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Membership in the Church |
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Under the title “Who belongs to the Catholic Church?” the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that full incorporation into the Church is possessed by those who “by the bonds constituted by the profession of faith, the sacraments, ecclesiastical government, and communion – are joined in the visible structure of the Church of Christ . . . [LG 14]” (837). This of course means that others, without being fully incorporated, still belong in some way to the Church. All of those, in fact, who have received Baptism begin to live the life of Jesus Christ and become de facto members of the People of God (cf. Canon 204). But non-Catholic Christians, though participating in the life of Christ, do not enjoy all the benefits or means of sanctification that Jesus wished his followers to have, for the completion of their growth in him (cf. Eph 4:12-13). The fullness of membership in the Church founded by Jesus, with all the immense benefits it brings, belongs only to Catholics. Membership of the Church is something to be taken advantage of, bringing as it does the right to direct access to Christ, achieved through full communion in the teaching, worship, sacraments, and organic unity of the life that he sustains and secures. Catholics should cherish the means of grace thus offered to them. They should approach the Eucharist and the sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation, treasure the Liturgy and the sacramentals of the Church, and become familiar with the rich doctrine of their faith. The state of “nonpracticing” members is of special concern. While their neglect is often simply due to ignorance, it means they are deprived of many graces and strengths in the struggle against sin and the devil that all of us are faced with. It is part of the work of evangelization to reach out to those who feel marginalized and alienated. “Loss” of Membership • Can membership be lost? The character of Baptism is never effaced from the soul; it remains, even in a soul in hell. But communion with the Church, external or internal, can be lost. While some Christians – Catholic or Protestant – lapse completely from their faith, there is an important fact to note. Catholic faith, as we have seen, affords a fuller access in itself to revealed truth and the means of grace. If, then, grace touches a Catholic who has lapsed to become aware of the extent of his loss, it is possible that the very poignancy of this awareness can spark a strong desire to return, to make up, and to recover so many wasted opportunities. “Extra Ecclesiam, Nulla Salus” • What are we to say about those who, lacking Baptism, are not members of the Church in any of the senses explained above? Here it is necessary to clarify the meaning of an old theological principle whose interpretation has caused difficulty in the past: Extra ecclesiam, nulla salus (literally, “outside the Church, there is no salvation”). Some people have wished to understand this saying in the most literal sense: that is, that the person who is not formally a practicing Catholic cannot be saved. The Church has condemned such an interpretation (cf. Denzinger-Schönmetzer, 3870-3873). This is not to say that the maxim is false. Properly understood, it is quite true. The Latin word extra can mean either “without” or “outside.” The correct interpretation and sense of the maxim is that we cannot be saved without the Church. It is through the Church, which carries on and makes present the salvific work of Jesus Christ in the world, that all who are saved reach heaven (even if it is perhaps only there that they realize it). Those who, through no fault of their own, have never known Christ or his Church can still be saved. But their salvation, too, is the effect of Jesus working through his Church. In a positive sense, this theological principle “means that all salvation comes from Christ the Head through the Church which is his Body” (CCC 846). But this cannot make us indifferent to the situation of those outside, saying that “no doubt they are in good faith and so can be saved.” While this of course may be so, objectively such people are exposed to many more difficulties. Lacking so many sources of strength, they are weaker against the attraction of evil and the devil and more exposed to the temptation of ultimate despair (cf. Vatican Council II, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, 16). Therefore, the Church feels urged to intensify her missionary activity toward them (cf. Vatican Council II, Decree on the Church’s Missionary Activity, Ad Gentes, 8). That mission of the Church involves all of us. A Christian who does not understand Christ’s words about being salt and light and leaven has little sense of the world’s need, and of his or her own mission. Vatican Council II reserves strong words for our possible responsibility here: “Believers can thus have more than a little to do with the rise of atheism. To the extent that they are careless about their instruction in the faith, or present its teaching falsely, or even fail in their religious, moral, or social life, they must be said to conceal rather than to reveal the true nature of God and of religion” (Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, Gaudium et Spes, 18). The consciousness of what it means to be a member of Christ’s Church should evoke a personal response of gratitude and increased responsibility. A living member senses his or her share in the Church’s whole mission. Laypeople “in particular ought to have an ever-clearer consciousness not only of belonging to the Church, but of being the Church . . . [Pius XII, Discourse, February 20, 1946: AAS 38 (1946) 149; quoted by John Paul II, CL 9]” (CCC 899).
See: Catholic Identity; Church, Nature, Origin, and Structure of; Communio; Ecclesial Rights and Duties; Evangelization; Missionary Activity. Suggested Readings: CCC 836-848. Vatican Council II, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, 13-17. Pius XII, On the Mystical Body of Christ, Mystici Corporis Christi. Cormac Burke |
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