Dear George:

Thank you for the question, which is an important one.

My answer will have to be divided into sections.

The Dogma of No Salvation Outside the Church

The Catechism states:

846 How are we to understand this affirmation, often repeated by the Church Fathers? Re-formulated positively, it means that all salvation comes from Christ the Head through the Church which is his Body:

Basing itself on Scripture and Tradition, the Council teaches 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, and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through Baptism as through a door. Hence they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or to remain in it.

All people who make it to heaven do so through the Catholic Church, whether or not a person is Buddhist, Hindu, New Age, Protestant, or nothing at all. Even anti-Catholics, if they make it to heaven, do so through the Catholic Church.

In my own sinful nature I get a kick out of the knowledge that when an anti-Catholic gets to heaven he realizes that not only is the Catholic Church the True Church, but that he himself is a Catholic.

The Catechism confirms this when it says, "Those 'who believe in Christ and have been properly baptized are put in a certain, although imperfect, communion with the Catholic Church'" (CCC 838).

Since there is but One Baptism, all validly baptized persons are Catholic whether or not they know it, or like the fact. Such person's are, of course, not in full communion with the Catholic Church, but they are "Catholic" nevertheless by virtue of their Baptism.

Since the salvation of any person is solely through the Catholic Church, all persons in heaven are, in essence, Catholics -- even if they were Hindus in this life.

Those who do not know Christ and His Church:

847 This affirmation is not aimed at those who, through no fault of their own, do not know Christ and his Church:

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.

What this means is that a tribesman in the deep jungle of the Amazon who has never heard of the Church or the Gospel may still be saved because of his "sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience." The Church also says, "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" (CCC 1260).

Such persons may do things that offend our sensibilities and even violate what we know to be true, but they know no better and are trying as best they can to do the will of God in the only way they know how. Such persons today, and persons in the ancient past, have only nature, and "shadows and images" to guide them about God. They did not have the fuller enlightenment of the Revelation of God through his prophets to Israel, then the fuller revelations of the Mosaic Commandments, followed by the ultimate and fullest Revelation of the New Covenant through Jesus Christ.

It is simply not possible to have an accurate understanding of God unless God reveals himself to us. The only revelation available to these pre-Christian, pre-Judaic cultures was that which God had implanted into all human souls, and more directly, to that of nature, which is why they worshiped nature -- the only way they knew to connect to God.

It is only through Israel, and Jesus Christ, that we have a true understanding of God, and how to worship him, to the fullest measure possible in this life.

This does not mean that pre-Christian/pre-Judaic peoples, or those who do not know of Christ and His Church today, are off the hook. With man's concupiscence, and only God's natural revelation through his creative work available, it is very difficult for these people to come to a proper understanding of God. That is why God revealed Himself to Israel and through Jesus Christ in the first place -- so that we may have a fuller understanding of Him and so we may know the fullest Truth possible in this life.

God is not restricted or limited to His Sacraments or to His Church. He can choose whom He wishes to save. When He does save someone who is non-Christian it is always through the Catholic Church, but we do not exactly know how He does this. The Holy Spirit has informed the Church, however, that while it is possible for these people to have a heart properly disposed as to be saved by God, it will be difficult to attain that, and perhaps rare -- we do not know. Only God knows where the lines are drawn for them.

The Church states:

843 The Catholic Church recognizes in other religions that search, among shadows and images, for the God who is unknown yet near since he gives life and breath and all things and wants all men to be saved. Thus, the Church considers all goodness and truth found in these religions as "a preparation for the Gospel and given by him who enlightens all men that they may at length have life.

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." 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.

The Church also affirms that there are "many righteous people in all religions" (CCC 2569).

But, what of those peoples who have heard of Christ and His Church be remain in the faith traditions of their birth and/or culture?

