The Church is also “catholic,” meaning it is universal.  Here we are speaking of catholic with a small “c.”  By “universal” we mean two things:

1) The Church is first of all complete.  In the Church is the fullness of salvation because in the Church is Christ Jesus.  So, it is universal, full and complete because the Church is the Body of Christ.  

2) The Church is also universal insofar as it is open to all people and is sent to bring all people into her fold.  We have a mission to evangelize and to invite everyone into the fold of Christ.  You do not have to be born into the Church, rather, you have to be reborn into Christ, and it is this act that is open to all.   So, what about all those non-Catholics?  Or what about the non-Christians?  What about the Muslims, Jews, and even atheists?  Is there any hope for them? 

Let’s start with the atheist.  One of the Vatican II documents explains it this way:

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 (LG 16; cf. DS 3866–3872). (CCC #847)

A classic example of this is the person born and raised on a deserted island.  They never heard of Jesus, the Scriptures or even God.  But, nonetheless, they perceived a still small but clear voice in their conscience to “do this” and to “avoid that.”  If they listen, they are responding to grace.  If they do not, they are rejecting salvation.  And if they do respond, they are, in a very real way, an anonymous Christian whether they realize it or not!  So if an atheist is an atheist “through no fault of his own,” then he can be saved.  If, however, he is an atheist because of a hardness of heart and a refusal to listen even to the voice of God in his conscience, then he will not be saved.

To Be Continued…