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18 The mission of the Church is "to proclaim and establish among all peoples the kingdom of Christ and of God, and she is on earth, the seed and the beginning of that kingdom".68 On the one hand, the Church is "a sacrament -- that is, sign and instrument of intimate union with God and of unity of the entire human race".69 She is therefore the sign and instrument of the kingdom; she is called to announce and to establish the kingdom. On the other hand, the Church is the
«people gathered by the unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit";70 she is therefore "the kingdom of Christ already present in mystery"71 and constitutes its seed and beginning. The kingdom of God, in fact, has an eschatological dimension: it is a reality present in time, but its full realization will arrive only with the completion or fulfilment of history.72
The meaning of the expressions kingdom of heaven, kingdom of God, and kingdom of Christ in Sacred Scripture and the Fathers of the Church, as well as in the documents of the Magisterium, is not always exactly the same, nor is their relationship to the Church, which is a mystery that cannot be totally contained by a human concept. Therefore, there can be various theological explanations of these terms. However, none of these possible explanations can deny or empty in any way the intimate connection between Christ, the kingdom, and the Church. In fact, the kingdom of God which we know from revelation, "cannot be detached either from Christ or from the Church... If the kingdom is separated from Jesus, it is no longer the kingdom of God which he revealed. The result is a distortion of the meaning of the kingdom, which runs the risk of being transformed into a purely human or ideological goal and a distortion of the identity of Christ, who no longer appears as the Lord to whom everything must one day be subjected (cf. 1Co 15,27). Likewise, one may not separate the kingdom from the Church. It is true that the Church is not an end unto herself, since she is ordered toward the kingdom of God, of which she is the seed, sign and instrument. Yet, while remaining distinct from Christ and the kingdom, the Church is indissolubly united to both".73
68. Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution LG 5.
69. Ibid., LG 1.
70. Ibid., LG 4. Cf. St. Cyprian, De Dominica oratione 23: CCSL 3A, 105.
71. Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution LG 3.
72. Cf. ibid., LG 9; cf. also the prayer addressed to God found in the Didache 9,4: SC 248, 176: "May the Church be gathered from the ends of the earth into your kingdom" and ibid. 10, 5: SC 248, 180: "Remember, Lord, your Church... and, made holy, gather her together from the four winds into your kingdom which you have prepared for her".
73. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter RMi 18; cf. Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Asia, 17: L'Osservatore Romano (November 7, 1999). The kingdom is so inseparable from Christ that, in a certain sense, it is identified with him (cf. Origen, In Mt. Hom., 14, 7: PG 13, 1197; Tertullian, Adversus Marcionem, IV, 33,8: CCSL 1, 634.
19 To state the inseparable relationship between Christ and the kingdom is not to overlook the fact that the kingdom of God -- even if considered in its historical phase -- is not identified with the Church in her visible and social reality. In fact, "the action of Christ and the Spirit outside the Church's visible boundaries" must not be excluded.74 Therefore, one must also bear in mind that "the kingdom is the concern of everyone: individuals, society and the world. Working for the kingdom means acknowledging and promoting God's activity, which is present in human history and transforms it. Building the kingdom means working for liberation from evil in all its forms. In a word, the kingdom of God is the manifestation and the realization of God's plan of salvation in all its fullness".75
In considering the relationship between the kingdom of God, the kingdom of Christ, and the Church, it is necessary to avoid one-sided accentuations, as is the case with those "conceptions which deliberately emphasize the kingdom and which describe themselves as 'kingdom centred.' They stress the image of a Church which is not concerned about herself, but which is totally concerned with bearing witness to and serving the kingdom. It is a 'Church for others,' just as Christ is the 'man for others'... Together with positive aspects, these conceptions often reveal negative aspects as well. First, they are silent about Christ: the kingdom of which they speak is 'theocentrically' based, since, according to them, Christ cannot be understood by those who lack Christian faith, whereas different peoples, cultures, and religions are capable of finding common ground in the one divine reality, by whatever name it is called. For the same reason, they put great stress on the mystery of creation, which is reflected in the diversity of cultures and beliefs, but they keep silent about the mystery of redemption. Furthermore, the kingdom, as they understand it, ends up either leaving very little room for the Church or undervaluing the Church in reaction to a presumed 'ecclesiocentrism' of the past and because they consider the Church herself only a sign, for that matter a sign not without ambiguity".76 These theses are contrary to Catholic faith because they deny the unicity of the relationship which Christ and the Church have with the kingdom of God.
74. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter RMi 18.
75. Ibid., RMi 15.
20 From what has been stated above, some points follow that are necessary for theological reflection as it explores the relationship of the Church and the other religions to salvation.
Above all else, it must be firmly believed that "the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and baptism (cf. Mc 16,16 Jn 3,5), and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through baptism as through a door".77 This doctrine must not be set against the universal salvific will of God (cf. 1Tm 2,4); "it is necessary to keep these two truths together, namely, the real possibility of salvation in Christ for all mankind and the necessity of the Church for this salvation".78
The Church is the "universal sacrament of salvation",79 since, united always in a mysterious way to the Saviour Jesus Christ, her Head, and subordinated to him, she has, in God's plan, an indispensable relationship with the salvation of every human being.80 For those who are not formally and visibly members of the Church, "salvation in Christ is accessible by virtue of a grace which, while having a mysterious relationship to the Church, does not make them formally part of the Church, but enlightens them in a way which is accommodated to their spiritual and material situation. This grace comes from Christ; it is the result of his sacrifice and is communicated by the Holy Spirit";81 it has a relationship with the Church, which "according to the plan of the Father, has her origin in the mission of the Son and the Holy Spirit".82
76. Ibid., RMi 17.
77. Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution LG 14; cf. Decree Ag 7; Decree UR 3.
78. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter RMi 9; cf. CEC 846-847.
79. Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution LG 48.
80. Cf. St. Cyprian, De catholicae ecclesiae unitate, 6: CCSL 3, 253-254; St. Irenaeus, Adversus haereses, III, 24, 1: SC 211, 472-474.
81. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter RMi 10.
82. Second Vatican Council, Decree Ag 2. The famous formula extra Ecclesiam nullus omnino salvatur is to be interpreted in this sense (cf. Fourth Lateran Council, Cap. 1. De fide catholica: DS 802). Cf. also the Letter of the Holy Office to the Archbishop of Boston: DS 3866-3872.
21 With respect to the way in which the salvific grace of God -- which is always given by means of Christ in the Spirit and has a mysterious relationship to the Church -- comes to individual non - Christians, the Second Vatican Council limited itself to the statement that God bestows it «in ways known to himself".83 Theologians are seeking to understand this question more fully. Their work is to be encouraged, since it is certainly useful for understanding better God's salvific plan and the ways in which it is accomplished. However, from what has been stated above about the mediation of Jesus Christ and the "unique and special relationship"84 which the Church has with the kingdom of God among men -- which in substance is the universal kingdom of Christ the Saviour -- it is clear that it would be contrary to the faith to consider the Church as one way of salvation alongside those constituted by the other religions, seen as complementary to the Church or substantially equivalent to her, even if these are said to be converging with the Church toward the eschatological kingdom of God.
Certainly, the various religious traditions contain and offer religious elements which come from God,85 and which are part of what "the Spirit brings about in human hearts and in the history of peoples, in cultures, and religions".86 Indeed, some prayers and rituals of the other religions may assume a role of preparation for the Gospel, in that they are occasions or pedagogical helps in which the human heart is prompted to be open to the action of God.87 One cannot attribute to these, however, a divine origin or an ex opere operato salvific efficacy, which is proper to the Christian sacraments.88 Furthermore, it cannot be overlooked that other rituals, insofar as they depend on superstitions or other errors (cf. 1Co 10,20-21), constitute an obstacle to salvation.89
83. Second Vatican Council, Decree Ag 7.
84. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter RMi 18.
85. These are the seeds of the divine Word (semina Verbi), which the Church recognizes with joy and respect (cf. Second Vatican Council, Decree Ag 11; Declaration NAE 2).
86. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter RMi 29.
87. Cf. ibid.; CEC 843.
88. Cf. Council of Trent, Decretum de sacramentis, can. 8, de sacramentis in genere: DS 1608.
89. Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter RMi 55.
22 With the coming of the Saviour Jesus Christ, God has willed that the Church founded by him be the instrument for the salvation of all humanity (cf. Ac 17,30-31).90 This truth of faith does not lessen the sincere respect which the Church has for the religions of the world, but at the same time, it rules out, in a radical way, that mentality of indifferentism "characterized by a religious relativism which leads to the belief that 'one religion is as good as another'".91 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.92 However, «all the children of the Church should nevertheless remember that their exalted condition results, 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".93 One understands then that, following the Lord's command (cf. Mt 28,19-20) and as a requirement of her love for all people, the Church "proclaims and is in duty bound to proclaim without fail, Christ who is the way, the truth, and the life (Jn 14,6). In him, in whom God reconciled all things to himself (cf. 2Co 5,18-19), men find the fullness of their religious life".94
In inter-religious dialogue as well, the mission ad gentes «today as always retains its full force and necessity".95
«Indeed, God 'desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth' (1Tm 2,4); that is, God wills the salvation of everyone through the knowledge of the truth. Salvation is found in the truth. Those who obey the promptings of the Spirit of truth are already on the way of salvation. But the Church, to whom this truth has been entrusted, must go out to meet their desire, so as to bring them the truth. Because she believes in God's universal plan of salvation, the Church must be missionary".96 Inter - religious dialogue, therefore, as part of her evangelizing mission, is just one of the actions of the Church in her mission ad gentes.97 Equality, which is a presupposition of inter - religious dialogue, refers to the equal personal dignity of the parties in dialogue, not to doctrinal content, nor even less to the position of Jesus Christ -- who is God himself made man -- in relation to the founders of the other religions. Indeed, the Church, guided by charity and respect for freedom,98 must be primarily committed to proclaiming to all people the truth definitively revealed by the Lord, and to announcing the necessity of conversion to Jesus Christ and of adherence to the Church through Baptism and the other sacraments, in order to participate fully in communion with God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Thus, the certainty of the universal salvific will of God does not diminish, but rather increases the duty and urgency of the proclamation of salvation and of conversion to the Lord Jesus Christ.
90. Cf. Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution LG 17; John Paul II, Encyclical Letter RMi 11.
91. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter RMi 36.
92. Cf. Pius XII, Encyclical Letter Mystici corporis: DS 3821.
93. Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution LG 14.
94. Second Vatican Council, Declaration NAE 2.
95. Second Vatican Council, Decree Ag 7.
96. CEC 851; cf. also CEC 849-856.
97. Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter RMi 55; Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Asia, 31.
98. Cf. Second Vatican Council, Declaration DH 1.
CONCLUSION
23 The intention of the present Declaration, in reiterating and clarifying certain truths of the faith, has been to follow the example of the Apostle Paul, who wrote to the faithful of Corinth: "I handed on to you as of first importance what I myself received" (1Co 15,3). Faced with certain problematic and even erroneous propositions, theological reflection is called to reconfirm the Church's faith and to give reasons for her hope in a way that is convincing and effective.
99. Ibid DH 1.
100. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter FR 15.
101. Ibid., FR 92.
102. Ibid., FR 70.
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