The Church says, "Those who have not yet received the Gospel are related to the People of God in various ways." (CCC 839)

Those Descendants of Abraham Who Have Heard of Christ:

The Catechism states:

The relationship of the Church with the Jewish People. When she delves into her own mystery, the Church, the People of God in the New Covenant, discovers her link with the Jewish People, "the first to hear the Word of God." The Jewish faith, unlike other non-Christian religions, is already a response to God's revelation in the Old Covenant. To the Jews "belong the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs, and of their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ", "for the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable."

840 And when one considers the future, God's People of the Old Covenant and the new People of God tend towards similar goals: expectation of the coming (or the return) of the Messiah. But one awaits the return of the Messiah who died and rose from the dead and is recognized as Lord and Son of God; the other awaits the coming of a Messiah, whose features remain hidden till the end of time; and the latter waiting is accompanied by the drama of not knowing or of misunderstanding Christ Jesus.

841 The Church's relationship with the Muslims. "The plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst whom are the Muslims; these profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind's judge on the last day."

God called the Jewish People and gave them the privilege of first hearing His Word, His revelation to know Him better. It is through the Jewish patrimony that the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, the very Word Himself (logos), that the Apostle John teaches us in John 1:1-5, was sent to us to give us the ultimate revelation of God. Therefore, both the Jewish Faith and the Christian Faith are not man-made. Our respective faiths were invented by God Himself.

We Christians are the inheritance of the tradition found in the spiritual lineage that comes from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob from whom the true God is revealed.

The Jews as a race are the biological progeny of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Jewish Faith, however, was meant to evolve into what we now call the Christian faith. Thus, it is we Christians who are now the chosen people since the Old Covenant was fulfilled and replaced by the New Covenant. This is shown in that the veil in the Temple was torn in two against the grain (which was impossible) at the death of Jesus. He tore down the temple and rebuilt it into the Christian Faith in three days as he prophesied: "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up" (John 12:19.

For those Jews (and there are massive number of Jews converting to Christ) who still remain in their Faith Tradition, we still nevertheless have a close kinship with them since they do certainly worship the True and One God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

The Muslims, however, are from a different lineage. While they claim the faith of Abraham, their spiritual lineage is through the rejected line of Abraham's son Ishmael. It is this biological line and patrimony from whom come the Arabs.

Notice that the Catechism says that Muslims "profess to hold the faith of Abraham", but do they really profess this faith? Not really, except in the faith of the one God. As I mentioned in another Q&A, Muhammad, a false prophet, plagiarized a little Judaism and a little Catholicism to create a new man-made religion that was not, and still is not, a religion blessed by God. There are many similarities, but vast differences between the Muslim concept of God (Allah) and the True and Only God as we know Him through Christ. For details see my answer in the Spiritual Warfare Q&A Forum, Ecumenism Taken Too Far.

While the Jews and Muslims have technically heard of the existence of Christ and His Church, this does not mean that they are culpable, and thus go to hell, if they do not convert. The doctrines of Invincible ignorance and/or Diminished Responsibility may still apply. Those doctrines will be discussed later.

Those who come from Non-Christian, Non-Abrahamic Faiths Who Have Heard of Christ:

The Catechism states:

842 The Church's bond with non-Christian religions is in the first place the common origin and end of the human race:

All nations form but one community. This is so because all stem from the one stock which God created to people the entire earth, and also because all share a common destiny, namely God. His providence, evident goodness, and saving designs extend to all against the day when the elect are gathered together in the holy city. . .

843 The Catholic Church recognizes in other religions that search, among shadows and images, for the God who is unknown yet near since he gives life and breath and all things and wants all men to be saved. Thus, the Church considers all goodness and truth found in these religions as "a preparation for the Gospel and given by him who enlightens all men that they may at length have life."

844 In their religious behavior, however, men also display the limits and errors that disfigure the image of God in them:

Very often, deceived by the Evil One, men have become vain in their reasonings, and have exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and served the creature rather than the Creator. Or else, living and dying in this world without God, they are exposed to ultimate despair.

Bits of truth can be found anywhere. If a Satanist believes that one should help a little 'ol lady across the street that is a bit of truth he holds, even if everything else he believes is evil.

