Christ
continues his presence and his work
of salvation in the Church and by means
of the Church (cf. Col 1:24sup>47
which is his body (cf. 1 Cor 12:12-13,
27; Col 1:18).48 And thus, just as the
head and members of a living body, though
not identical, are inseparable, so too
Christ and the Church can neither be
confused nor separated, and constitute
a single "whole Christ."49
This same inseparability is also expressed
in the New Testament by the analogy
of the Church as the Bride of Christ
(cf. 2 Cor 11:2; Eph 5:25-29; Rev 21:2,9).50
Therefore, in connection with the
unicity and universality of the salvific
mediation of Jesus Christ, the unicity
of the Church founded by him must be
firmly believed as a truth of Catholic
faith. Just as there is one Christ,
so there exists a single body of Christ,
a single Bride of Christ: "a single
Catholic and apostolic Church."51
Furthermore, the promises of the Lord
that he would not abandon his
Church (cf. Mt 16:18; 28:20) and that
he would guide her by his Spirit (cf.
Jn 16:13) mean, according to Catholic
faith, that the unicity and the unity
of the Church -- like everything that
belongs to the Church's integrity --
will never be lacking.52
The Catholic faithful are required
to profess that there is an historical
continuity -- rooted in the apostolic
succession53 -- between the Church founded
by Christ and the Catholic Church: "This
is the single Church of Christ... which
our Saviour, after his resurrection,
entrusted to Peter's pastoral care (cf.
Jn 21:17), commissioning him and the
other Apostles to extend and rule her
(cf. Mt 28:18ff.), erected for all ages
as 'the pillar and mainstay of the truth'
(1 Tim 3:15). This Church, constituted
and organized as a society in the present
world, subsists in [subsistit in] the
Catholic Church, governed by the Successor
of Peter and by the Bishops in communion
with him."54 With the expression
subsistit in, the Second Vatican Council
sought to harmonize two doctrinal statements:
on the one hand, that the Church of
Christ, despite the divisions which
exist among Christians, continues to
exist fully only in the Catholic Church,
and on the other hand, that "outside
of her structure, many elements can
be found of sanctification and truth",55
that is, in those Churches and ecclesial
communities which are not yet in full
communion with the Catholic Church.56
But with respect to these, it needs
to be stated that "they derive
their efficacy from the very fullness
of grace and truth entrusted to the
Catholic Church."57
17. Therefore, there
exists a single Church of Christ, which
subsists in the Catholic Church, governed
by the Successor of Peter and by the
Bishops in communion with him.58 The
Churches which, while not existing in
perfect communion with the Catholic
Church, remain united to her by means
of the closest bonds, that is, by apostolic
succession and a valid Euch arist, are
true particular Churches.59 Therefore,
the Church of Christ is present and
operative also in these Churches, even
though they lack full communion with
the Catholic Church, since they do not
accept the Catholic doctrine of the
Primacy, which, according to the will
of God, the Bishop of Rome objectively
has and exercises over the entire Church.60
On the other hand, the ecclesial communities
which have not preserved the valid Episcopate
and the genuine and integral substance
of the Eucharistic mystery,61 are not
Churches in the proper sense; however,
those who are baptized in these communities
are, by Baptism, incorp orated in Christ
and thus are in a certain communion,
albeit imperfect, with the Church.62
Baptism in fact tends per se toward
the full development of life in Christ,
through the integral profession of faith,
the Eucharist, and full communion in
the Church.63 "The Christian faithful
are therefore not permitted to imagine
that the Church of Christ is nothing
more than a collection -- divided, yet
in some way one -- of Churches and ecclesial
communities; nor are they free to hold
that today the Church of Christ nowhere
really exists, and must be considered
only as a goal which all Churches and
ecclesial communities must strive to
reach."64 In fact, "the elements
of this already-given Church exist,
joined together in their fullness in
the Catholic Church and, without this
fullness, in the other communities."65
"Therefore, these separated Churches
and communities as such, though we believe
they suffer from defects, have by no
means been deprived of significance
and importance in the mystery of salvation.
