199 Is Baptism the Only Way to Salvation?

YOUCAT Lesson 199

YOUCAT the catechism for Catholic youth

199  Is Baptism in fact the only way to salvation?

For all those who have received the Gospel and have heard that Christ is “the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6), Baptism is the only way to find God and salvation.  At the same time, however, it is true that Christ died for all mankind.  Therefore all men who have had no opportunity to learn about Christ and the faith but seek God sincerely and live according to their conscience also find salvation (the so-called Baptism of desire).  [1256-1261, 1281, 1283]

Painting: ….. Holy Trinity, fresco by Luca Rossetti da Orta, 1738–9 (St. Gaudenzio Church at Ivrea) .....199

God has made salvation dependent upon the sacraments, therefore the Church must tirelessly offer them to mankind.  To give up her missionary work would be a betrayal of God’s commission.  God himself, however, is not dependent on his sacraments.  In places where the Church does not exist or has had no success—whether by her own fault or for any other reasons—God himself paves for the people other ways to salvation in Christ.  136

“Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”  John 3:5

If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.  Romans 14:8

For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of the one Spirit.  1 Corinthians 12:13

…….WHO CAN BAPTIZE?

…….1256   The ordinary ministers of Baptism are the bishop and priest and, in the Latin Church, also the deacon.( compare Codex Iuris Canonici, can. 861 § 1; Corpus Canonum Ecclesiarm Orientalium, can. 677 § 1)⁵⁷    In case of necessity, anyone, even a non-baptized person, with the required intention, can baptize(Codex Iuris Canonici, can. 861.2)⁵⁸ ,   by using the Trinitarian baptismal formula. The intention required is to will to do what the Church does when she baptizes. The Church finds the reason for this possibility in the universal saving will of God and the necessity of Baptism for salvation.( compare 1 Timothy 2:4)⁵⁹ –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

…….VI. THE NECESSITY OF BAPTISM

…….1257   The Lord himself affirms that Baptism is necessary for salvation.( compare John 3:5)⁶⁰   He also commands his disciples to proclaim the Gospel to all nations and to baptize them (compare Matthew 28:19-20; compare Council of Trent (1547) Denzinger-Schönmetzer 1618; Lumen Gentium 14; Ad Genres 5)⁶¹    Baptism is necessary for salvation for those to whom the Gospel has been proclaimed and who have had the possibility of asking for this sacrament.( compare Mark 16:16)⁶²    The Church does not know of any means other than Baptism that assures entry into eternal beatitude; this is why she takes care not to neglect the mission she has received from the Lord to see that all who can be baptized are "reborn of water and the Spirit." God has bound salvation to the sacrament of Baptism, but he himself is not bound by his sacraments.--CCC

…….1258   The Church has always held the firm conviction that those who suffer death for the sake of the faith without having received Baptism are baptized by their death for and with Christ. This Baptism of blood, like the desire for Baptism, brings about the fruits of Baptism without being a sacrament. –CCC

…….1259   For catechumens who die before their Baptism, their explicit desire to receive it, together with repentance for their sins, and charity, assures them the salvation that they were not able to receive through the sacrament. –CCC

…….1260   "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 partakers, in a way known to God, of the Paschal mystery."( Gaudium et Spes 22 § 5; compare Lumen Gentium 16; Ad Gentes 7)⁶³   Every man who is ignorant of the Gospel of Christ and of his Church, but seeks the truth and does the will of God in accordance with his understanding of it, can be saved. It may be supposed that such persons would have desired Baptism explicitly if they had known its necessity. –CCC

…….1261   As regards children who have died without Baptism, the Church can only entrust them to the mercy of God, as she does in her funeral rites for them. Indeed, the great mercy of God who desires that all men should be saved, and Jesus' tenderness toward children which caused him to say: "Let the children come to me, do not hinder them,"( Mark 10 14; compare 1 Timothy 2:4)⁶⁴   allow us to hope that there is a way of salvation for children who have died without Baptism. All the more urgent is the Church's call not to prevent little children coming to Christ through the gift of holy Baptism. –CCC

…….IN BRIEF

…….1281   Those who die for the faith, those who are catechumens, and all those who, without knowing of the Church but acting under the inspiration of grace, seek God sincerely and strive to fulfill his will, can be saved even if they have not been baptized (compare Lumen Gentium 16). –CCC

…….1283   With respect to children who have died without Baptism, the liturgy of the Church invites us to trust in God's mercy and to pray for their salvation. --CCC