It is through these shadows and images, these bits of truth, no matter how small, that gives God a foothold with these peoples to perhaps cultivate their hearts for salvation, even without the visible Church.

But, when these persons come into convincing knowledge of the Truth of Christ and His Church, they will be held accountable to that knowledge. Once they are convinced they can no longer claim invincible ignorance. There is still a possibility of diminished responsibility, however. Again those doctrines will be discussed later.

All are Accountable before God

Whether or not one is a Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, New Ager, or even Atheist, we will all stand before God to account for ourselves.

For those who claim ignorance of God as an excuse for atheism (or some version of it), St. Paul indicts them: "Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse" (Roman 1:20).

For those who claim that they were not aware of God's moral law, St. Paul indicts them: "When Gentiles who have not the law do by nature what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or perhaps excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus" (Roman 2:14-16)

There are basic virtues, natural laws, and essential moralities that we know by nature. Homosexual sex is an obvious example of a violation of natural law. Anyone who claims that homosexual sex is natural is an idiot. We all know that homosexual sex is unnatural and useless. We can know this without the Bible or His Church because God has written this knowledge of natural law on our hearts -- even on the hearts of the homosexuals who wish to sin.

Anthropologists like to mention that some cultures have practices that violate our concepts of sin, but which are natural to them, such as multiple sexual partners, sharing one's wife, etc. What these anthropologist tend to not report is that not everyone in those cultures agree with those practices. Those individuals have some inner knowledge that something is wrong. If they refuse to participate they may be outright killed, or ostracized and sent into the jungle alone (which is the same thing as killing them). Thus, many conform.

We learn from this, however, that there really is some deeply inner knowledge that certain practices are wrong. This is a universal experience among the human race, regardless of what some anthropologists try to tell us.

But, God will take each person, fully understanding who his is, where he came from, how he was raised, how his culture influenced him and will judge him with perfect justice as to what his eternal destiny shall be.

So How Do We, as Catholics, Respond?

The Catechism tells us that we, the Catholic Church, is the Ship of Salvation and we have a responsibility to extend rescue to all from the tempest seas.

845 To reunite all his children, scattered and led astray by sin, the Father willed to call the whole of humanity together into his Son's Church. The Church is the place where humanity must rediscover its unity and salvation. The Church is "the world reconciled." She is that bark which "in the full sail of the Lord's cross, by the breath of the Holy Spirit, navigates safely in this world." According to another image dear to the Church Fathers, she is prefigured by Noah's ark, which alone saves from the flood.

If a person is floating in a life raft in the middle of the ocean would he not wish to be rescued by a passing ship. Would he presume that he will make it to land on nature's currents and thus not need the ship? It is possible, I suppose, for a fool to believe that? The question he must ask himself is whether or not he will make landfall before he is dead from exposure or thirst. It is a mighty risk. Would it not be better and more prudent for him to accept the rescue of the ship with its fresh water, shelter, and certain return to land?

For those who never learn of Christ and His Church, they must rely upon nature's currents to get them to the heavenly country. They have no choice, it is all they have.

But, for those who do know of Christ and His Church and yet refuse the rescue, they are doomed by their own foolishness.

The mission of the Catholic Church is to offer rescue to all persons on this planet. Those who are not Christian may reach the heavenly country by nature's currents, and the Catholic Church recognizes that possibility, but there is no guarantee for them, and perhaps not even a probability.

The Catholic Church is the best and surest way to eternal life. The Sacraments were given to the Church to help us to remain in a state of grace so that we can enjoy eternal friendship with God. Thus, for compassion sake, not to mention the evangelistic mandate from Christ, we must reach out with the Gospel to all peoples of the earth.

The Catechism states:

848 "Although in ways known to himself God can lead those who, through no fault of their own, are ignorant of the Gospel, to that faith without which it is impossible to please him, the Church still has the obligation and also the sacred right to evangelize all men."

Mission - a requirement of the Church's catholicity

849 The missionary mandate. "Having been divinely sent to the nations that she might be 'the universal sacrament of salvation,' the Church, in obedience to the command of her founder and because it is demanded by her own essential universality, strives to preach the Gospel to all men": "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and Lo, I am with you always, until the close of the age."