For the spirit of Christ has not refrained
from using them as means of salvation
which derive their efficacy from the
very fullness of grace and truth entrusted
to the Catholic Church."66
The lack of unity among Christians
is certainly a wound for the Church;
not in the sense that she is deprived
of her unity, but "in that it hinders
the complete fulfilment of her universality
in history."67
V. The Church: Kingdom of God and Kingdom
of Christ
18. The mission of
the Church is "to proclaim and
establish among all peoples the kingdom
of Christ and of God, and she is on
earth, the seed and the beginning of
that kingdom."68 On the one hand,
the Church is "a sacrament -- that
is, sign and instrument of intimate
union with God and of unity of the entire
human race."69 She is therefore
the sign and instrument of the kingdom;
she is called to announce and to establish
the kingdom. On the other hand, the
Church is the "people gathered
by the unity of the Father, the Son
and the Holy Spirit";70 she is
therefore "the kingdom of Christ
already present in mystery"71 and
constitutes its seed and beginning.
The kingdom of God, in fact, has an
eschatological dimension: it is a reality
present in time, but its full realization
will arrive only with the completion
or fulfilment of history.72
The meaning of the expressions kingdom
of heaven, kingdom of God, and kingdom
of Christ in Sacred Scripture and the
Fathers of the Church, as well as in
the documents of the Magisterium, is
not always exactly the same, nor is
their relationship to the Church, which
is a mystery that cannot be totally
contained by a human concept. Therefore,
there can be various theological explanations
of these terms. However, none of these
possible explanations can deny or empty
in any way the intimate connection between
Christ, the kingdom, and the Church.
In fact, the kingdom of God which we
know from revelation, "cannot be
detached either from Christ or from
the Church... If the kingdom is separated
from Jesus, it is no longer the kingdom
of God which he revealed. The result
is a distortion of the meaning of the
kingdom, which runs the risk of being
transformed into a purely human or ideological
goal and a distortion of the identity
of Christ, who no longer appears as
the Lord to whom everything must one
day be subjected (cf. 1 Cor 15:27).
Likewise, one may not separate the kingdom
from the Church. It is true that the
Church is not an end unto herself, since
she is ordered toward the kingdom of
God, of which she is the seed, sign
and instrument. Yet, while remaining
distinct from Christ and the kingdom,
the Church is indissolubly united to
both."73
19. To state the
inseparable relationship between Christ
and the kingdom is not to overlook the
fact that the kingdom of God -- even
if considered in its historical phase
-- is not identified with the Church
in her visible and social reality. In
fact, "the action of Christ and
the Spirit outside theChurch's visible
boundaries" must not be excluded.74
Therefore, one must also bear in mind
that "the kingdom is the concern
of everyone: individuals, society and
the world. Working for the kingdom means
acknowledging and promoting God's activity,
which is present in human history and
transforms it. Building the kingdom
means working for liberation from evil
in all its forms. In a word, the kingdom
of God is the manifestation and the
realization of God's plan of salvation
in all its fullness."75
In considering the relationship between
the kingdom of God, the kingdom of Christ,
and the Church, it is necessary to avoid
one-sided accentuations, as is the case
with those "conceptions which deliberately
emphasize the kingdom and which describe
themselves as 'kingdom centred.' They
stress the image of a Church which is
not concerned about herself, but which
is totally concerned with bearing witness
to and serving the kingdom. It is a
'Church for others,' just as Christ
is the 'man for others'... Together
with positive aspects, these conceptions
often reveal negative aspects as well.
First, they are silent about Christ:
the kingdom of which they speak is 'theocentrically'
based, since, according to them, Christ
cannot be understood by those who lack
Christian faith, whereas different peoples,
cultures, and religions are capable
of finding common ground in the one
divine reality, by whatever name it
is called. For the same reason, they
put great stress on the mystery of creation,
which is reflected in the diversity
of cultures and beliefs, but they keep
silent about the mystery of redemption.
Furthermore, the kingdom, as they understand
it, ends up either leaving very little
room for the Church or undervaluing
the Church in reaction to a presumed
'ecclesiocentrism' of the past and because
they consider the Church herself only
a sign, for that matter a sign not without
ambiguity."76 These theses are
contrary to Catholic faith because they
deny the unicity of the relationship
which Christ and the Church have with
the kingdom of God.
VI. The Church and the Other Religions
in Relation to Salvation
20. From what has
been stated above, some points follow
that are necessary for theological reflection
as it explores the relationship of the
Church and the other religions to salvation.
