The Catechism teaches that the Catholic Church is "the universal sacrament of salvation" (CCC 774–776), uniting God and humanity (CCC 780).

Some misunderstand this, thinking any church will do, while others believe only baptized Catholics can be saved. However, the Church Fathers and modern teaching agree that, while being Catholic is normally required for salvation (CCC 846), people outside the Church can be saved in certain cases, like through "baptism of desire" or "baptism of blood" (CCC 847).

Those who knowingly reject Church teachings or cause division must repent to be saved.

Here are examples of what early Christian writers taught about salvation outside the Church:

Ignatius of Antioch

“Be not deceived, my brethren: If anyone follows a maker of schism [i.e., is a schismatic], he does not inherit the kingdom of God; if anyone walks in strange doctrine [i.e., is a heretic], he has no part in the passion [of Christ]. Take care, then, to use one Eucharist, so that whatever you do, you do according to God: For there is one flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, and one cup in the union of his blood; one altar, as there is one bishop, with the presbytery and my fellow servants, the deacons” (Letter to the Philadelphians 3:3–4:1 [A.D. 110]).

Justin Martyr

“We have been taught that Christ is the first-begotten of God, and we have declared him to be the Logos of which all mankind partakes [John 1:9]. Those, therefore, who lived according to reason [Greek, logos] were really Christians, even though they were thought to be atheists, such as, among the Greeks, Socrates, Heraclitus, and others like them. . . . Those who lived before Christ but did not live according to reason [logos] were wicked men, and enemies of Christ, and murderers of those who did live according to reason [logos], whereas those who lived then or who live now according to reason [logos] are Christians. Such as these can be confident and unafraid” (First Apology 46 [A.D. 151]).

Charity is the most important virtue. We’re called to be generous in imitation of Christ, who gave everything to save us.

Some saints went to seemingly superhuman lengths to be generous to people, especially the poor. Think of St. Francis, who chose complete poverty to identify more closely with those in need and even touched the lepers. Or St. Maximilian Kolbe, who offered to be put to death by the Nazis in place of a condemned husband and father.

Still, charity doesn’t mean we shouldn’t protect our personal space. Here are tips for balancing generosity and boundaries.

Consider your state in life.
Depending on your vocation, you’re called to exercise generosity in a specific way. A friar may be called to give up his belongings and work in sometimes unsanitary or dangerous conditions.

A parent is called to a different kind of generosity. Your spouse and children come first, so it doesn’t violate charity to accumulate a certain amount of resources to give your family a dignified life.

Most Protestants take issue with the Rosary. Although Catholics pray the rosary to honor Mary and ask for her intercession, protestants see it as amounting to worshipping her.

But what if we were to tell our Protestant friends that they should pray the Rosary and can do it in a way that doesn’t violate their beliefs?

Here’s how to explain this!

Only pray the first half of the Hail Mary.
That’s the part that goes, “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.” Protestants shouldn’t have any issue with this because the words come from Scripture: the angel Gabriel’s greeting to Mary in Luke 1:28 and St. Elizabeth’s words to Mary in Luke 1:42.

If Sts. Gabriel and Elizabeth could address these words to Mary, and so can Protestants. We’re literally praying the Scriptures!

Protestants can leave off the second part of the Hail Mary if they’re not yet comfortable calling Mary the Mother of God or asking for her intercession.