850 The origin and purpose of mission. The Lord's missionary mandate is ultimately grounded in the eternal love of the Most Holy Trinity: "The Church on earth is by her nature missionary since, according to the plan of the Father, she has as her origin the mission of the Son and the Holy Spirit." The ultimate purpose of mission is none other than to make men share in the communion between the Father and the Son in their Spirit of love.

854 By her very mission, "the Church . . . travels the same journey as all humanity and shares the same earthly lot with the world: she is to be a leaven and, as it were, the soul of human society in its renewal by Christ and transformation into the family of God." Missionary endeavor requires patience. It begins with the proclamation of the Gospel to peoples and groups who do not yet believe in Christ, continues with the establishment of Christian communities that are "a sign of God's presence in the world," and leads to the foundation of local churches. It must involve a process of inculturation if the Gospel is to take flesh in each people's culture. There will be times of defeat. "With regard to individuals, groups, and peoples it is only by degrees that [the Church] touches and penetrates them and so receives them into a fullness which is Catholic."

 You ask what motivation people may have to accept the Gospel we preach when they might reach the heavenly country anyway?

1) Well, there is a powerful motivation for a stranded person in the sea to accept rescue from a passing ship. Who would be foolish enough to decline the rescue and just keep on the way they were going hoping the sea currents will bring them to land before they are dead.

2) There is the innate human desire to know the Truth. This innate desire, used in a disordered way, is what lead Eve to pick from the Tree of Knowledge. There is, of course, no limit to mankind performing emotional and intellectual gymnastics to avoid the truth. But deep down, all people desire truth.

My own conversion to the Catholic Faith, after spending 15 years as a Baptist preacher, took place because I found the Truth and the Truth was more important to me than remaining Protestant.

3) Related to truth is the innate desire of to be free. Jesus said, "You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free."

My father was a prisoner of war for three years in Korea. He can attest to, and so do other POWs, that the torture, starvation, isolation and all the rest is not what made their experiences intolerable -- it was the lack of freedom.

Christ offers a freedom that cannot be experienced in any other way. This is a powerful motivation.

4) Mankind also has an innate desire to live well (this does not mean financially), that is, to live in harmony.The Church states, ""For the Church knows full well that her message is in harmony with the most secret desires of the human heart" (CCC 2126); and, "The order and harmony of the created world results from the diversity of beings and from the relationships which exist among them. Man discovers them progressively as the laws of nature. They call forth the admiration of scholars. The beauty of creation reflects the infinite beauty of the Creator and ought to inspire the respect and submission of man's intellect and will" (CCC 341)

No matter how good a life non-Christians have, it is nothing to compare to the victorious living that is possible with Christ. There is a level of joy and serenity with Christ that simply cannot be experienced with anyone else or with anything else. True joy and harmony can only be when man lives in accord with his Creator.

5) The desire for Hope is another innate human trait. There is a level of certainty for  eternal life possible with Christ. We are promised eternal life if we die in a State of Grace. God is not a liar so we can depend upon this promise.

While non-Christians "might" make it to the heavenly country, with the Church they have the surest way to heaven. This hope is a powerful motivation.

The Catholic Church appeals to all these motivations, and countless more, in its message of the Gospel.

What of Non-Catholic Christians?

The Catechism states:

868 The Church is catholic: she proclaims the fullness of the faith. She bears in herself and administers the totality of the means of salvation...

869 The Church is apostolic. She is built on a lasting foundation: "the twelve apostles of the Lamb" (Rev 21:14). She is indestructible (cf. Mt 16:18). She is upheld infallibly in the truth: Christ governs her through Peter and the other apostles, who are present in their successors, the Pope and the college of bishops.

870 "The sole Church of Christ which in the Creed we profess to be one, holy, catholic, and apostolic, . . . subsists in the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the bishops in communion with him. Nevertheless, many elements of sanctification and of truth are found outside its visible confines" (LG 8).