Above all else, it must be firmly
believed that "the Church, a pilgrim
now on earth, is necessary for salvation:
the one Christ is the mediator and the
way of salvation; he is present to us
in his body which is the Church. He
himself explicitly asserted the necessity
of faith and baptism (cf. Mk 16:16;
Jn 3:5), and thereby affirmed at the
same time the necessity of the Church
which men enter through baptism as through
a door."77 This doctrine must not
be set against the universal salvific
will of God (cf. 1 Tim 2:4); "it
is necessary to keep these two truths
together, namely, the real possibility
of salvation in Christ for all mankind
and the necessity of the Church for
this salvation."78 The Church is
the "universal sacrament of salvation",79since,
united always in a mysterious way to
the Saviour Jesus Christ, her Head,
and subordinated to him, she has, in
God's plan, an indispensable relationship
with the salvation of every human being.80
For those who are not formally and visibly
members of the Church, "salvation
in Christ is accessible by virtue of
a grace which, while having a mysterious
relationship to the Church, does not
make them formally part of the Church,
but enlightens them in a way which is
accommodated to their spiritual and
material situation.
This grace comes from Christ; it is
the result of his sacrifice and is communicated
by the Holy Spirit";81 it has a
relationship with the Church, which
"according to the plan of the Father,
has her origin in the mission of the
Son and the Holy Spirit."82
21. With respect
to the way in which the salvific grace
of God -- which is always given by means
of Christ in the Spirit and has a mysterious
relationship to the Church -- comes
to individual non-Christians, the Second
Vatican Council limited itself to the
statement that God bestows it "in
ways known to himself."83 Theologians
are seeking to understand this question
more fully. Their work is to be encouraged,
since it is certainly useful for understanding
better God's salvific plan and the ways
in which it is accomplished. However,
from what has been stated above about
the mediation of Jesus Christ and the
"unique and special relationship"84
which the Church has with the kingdom
of God among men -- which in substance
is the universal kingdom of Christ the
Saviour -- it is clear that it would
be contrary to the faith to consider
the Church as one way of salvation alongside
those constituted by the other religions,
seen as complementary to the Church
or substantially equivalent to her,
even if these are said to be converging
with the Church toward the eschatological
kingdom of God.
Certainly, the various religious traditions
contain and offer religious elements
which come from God,85 and which are
part of what "the Spirit brings
about in human hearts and in the history
of peoples, in cultures, and religions."86
Indeed, some prayers and rituals of
the other religions may assume a role
of preparation for the Gospel, in that
they are occasions or pedagogical helps
in which the human heart is prompted
to be open to the action of God.87 One
cannot attribute to these, however,
a divine origin or an ex opere operato
salvific efficacy, which is proper to
the Christian sacraments.88 Furthermore,
it cannot be overlooked that other rituals,
insofar as they depend on superstitions
or other errors (cf. 1 Cor 10:20-21),
constitute an obstacle to salvation.89
22. With the coming
of the Saviour Jesus Christ, God has
willed that the Church founded by him
be the instrument for the salvation
of all humanity (cf. Acts 17:30-30.)90
This truth of faith does not lessen
the sincere respect which the Church
has for the religions of the world,
but at the same time, it rules out,
in a radical way, that mentality of
indifferentism "characterized by
a religious relativism which leads to
the belief that 'one religion is as
good as another.'"91 If it is true
that the followers of other religions
can receive divine grace, it is also
certain that objectively speaking they
are in a gravely deficient situation
in comparison with those who, in the
Church, have the fullness of the means
of salvation.92 However, "all the
children of the Church should nevertheless
remember that their exalted condition
results, not from their own merits,
but from the grace of Christ. If they
fail to respond in thought, word, and
deed to that grace, not only shall they
not be saved, but they shall be more
severely judged."93 One understands
then that, following the Lord's command
(cf. Mt 28:19-20) and as a requirement
of her love for all people, the Church
"proclaims and is in duty bound
to proclaim without fail, Christ who
is the way, the truth, and the life
(Jn 14:6). In him, in whom God reconciled
all things to himself (cf. 2 Cor 5:18-19),
men find the fullness of their religious
life."94
In inter-religious dialogue as well,
the mission ad gentes "today as
