Don't look at me, Ed. It's the Catholic Church that admits there is salvation
outside of the Catholic Church. What happened to the unity ?
You just make a HABIT of being wrong, don't you?
Do yourself a favor and type in the words DOMINUS IESUS in your search engine and then read the document. It is one of Pope John Paul II's later encyclicals and it states QUITE CLEARLY that there is
NO SALVATION OUTSIDE THE CHURCH
This was stated so crystal clearly that a number of the pagans who were feeling warm and fuzzy regarding the eccumenical statements of the Church got into a frenzy of anger!! So did a number of the more liberal Protestants who read it.
The confusion that exists is that we simply do not know how far the boundaries of the Church exist. For instance, in seeing that baptism is an effacacious entrance into the covenant of God, the Church MUST THEREFORE state that those Protestants who have been properly baptized ("In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit") are indeed Christians, and therefore, even if unwilling to admit it, members of the Church.
There is also that curious passage in Romans 2 which seems to indicate that there are those who could be part of the Church
IF AND ONLY IF they have never heard of Jesus the Christ, yet have kept His law in their hearts by the working of the Holy Spirit within. (Rom. 2: 13 - 16).
So God's mercy, being bountiful and great, may enfold a number of people we simply don't know about. Unfortunately, the Catholic Church tends to, as Dave Armstrong succinctly puts it "Hide the most glorious truths in the most confusing language possible". It seems a habit of theologians to be unable to make concise and well understood statements.
For instance, could you understand this:
"God gave to all mankind Christ Jesus, His only begotten Son, Who alone is the Savior of the world and to Whom ALL MANKIND must individually come in repentance for eternal life. Outside of faith in Christ there is no salvation, and while God's mercy may extend to those who, through no fault of their own, have neither heard of Him, nor heard the Good News of the Gospel, those who have heard of Christ Jesus MUST REPENT AND ENTER HIS KINGDOM, the Catholic Church, in order to find eternal life. All who refuse to do so shall be treated as rebels in the day of Judgement, in which Christ our Lord shall Himself shall sit as the divine Judge over all men, and they shall be sent into outer darkness."
My words. Not the Church's. Unfortunately, I have yet to see this kind of clear and concise statement from the Church regarding the pagans of the world, and it gives them false hope in their demon "gods" and demonic practices.
Maybe some day.....
Cordially in Christ,
Brother Ed