836 "All men are called to this catholic unity of the People of God. . . . And to it, in different ways, belong or are ordered: the Catholic faithful, others who believe in Christ, and finally all mankind, called by God's grace to salvation."

837 "Fully incorporated into the society of the Church are those who, possessing the Spirit of Christ, accept all the means of salvation given to the Church together with her entire organization, and 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, who rules her through the Supreme Pontiff and the bishops. Even though incorporated into the Church, one who does not however persevere in charity is not saved. He remains indeed in the bosom of the Church, but 'in body' not 'in heart.'"

Since it is true that the Catholic Church has the fullness of faith and administers the totality of the means of salvation we need to be in dialogue with our separated brethren in hope of unity someday.

838 "The Church knows that she is joined in many ways to the baptized who are honored by the name of Christian, but do not profess the Catholic faith in its entirety or have not preserved unity or communion under the successor of Peter." Those "who believe in Christ and have been properly baptized are put in a certain, although imperfect, communion with the Catholic Church." With the Orthodox Churches, this communion is so profound "that it lacks little to attain the fullness that would permit a common celebration of the Lord's Eucharist."

Wounds to unity

817 In fact, "in this one and only Church of God from its very beginnings there arose certain rifts, which the Apostle strongly censures as damnable. But in subsequent centuries much more serious dissensions appeared and large communities became separated from full communion with the Catholic Church - for which, often enough, men of both sides were to blame." The ruptures that wound the unity of Christ's Body - here we must distinguish heresy, apostasy, and schism- do not occur without human sin:

    Where there are sins, there are also divisions, schisms, heresies, and disputes. Where there is virtue, however, there also are harmony and unity, from which arise the one heart and one soul of all believers.

819 "Furthermore, many elements of sanctification and of truth" are found outside the visible confines of the Catholic Church: "the written Word of God; the life of grace; faith, hope, and charity, with the other interior gifts of the Holy Spirit, as well as visible elements." Christ's Spirit uses these Churches and ecclesial communities as means of salvation, whose power derives from the fullness of grace and truth that Christ has entrusted to the Catholic Church. All these blessings come from Christ and lead to him, and are in themselves calls to "Catholic unity."

The fracturing of the Body of Christ is a scandal and a sorrow for both Christ and his children, thus we must commit ourselves toward unity.

855 The Church's mission stimulates efforts towards Christian unity. Indeed, "divisions among Christians prevent the Church from realizing in practice the fullness of catholicity proper to her in those of her sons who, though joined to her by Baptism, are yet separated from full communion with her. Furthermore, the Church herself finds it more difficult to express in actual life her full catholicity in all its aspects."

Our Response to our Separated Brethren. How do we Facilitate Unity:

The Catechism states:

Toward unity

820 "Christ bestowed unity on his Church from the beginning. This unity, we believe, subsists in the Catholic Church as something she can never lose, and we hope that it will continue to increase until the end of time." Christ always gives his Church the gift of unity, but the Church must always pray and work to maintain, reinforce, and perfect the unity that Christ wills for her. This is why Jesus himself prayed at the hour of his Passion, and does not cease praying to his Father, for the unity of his disciples: "That they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be one in us, . . . so that the world may know that you have sent me." The desire to recover the unity of all Christians is a gift of Christ and a call of the Holy Spirit.

821 Certain things are required in order to respond adequately to this call:

- a permanent renewal of the Church in greater fidelity to her vocation; such renewal is the driving-force of the movement toward unity;

- conversion of heart as the faithful "try to live holier lives according to the Gospel"; for it is the unfaithfulness of the members to Christ's gift which causes divisions;

- prayer in common, because "change of heart and holiness of life, along with public and private prayer for the unity of Christians, should be regarded as the soul of the whole ecumenical movement, and merits the name 'spiritual ecumenism;"'

- fraternal knowledge of each other;

- ecumenical formation of the faithful and especially of priests;

- dialogue among theologians and meetings among Christians of the different churches and communities;

- collaboration among Christians in various areas of service to mankind. "Human service" is the idiomatic phrase.

