There is no more radical volte-face in the Catholic Church than its attitude toward and teaching on religious pluralism. Two issues are at stake: the possibility of salvation for non-Christians and the role of non-Christian religions. Are non-Christians eternally damned simply because they are not Christian, or can a person be saved without being a member of the church? Are non-Christian religions human creations vitiated by superstition and unbelief, or divinely willed ways of salvation alongside Christianity? This post traces the major events and doctrines that prompted the church’s change of mind and heart—indeed a theological conversion—regarding religious pluralism. To appreciate its nuances, it is necessary to distinguish two related but distinct issues. The first concerns the salvation of non-Christian individuals, and the second concerns the salvific power of non-Christian religions.
From Hostility to Dialogue
Regarding the salvation of non-Christian individuals, the Catholic Church’s position is governed by four principles. The first is theological: God wants all to be saved. The second is Christological: salvation is achieved only through Jesus Christ. The third is ecclesial: the church is the necessary means of salvation. The fourth is sacramental: baptism with water is the act by which a person enters the church, becomes a member, and gains access to all the means of salvation.
Of these four principles, the second and third, which are inextricably intertwined, have remained constant. Not only is Christ always confessed as the unique and universal Savior, but the church is also the absolutely necessary means for salvation. A terse Latin formula expresses this kind of necessity: Extra ecclesiam nulla salus (outside the church there is no salvation).
Before Vatican II, the attitude of the Catholic Church toward other religions—except Judaism, with which it acknowledges intrinsic ties but claims to have superseded—was uniformly negative and even condemnatory. Against the backdrop of the church’s official teaching on non-Christian religions, the revolutionary character of Vatican II's teaching on them becomes fully apparent.
Vatican II and Religious Pluralism
Vatican II’s attitude toward religious pluralism and interreligious dialogue can be found in five of its sixteen documents, namely, Sacrosanctum Concilium (on the liturgy), Lumen Gentium (on the church), Nostra Aetate (on the relation of the Catholic Church to non-Christian religions), Ad Gentes (on mission), and Gaudium et Spes (on the church in the modern world). Limited space allows me to focus only on the two most important, Lumen Gentium and Nostra Aetate.
The Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen Gentium, LG), promulgated on 21 November 1964, is the first magisterial document to address the salvation of non-Christians explicitly. It explains how different groups of people relate to the Catholic Church in nos. 13-17, which must be read as a whole. Paragraph 16 is central to our theme, speaking of people “who have not yet accepted the Gospels,” that is, non-Christians, as “related” or “ordered” in various ways to the People of God. LG classifies them into four groups: (1) Jews; (2) Muslims; (3) “those who in shadows and images seek the unknown God,” that is, believers in God or theists; these people “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”; and (4) “those who, without any fault of theirs, have not yet arrived at an explicit knowledge of God and who, not without grace, strive to live a good life,” that is, non-theist believers and atheists. The Catholic Church, for the first time in a solemn pronouncement, categorically affirms that these four kinds of people may achieve salvation.
So far, Vatican II has addressed only the salvation of non-Christian believers and non-believers as individuals, not religions as such. The first conciliar document that explicitly addresses non-Christian religions is the Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions (Nostra Aetate, NA), promulgated on 28 October 1965.
NA begins its exposition on the relation of the church to non-Christian religions by commenting on what might be called primal/tribal/indigenous. NA moves on to contrast primal religions with “the religions which are found in more advanced civilizations.”
The council speaks first of Hinduism and then Buddhism. The last section of paragraph two represents the Church’s most revolutionary approach to non-Christian religions. It says: “The Catholic Church rejects nothing of what is true and holy in these religions. It has high regard for the manner of life and conduct, the precepts and doctrines which, although differing in many ways from its own teaching, nevertheless often reflect a ray of that truth which enlightens all men and women. This new appreciation for non-Christian religions leads to a new activity for the whole church, namely, interreligious dialogue. It states: "Let Christians, while witnessing to their own faith and way of life, recognize, preserve, and promote the spiritual and moral truths found among non-Christians, together with their social life and culture.”
The council devotes the remaining three paragraphs to Islam and Judaism. Regarding Islam, NA acknowledges its theistic faith, its worship of “God, who is one, living, and subsistent, merciful and almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth, who has also spoken to humanity,” and its belief in the afterlife. It also recognizes that Abraham, Jesus, and Mary hold a special place of honor in Islam. It affirms that Muslims “highly esteem an upright life and worship God, especially by way of prayer, alms deeds, and fasting.” The council devotes the bulk of its attention to Judaism, for obvious reasons. The first reason is Christianity’s manifold spiritual ties, both historical and theological, to Judaism.The second reason for the council’s extensive attention to Judaism is, paradoxically, that most Jews do not accept the Gospel. In this regard, the council makes five extremely important points: (1) Despite their rejection of Jesus, Jews remain very dear to God; (2) Neither all Jews at the time of Jesus nor Jews today can be charged with the crimes committed during Jesus’s passion and death, and they should not be described as rejected or accursed, especially in catechesis and preaching; (3) The council condemns all forms of antisemitism and anti-Judaism; (4) Given the common heritage between Christians and Jews, the council encourages mutual understanding and appreciation between them, especially through biblical and theological studies; and (5) Since all humans are created in God’s image, the council reproves any discrimination and harassment against them based on “their race, color, condition of life or religion.”
Going Further on the Road of Interreligious Dialogue
With the election of Jorge Bergoglio to the papacy in 2013, a new era in interreligious dialogue was unmistakably ushered in. In his apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel), Francis proposes four principles to promote the common good and peace, two of which are directly relevant to interreligious dialogue: “Unity prevails over conflict” and “Realities are more important than ideas.” Of Pope Francis’s many interreligious meetings, the most impactful are those with the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmed el-Tayeb. On August 25, 2017, the two met at the Vatican during the Peace Conference. On February 4, 2019, they met again in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates, and co-signed the “Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together.” The declaration highlights the importance of joint efforts at cooperation between different faiths to spread values such as peace, justice, goodness, and human fraternity. In connection with these meetings, Pope Francis issued the encyclical Fratelli Tutti (On Fraternity and Social Friendship), emphasizing the necessity of the “Culture of Encounter” and personal friendship for interreligious dialogue. In 2022, Pope Francis participated in another interreligious event with the Grand Imam in Bahrain. These encounters serve as powerful reminders that unity, dialogue, and shared values can bridge divides and contribute to a more harmonious world.
Conclusion
The change in the Catholic Church’s doctrinal position and Catholic theology on religious pluralism and interreligious dialogue from before Vatican II, during the council, and in its aftermath, including the papacy of Francis, cannot be characterized as a continuous evolution and development. It must be honestly acknowledged that a genuine and unexpected revolution has taken place, an unambiguous turn from the centuries-long exclusivism and replacement to Vatican II’s “fulfillment” and “inclusivism,” and to a post-Vatican II qualified “pluralism.” There is, of course, still a long way to go, but there is no going back.
