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Dominus Iesus (English:The Lord Jesus) is a declaration by theCongregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (previously known as theHoly Office, and since 2022 known as theDicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith) published on August 6, 2000.
The document was approved in a plenary meeting of the Congregation and signed by its thenprefect,Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI), and its then-secretary, ArchbishopTarcisio Bertone. The declaration was approved by PopeJohn Paul II and was published on August 6, 2000.
It is known for its elaboration of theCatholic dogma that theCatholic Church is thesole true Church founded byJesus Christ.
TheCatholic dogmaextra ecclesiam nulla salus (lit. '"no salvation outside the Church"') has sometimes been interpreted as denyingsalvation to non-Catholic Christians as well as non-Christians, though Catholic teaching has long stressed the possibility of salvation for personsinvincibly ignorant (through no fault of their own) of the Catholic Church's necessity and thus not culpable for lacking communion with the Church.
TheSecond Vatican Council documentLumen gentium further affirmed that salvation could be available to people who had not even heard of Christ. However, all who gain salvation do so only by membership in the Catholic Church, whether that membership is ordinary (explicit) or by extraordinary means (implicit),[1] such that any person who, despite "knowing that the Catholic Church was made necessary by Christ, would refuse to enter or to remain in it, [cannot] be saved."[2]
While affirming the teaching ofLumen gentium that the Catholic Church "is the single Church of Christ" and that "[t]his Church, constituted and organized as a society in the present world, subsists in the Catholic Church",Dominus Iesus offers further comments on what it means for the true Church to "subsist in" the Catholic Church. The document states that, "[w]ith the expressionsubsistit in, the Second Vatican Council sought to harmonize two doctrinal statements: on the one hand, that the Church of Christ, despite the divisions which exist among Christians, continues to exist fully only in the Catholic Church, and on the other hand, that 'outside of her structure, many elements can be found of sanctification and truth.'"[3]
The document reserves the word "Church" for bodies that have preserved a "validepiscopate and the genuine and integral substance of theEucharistic mystery". Such bodies, which include theEastern Orthodox,Oriental Orthodox and theOld Catholic Churches, "are trueparticular Churches", and the document affirms that "the Church of Christ is present and operative also in these Churches, even though they lackfull communion with the Catholic Church, since they do not accept the Catholic doctrine ofPrimacy."[4]
The document uses the term "ecclesial community" (from theGreek wordecclesia, meaning "church") rather than "Church" for those Christian bodies not named in the preceding paragraph, most notably including allProtestants. The document states that, although such Christian communities "are not Churches in the proper sense", nevertheless "those who are baptized in these communities are, by Baptism, incorporated in Christ and thus are in a certain communion, albeit imperfect, with the Church." It further states that such Christian communities, "though we believe they suffer from defects, have by no means been deprived of significance and importance in the mystery of salvation. For the spirit of Christ has not refrained from using them as means of salvation."[4]
The document declares that, although the Catholic Church is intended by God to be "the instrument for the salvation ofall humanity," such beliefs do not "lessen the sincere respect which the Church has for the religions of the world." It does, however, "rule out, in a radical way [...] a religiousrelativism which leads to the belief that 'one religion is as good as another'" which characterizes "indifferentism".[5]
The document goes on to affirm the possibility that those who subscribe to non-Christian religions may eventually be saved while insisting that the means of such salvation must be by Christ through his Church, and not through the religion to which such a person subscribes: "If it is true that the followers of other religions can receive divine grace, it is also certain thatobjectively 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 then immediately reminds Christians that their more direct enjoyment of the means of salvation comes "not from their own merits, but from the grace of Christ. If they fail to respond in thought, word, and deed to that grace, not only shall they not be saved, but they shall be more severely judged."[5]
On 1 October 2000, during one of hisangelus,Pope John Paul II stated he had approvedDominus Iesus "in a special way". He added: "This confession does not deny salvation to non-Christians, but points to its ultimate source in Christ,in whom man and God are united."[6]
Born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022
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