Are Non-Catholic Heretics and thus in danger of hell?

To be a heretic one must first confess the Catholic faith (all that Catholics are required to believe) and then reject it or obstinately doubt it (CIC 751). Those who were never Catholic, who never held Catholic belief, cannot be heretics.

The Catechism states:

818 "However, one cannot charge with the sin of the separation those who at present are born into these communities [that resulted from such separation] and in them are brought up in the faith of Christ, and the Catholic Church accepts them with respect and affection as brothers . . . . All who have been justified by faith in Baptism are incorporated into Christ; they therefore have a right to be called Christians, and with good reason are accepted as brothers in the Lord by the children of the Catholic Church."

Non-Catholic Christian faith communities are in what is called "material heresy" to one degree or another. That means that these communities hold doctrinal views that are objectively heretical to the faith of our Fathers. The members in those communities, however, are not personally responsible for those heresies and thus cannot be called heretics. It is the founders of those groups who are in trouble.

Once a Person is Informed of Christ and/or the Catholic Church are they then Culpable?

The short answer to this question is "maybe."

I know everyone has been waiting through this long essay for this part, but groundwork had to by laid before dealing with invincible ignorance and diminished responsibility.

The nature of Invincible and Vincible Ignorance

Invincible Ignorance is innocent (involuntary). In the Catechism the Church uses the phrase a person "who through no fault of his own" is ignorant of the Christ or his Church (or of any other issue of the faith for that matter). Those in invincible ignorance are not only those who have never heard of the Christian faith or the Catholic Church, but due to upbringing or culture or other reasons is not able to overcome that ignorance by ordinary diligence.

For example, those who grew up outside the Catholic Church, especially those who were taught that the Catholic Church was evil, are innocent in that they know no better. They believe what they have been taught and have no reason to change that. Mere knowledge of the existence of the Catholic Church does not remove invincible ignorance for the non-Catholic Christian (this also is true for the non-Christian), and ordinary diligence may not give them the information they need to make an informed decision to accept or reject the Faith or the Catholic Church.

Acts committed or beliefs held under invincible ignorance are not culpable to the person.

1860 Unintentional ignorance can diminish or even remove the imputability of a grave offense. But no one is deemed to be ignorant of the principles of the moral law, which are written in the conscience of every man. The promptings of feelings and passions can also diminish the voluntary and free character of the offense, as can external pressures or pathological disorders.

1859 ...Feigned ignorance and hardness of heart (Cf. Mk 3:5-6; Lk 16:19-31) do not diminish, but rather increase, the voluntary character of a sin.

Vincible Ignorance is culpable (voluntary). A person may be genuinely ignorant, but is in position and has the resources to exercise due diligence to educate himself to discover the truth. The use of "moral diligence" can resolve the ignorance. Those who are in Vincible Ignorance will have diminished culpability for a sinful act relative to the degree of diligence that was shown.

If a person fails to pursue due diligence to inform his mind and conscience when we had the opportunity to do so, then he may become fully culpable and risk his soul to hell.

As mentioned in the Catholic Encyclopedia article on Ignorance, a man who would "refuse to learn the doctrines of the Church from a fear that he would thus find himself compelled to embrace them would certainly be in a bad plight."

In 1993 I suggested that we invite Scott Hahn to town. Scott Hahn is a very vibrant speaker who can excite even a dead Catholic. Scott agreed to a speaking engagement. After one of his talks I arranged a personal meeting between Scott and a local Reformed Presbyterian minister (I'll call him George). Scott was a Reformed Presbyterian minister before his conversion. Scott and George knew some of the same professors and had similar "saddle sores" as it were. I thought this would be a great meeting to help George, who was a vitriolic anti-Catholic, to understand that the Catholics did not have pitch-forks and tails.

I introduce the two of them after Scott's lecture and then stepped aside to let them talk. I was watching and listening a few feet away. The conversation was going well, I thought. At one point Scott said, "George, you have never heard the Gospel as you have heard it today. You will be held accountable for it."

