Louisville RECORD, 9/7/2000

By JOHN THAVIS Catholic News Service Taking aim at the notion that "one religion is as good as another," a new Vatican document emphasizes the "exclusive, universal and absolute" value of Jesus Christ and says the Catholic Church is necessary for salvation.

While acknowledging that non-Christians can be saved through a special grace that comes from Christ, the document says the church can never be considered merely as "one way of salvation alongside those constituted by the other religions."

And despite a certain level of communion with other Christian churches, the "church of Christ ... continues to exist fully only in the Catholic Church," says the document, released at the Vatican Sept. 5. The declaration, titled "Dominus Iesus: On the Unicity and Salvific Universality of Jesus Christ and the Church," was signed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

In a letter to the world's bishops, Cardinal Ratzinger said Pope John Paul II had approved the document and wanted its contents to be accepted by the entire church.

Cardinal Ratzinger said the document was drafted in response to "the growing presence of confused or erroneous ideas or opinions" in the church generally and in certain theological circles that cast doubt upon Christianity's universal mission.

The text says there was a tendency among modern Christians to be silent about Christ, to consider him as just one.historical manifestation of God, to elevate other religions as pathways to salvation, to downplay Scripture and to undervalue the church as an institution. It warned that these ideas are "contrary to Catholic faith" and listed a series of truths it said must be held by all Catholics.

"The church's constant missionary proclamation is endangered today by relativistic theories which seek to justify religious pluralism," it says.

One, such theory in "radical contradiction" with the Christian faith, it says, is that Christ's revelation is incomplete or imperfect - a reflection of the popular idea that God cannot be fully grasped by any single historical religion.

The document draws a distinction between the "faith" of Christianity and the "belief" of other religions: Christian faith was the acceptance of revealed truth, while other religious belief was still in search of the truth. But it says this distinction is becoming blurred in the minds of many, and the differences between Christianity and other religions are being artificially reduced "to the point of disappearance."

The sacred writings of other religions may have a value, but the Old and New Testaments are the only such writings inspired by the Holy Spirit, it says.

On the complicated issue of how non-Christians can be saved, the document makes several points:

(1) While salvation is possible for those outside the church, this always takes place through a special grace from Christ and in an indispensable though mysterious relationship with the church.

(2) Theologians are still discussing how God's saving grace comes to non-Christians, but "it would be contrary to the faith to consider the church as one way of salvation alongside those constituted by other religions."

(3) While Catholics should respect other religions, they must not subscribe to the idea that "one religion is as good as another." Equality in interreligious dialogue refers to equal personal dignity of the participants, not to doctrinal content.

"If it is true that the followers of other religions can receive divine grace, it is also certain that objectively speaking they are in a gravely deficient situation in comparison with those who, in the church, have the fullness of the means of salvation," the document says.

God's saving plan for all humanity, it says, was "realized in the mystery of the incarnation, death and resurrection of the Son of God" and "no one, therefore, can enter into communion with God except through Christ, by the working of the Holy Spirit."

Any claims of salvific action of God beyond the unique mediation of Christ would be contrary to Christian and Catholic faith, it says.

In discussing what it describes as the essential role of the church in salvation, the document touches on a sensitive ecumenical issue when it states that "there exists a single church of Christ, which subsists in the Catholic Church, governed by the successor of Peter and by the bishops in communion with him.

The Catholic faithful are required to profess a historical continuity - rooted in apostolic succession - between the church founded by Christ and the Catholic Church, it says.

It notes that the Second Vatican Council also recognized that outside the church's structure "many elements can be found of sanctification and truth." But it says it would be wrong to conclude from this that 'the one church of Christ could subsist also in non-Catholic churches."

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