Bro. Ignatius Mary,

Not to belabor the question - but it is, after all, salvation.

Each of the paragraphs below state in one form or another the requirement of "ignorance" with respect to being part of the Catholic Church in order to obtain salvation. I will respond after the your quotes.

"While salvation is only in the Catholic Church, those who are not formally Catholics may still find salvation if, through no fault of their own, they do not know they are to be Catholic. Thus, if a Protestant has not been genuinely convinced of the need to be Catholic, this is called invincible ignorance."

"There must be a conscious and deliberate decision made in freedom and knowledge to reject God or to reject His Catholic Church in order to be held accountable."

"Thus through the ONE Baptism (which is Catholic) and the Christian Faith (which comes from the Catholic Church), non-Catholic Christians find salvation as long as they are invincibly ignorant of the requirement of God to be formally Catholic."

I have never been to a Catholic Mass. I have only been in Catholic Church once or twice. However, I have almost always believed that the Catholic Church has the greater (if not ultimate) claim to ... validity.

I attend and participate in a Lutheran Church because I am comfortable with it and I am nourished by it. I am not particularly saintly, but is it possible that one person who is Lutheran who may have strayed farther than someone else who is Lutheran may be allowed entrance into heaven. but the person who has not strayed as far, but who recognizes the "validity" of the Catholic Church, but fails to participate in that Church is denied entrance?

I know this sounds legalistic, but I sincerely want to know where I stand. I am strongly inclined to believe in the validity of the Catholic Church over the Lutheran Church. I understand your point on baptism (I think). Ultimately, am I ignorant enough or do I need to get more "invincibly ignorant" to insure salvation?

Len