When the meeting was over George, who was a very arrogant person and thought he could not be shaken by anything, walked by me to leave. He was literally shaking. 

Later Scott wrote me and said he thought he might have been too hard on George. I reassured Scott that he had not been too hard. He told George exactly what he needed to hear.

George, to my knowledge, never converted to the Catholic Church. But, this is a man who did hear the truth of the Catholic Church in a way that he could understand by a former Presbyterian minister who knew how the mind of a Reformed Presbyterian works.

George cannot claim invincible ignorance. His ignorance is now voluntary (vincible) and thus is culpable to a degree only God knows.

But, there is another way George and others may be saved from their rejection of the Faith.

What is Diminished Responsibility?

Even when a person commits a culpable act, the consequences or penalty of that sin may not be imputable to the person is he is in a state of diminished responsibility.

The Catechism discusses this state in a variety of passages. We must begin with a definition of Mortal Sin, as no one goes to hell unless they are in a State of Mortal sin at the time of their death.

The Catechism states:

1857 For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must together be met: "Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent."

1858 Grave matter is specified by the Ten Commandments, corresponding to the answer of Jesus to the rich young man: "Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and your mother." (Mk 10:19) The gravity of sins is more or less great: murder is graver than theft. One must also take into account who is wronged: violence against parents is in itself graver than violence against a stranger.

1859 Mortal sin requires full knowledge and complete consent. It presupposes knowledge of the sinful character of the act, of its opposition to God's law. It also implies a consent sufficiently deliberate to be a personal choice. Feigned ignorance and hardness of heart (Mk 3:5-6; Lk 16:19-31) do not diminish, but rather increase, the voluntary character of a sin.

1861 Mortal sin is a radical possibility of human freedom, as is love itself. It results in the loss of charity and the privation of sanctifying grace, that is, of the state of grace. If it is not redeemed by repentance and God's forgiveness, it causes exclusion from Christ's kingdom and the eternal death of hell, for our freedom has the power to make choices for ever, with no turning back. However, although we can judge that an act is in itself a grave offense, we must entrust judgment of persons to the justice and mercy of God.

All three conditions must be present to constitute mortal sin:

1) commission of a grave matter (grave sin)
2) full knowledge that that act committed is grave
3) complete and deliberate consent to commit the sin

In the first criteria, grave matter, we need to understand that whether or not a sin is grave is objectively known, even if the sinner does not know it. There are some priests in the Church who claim a sin is not a sin unless one believes it is a sin. Either they are clumsy in there explanation or they are not in communion with the Church. Pope John Paul II in one of his writings affirmed that objective sin does exist regardless of the belief of the person.

Pope John Paul said in his Apostolic Exhortation, Reconciliation and Penance:

[There is] an objective law and an objective reality...

Considering sin from the point of view of its matter, the ideas of death, of radical rupture with God, the supreme good, of deviation from the path that leads to God or interruption of the journey toward him (which are all ways of defining mortal sin) are linked with the idea of the gravity of sin's objective content. Hence, in the church's doctrine and pastoral action, grave sin is in practice identified with mortal sin.

Anytime one reads in a Church document phrases like grave matter, grave sin, serious sin, or other similar terms applied to some act, the Church is talking about an objectively grave offense. It is only those sins which are grave that are eligible for mortal status.

The second criteria is knowledge. We have already discussed that factor.

The third criteria, complete and deliberate consent, is the subject of this section.

A person's complete consent can be impaired in such a way that an otherwise objective grave sin may not be counted to the person as mortal.

Diminished Responsibility is defined in the Catechism:

1735 Imputability and responsibility for an action can be diminished or even nullified by ignorance, inadvertence, duress, fear, habit, inordinate attachments, and other psychological or social factors.

The Church gives specific examples of diminished responsibility in the Catechism.

1) Invincible ignorance (1790-93, 1860), which we have already discussed at length.

2) Atheism (2125):

 Since it rejects or denies the existence of God, atheism is a sin against the virtue of religion. The imputability of this offense can be significantly diminished in virtue of the intentions and the circumstances. "Believers can 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."

