The Catholic Church & Salvation

A reader writes:

I had heard a show where it was discussed that the
Catholic Church is the Church that Jesus established.

This is true.

That the Catholic Church is the only Church that can
be traced back to the succession of Bishops and St.
Peter.

This is also true.

But can the Catholic Church state that it is the only
Church that will provide a path to Heaven?

If one knows the truth about the Catholic Church, then yes. In the words of Vatican II:

This Sacred Council wishes to turn its attention firstly to the Catholic faithful. Basing itself upon Sacred Scripture and Tradition, it teaches that the Church, now sojourning on earth as an exile, is necessary for salvation. Christ, present to us in His Body, which is the Church, is the one Mediator and the unique way of salvation. In explicit terms He Himself affirmed the necessity of faith and baptism and thereby affirmed also the necessity of the Church, for through baptism as through a door men enter the Church. Whosoever, therefore, knowing that the Catholic Church was made necessary by Christ, would refuse to enter or to remain in it, could not be saved [Lumen Gentium 14].

If one knows that the Catholic Church is made necessary by Christ and one refuses to enter it then one is refusing to accept salvation on Christ’s terms and so is refusing to accept salvation. In this sense the Catholic Church is the only Church that provides a path to heaven.

This does not mean that the same standard applies to those who are innocently unaware of the necessity of the Catholic Church. For those who are innocently unaware of this fact, it is possible for them to be saved if they otherwise respond to God’s grace.

Is Jesus and/or the Holy Spirit not present in
Churches of other denominations?

Yes, they are, in the sense just mentioned. For those who are not aware of the necessity of being Catholic, God works with them where they are and graciously makes it possible for them to be saved. Because they are not in the Catholic Church, however, their salvation is more risky than finding salvation is when one has the full means of grace available in the Catholic Church.

I ask because it seems that the Apostles sent letters
to many churches in their time. Did they become
Catholic or did they remain Christian?

Catholics are the original kind of Christians. All other forms of Christians split off (directly or indirectly) from the Catholic Church. The original churches to which the apostles sent their letters were part of the Catholic Church, though this term may not have been in general use at the time the letters were sent. (It entered general use in the second half of the first century.)

In Revelations …
16 I Jesus have sent my angel, to testify to you these
things in the churches. I am the root and stock of
David, the bright and morning star. This from the
Douay-Rheims Bible. This seems to imply that there is
more than one Church that this will be spread amongst.

Yes, it does. The verse you quote (Revelation 22:16) does refer to local churches (specifically, those in Asia Minor; see Revelation 1:4). Again, these were local churches that were part of the one, worldwide Catholic Church.

The word "Church" is used in Scripture in two different senses. On the one hand, it is used to refer to individual local congregations (the sense in which Revelatin 22:16 uses it). On the other hand, it is used to refer to the worldwide communion of these churches in union with St. Peter (or, today, his successor). This is the sense in which Jesus uses the term when he says:

You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church [singular] (Matthew 16:18).

 

There are many local churches that are part of the worldwide Catholic Church, but there is a single, worldwide communion of Churches that Jesus founded on St. Peter. That worldwide communion is the Catholic Church.

I was raised Catholic by adoption. I believe in the
foundation of the faith, lately I have struggled with
my faith in the Catholic Church. I do not think I need
to explain why.

I assume that you may be referring to the recent sex-abuse crisis in the American part of the Catholic Church. It is understandable that this posed challenges for the faith of many, but we must recognize that Christ’s teachings and promises remain true even when individual humans are untrue to them. . . . as we all are when we fall into sin.

I can point you to more resources on both the subject of the Catholic Church and the sex-abuse crisis if you wish.

I hope this helps!