3) Masturbation (2352):

...To form an equitable judgment about the subjects' moral responsibility and to guide pastoral action, one must take into account the affective immaturity, force of acquired habit, conditions of anxiety or other psychological or social factors that lessen, if not even reduce to a minimum, moral culpability.

4) Prostitution (2355):

 ... While it is always gravely sinful to engage in prostitution, the imputability of the offense can be attenuated by destitution, blackmail, or social pressure.

Thus, back to my friend George. He cannot claim invincible ignorance. He has the capacity for due moral diligence to check out the truth of what Scott Hahn said to him. But, he may never do that. The man may be in a state of diminished responsibility, and I pray that he is if he never converted. For some psychological reasons he may not be able to act upon the knowledge he received.

Others, like Protestants, Buddhists, Hindus, etc. may also have diminished responsibility in their ability to consent. For Muslims conversion can mean their death. There are many possible reasons that may impair a persons ability to positively and deliberately consent, ranging from mental defect, psychological or psychiatric issues, duress, fear, social or culture issues, or even habit, etc.

We cannot know where the lines are drawn for culpability. Only God knows these lines.

In case anyone is wondering whether or not they are in diminished responsibility for some sin they are committing, you cannot know where the lines are either. If one commits a grave sin, regardless of the possibility of diminished responsibility, do not commit another grave sin called "presumption." Get yourself to the Sacrament of Confession. The Sacrament is a healing and strengthening grace thus it will help to make one stronger to not sin again, even it the sin was not imputable.

To answer your question, yes, we are to receive the Eucharist to have life, but God is not limited to His Sacraments and does not abandon those who for reasons of invincible ignorance, vincible ignorance that diminishes responsibility to a degree, or anyone else who is in a state of diminished responsibility. He is a loving and merciful God who knows the true state of heart and who is a perfect judge who administers perfect justice.

God can sort out the wheat from the chaff. No one will get to heaven who does not belong there. No one will go to hell by mistake.

How to Explain the Eucharist to Protestants?

Perhaps the best way to answer this is to tell you my story about how I, as a Baptist, came to believe in the Catholic Teaching on the Eucharist.

The passages in question are in John, Chapter Six, where Jesus is teaching about the Eucharist. A whole chapter in a book can be written on this, so I will quickly summarize.

(John 6:53-56)  So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.

As a Baptist, who like most Baptist prided myself on a literal interpretation of the Bible, chose not to be so literal in this passage. Baptists interpret this passage as symbolic. Thus, the Eucharist is not a Sacrament and not the Real Presence, but an "Ordinance" that is just bread and grape juice symbolizing the Lasts Supper that we do in obedience, since Jesus said we were to do this.

The problem is that there is not a shred of Biblical evidence to suggest that Jesus was speaking symbolically. Whenever Jesus spoke in symbols or parables he said that was what he was doing, or it is clear from the context. No so in John 6. Jesus was literal and definitive. The Bible proves that, as the people who heard this teaching said, "This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?" (John 6:60). Then they left Jesus and did not return (John 6:66).

But, Baptist would say this proves nothing, only that some people did not like the symbolism. Well, if that were the case, why did not Jesus call out to them saying, "Friends, I am only speaking in symbols. I am not being literal. Please come back."

Jesus did not do that. Instead, he turned to his beloved twelve and risked losing them too and asked, "Do you also wish to go away?" (John 6:67).

Peter replied, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life..." (John 6:68).

When I really read John 6 without preconceived bias my eyes were opened. I believed.

With that two of the three issues that prevented my conversion were resolved.

The first issue was the papacy, which I proved to be true by the Bible alone from Matthew 16:18-19 backed up by Isiah 22: 20-24 which absolute proves that Jesus was making Peter the first Prime Minister (Pope) of the New Covenant.

The second issue was the Real Presence in the Eucharist (John 6).

The third issue was praying to Mary and the Saints. That story is reported in an essay called, Obedience, the First and Foundational Virtue.

I hope all this is helpful to you.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary