Jesus Christ says in St. John 15: 4-6, "As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it remain on the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides I me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for without me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me, he shall be cast outside as the branch and wither; and they shall gather them up and cast them into the fire, and they shall burn."

    Since Vatican II there have been many who have been led to believe (falsely by the conciliarists) that the term "Outside the Church there is no salvation" no longer exists. As we know, they are very, very wrong for the Church has not changed their stance because Christ cannot change His stance on what He said: "Amen, amen, I say to thee, unless a man be born again of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" (St. John 3:5). Since the water and Spirit were given sacramentally to the Church and the first Pope Peter then it stands to reason all are obliged to belong to the Catholic Church in order to be saved. By that statement of "outside the Church" is meant that those who through their own grave fault do not know that the Catholic Church is the true Church, or knowing it, refuse to join it, cannot be saved. It is the first dogma of the Church: Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus.

    While there has been an increased focus on ecumenism, it is not, as many non-Catholics and even some Catholics, especially liberal or modernist Catholics, think: a compromise of the faiths for unity. The Church cannot and will not compromise her teachings, doctrines and dogmas. The Catholic Church is the only true sacramental Church possessing all seven sacraments. The Church wants, more than anything else, unity of all faiths - but only under the terms set down by Jesus Christ, which are only carried out and perpetuated in the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.

    The Catholic Church is founded on the Apostles, to whom Our Lord gave the commission to baptize; by Baptism one is made a member of the Church. If then Baptism is indispensable, the Church must be indispensable. Christ did not die for a part of, but for all mankind. He did not leave His legacy the Church for the benefit of a few, but for all. Our Lord said: "He who hears you hears Me; and he who rejects you rejects Me" (St. Luke 10:16).

    Since God commanded all to be members of His Church, those who deliberately disobey His command will not be saved. Whoever, through his own fault, remains outside of the Catholic Church, will be lost eternally.

    One who, knowing the Catholic Church to be the true one, leaves it or does not join it because he wants to make a his own marriage, to advance his business, or for some other worldly motive, will not be saved. He is a willful and malicious unbeliever.

    One who leaves the Church or does not enter it because of human respect, or because its doctrines require personal sacrifice, will not be saved. One who belongs to another church and has doubts about the truth or falsity of his own church, but takes no pains to find out the truth will not be saved. "If you believe not that I am He, you shall die in your sin."

    It is not enough to belong to the Church. We must also live up to our beliefs, otherwise our membership will only work to our greater condemnation. Only those Catholics who live according to the teachings of the Church will be saved.

    The Church is a guarantee of salvation to those only who obey it. Unfortunately, there are bad Catholics. We must therefore study our religion and then practice it. God has given us the grace to be members of the true Church; we must not waste that grace.

    Catholics who have committed grave sins such as murder, arson, adultery, etc., are still members of the Church. As long as a Catholic does not deny a doctrine of the Catholic faith, or is not excommunicated, he is a member of the Church. Though Catholics guilty of mortal sin are dead members, because they are deprived of sanctifying grace, the life of the soul. Nevertheless they remain members, and have the privilege of receiving the sacraments to wash away their sins. Christ Himself predicted that in the Church there would be bad people with the good, cockle among the wheat. Mother Church is a good mother that patiently awaits the return of her sinful children, and does not exclude them from her gifts.

    An excommunicated person is one who has been cut off from membership in the Church for some serious sin against faith. He is excluded from the sacraments, from Catholic burial, and from being prayed for in the public prayers of the Church. In order to become once more a member of good standing in the Church, an excommunicate has to obtain the absolution of the Bishop.

    Catholics who join Masonry, or marry before a non-Catholic minister, are automatically excommunicated, if they knew the serious nature of their actions. Likewise, Catholics who willingly go along with abortion, sodomy or celebrate any sin without repentance or who promote such by their silence, have excommunicated themselves from the vine as well.

    They who remain outside the Catholic Church through no grave fault of their own, and do not know it is the true Church, can be saved by making use of the graces which God gives them. For God condemns no man except for grave sin. Therefore He will not condemn those who, through no fault of their own, are unaware of His command to belong to the True Church, provided they serve Him faithfully according to their conscience, have a sincere desire to do His will in all things, and therefore implicitly wish to become members of His Church. They are members of the Church, in desire.

    For instance, a baptized Protestant, of Protestant parents, might live all his life a Protestant without ever having a doubt that he is in the wrong. Were he not to commit a mortal sin, he would be saved because he still had Sanctifying Grace on his soul. However, were he to have mortal sin on his soul, the only way to be saved would be to make an act of perfect contrition for the sins he has committed just before he dies. Such a man will be saved, for he dies in the state of grace. These are called the Baptism of Desire which has been confirmed by the dogmatic Council of Trent.

    It is possible for one that has never even heard of Jesus Christ to be saved, for God "wishes all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (Timothy 2:4) and "Christ died for all" (2 Corinthians 5:15). In order that such a one may be saved, it is required that he observe the natural law; with the help of God, everyone having the use of reason can do that.

    Whoever then obeys the natural law will be enlightened by God, at some time in his life, with the grace with which he can make an act of Divine faith. If he makes good use of this grace and firmly believes whatever God has revealed, he will receive the further graces with which he can make the acts of hope, repentance, and charity that must precede before God will bestow on his soul sanctifying grace with which he can merit eternal life. Though we know the will of God through what He has revealed and what has been handed down from Public Revelation and Tradition, we cannot fully know the mind of God.

    The fact that it is possible for those outside the Church to be saved should not make us lose sight of the great disadvantages they are under, as compared with Catholics who live in the full light of Divine revelation. Such persons have not the infallible Church to guide them in what they are to believe and do in order to serve God. They have to live without the Sacraments, Holy Mass, and Holy Communion, and the other countless sources of grace which the Church supplies for the sanctification of its children, those professed Catholics who are members of the Mystical Body of Christ - the visible Church.

    Sadly, over the past 50 years in Church history, the true "Mystical Body of Christ - the visible Church" has been eclipsed and what is visible is an impostor which has retained some of the trappings and nomenclature, but altered so much in their conciliar bent to make it unrecognizable as truly Catholic with every passing generation.

    These disadvantages should make every true Catholic to realize more fully the many reasons we have for humbly thanking God for the priceless blessings we have received without any claim or merit of our own. They should also spur us on to give Him a more worthy service, and help spread our Faith.

    Jesus foretold of divisions in the Church, and the rise of other sects both apostate and schismatic churches. From the time of the Apostles new denominations have sprung up, and have divided and subdivided, to form other denominations where today there are over 33,000 sects. With other churches that are non-Christian, the Christian denominations have opposed the Apostolic Church. "For false Christs and false prophets will arise, and will show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray; if possible, even the elect" (St. Matthew 24:24).

    Our Lord also said: "Everyone therefore who hears these My words and acts upon them, shall be likened to a wise man who built his house on rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, but it did not fall, because it was founded on rock. And everyone who hears these My words and does not act upon them, shall be likened to a foolish man who built his house on sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and was utterly ruined" (St. Matthew 7:24-27). Non-Catholic churches are the "house upon sand"; they rise up and fall. The Catholic Church is the "house upon rock." It will last forever.

    Schism is the refusal to submit to the authority of the Pope; heresy is the formal denial or doubt by a baptized person of any revealed truth of the Catholic Faith.

    Apostasy is the total rejection of his Faith by a baptized Christian. With heresy and schism, and supported by persecution, it has caused divisions in the True Church, and the rise of other churches.

    After some time, separated as it is from the authority of any true Pope, a schismatical church is led into errors in doctrine. Today schismatical churches deny the infallibility of a true Pope. One would never have thought before 1960 that one would add to that list of apostate churches the one who still calls itself 'Catholic', yea even 'Roman Catholic' but has proven by their fruits and heresies that they cannot possibly be in concert with Christ and His Church, but rather compromisers who have sold out to Modernism. Because of that, the Holy Ghost has withdrawn His protection and now we see why Christ said a bad tree cannot yield good fruit. The facts are the facts: There have been no good fruits since Vatican II was announced in 1959! Rather we have had rotten fruits with a scandal a day, if you will, and we all know what Christ said about scandal in St. Matthew 18: 6 and St. Mark 9: 42 and St. Luke 17: 2, And whomsoever shall scandalize on of these little ones, who believe in Me, it were better for him that a mill-stone were hanged about his neck, and were cast into the sea."

    In researching Church annals, of the numerous schisms and heresies, the following are a few of the major ones from the first millennium:

• Arius was a priest of Alexandria who taught that Jesus Christ was not God. The heresy of Arius spread rapidly, and was supported by the Roman emperors. He was condemned by the First General Council of the Church, at Nicea, in the year 325; the Council declared the divinity of Christ. In a few centuries the Arian sect was divided and swept away by other errors. Today we know Arius only by name; he has passed on, but the Church he fought still lives, upholding Christ's divinity.

• Another heretic of the early days was Macedonius, who denied the divinity of the Holy Ghost. His theories were condemned by the Council of Constantinople in the year 381.

• In the fifth century Pelagius denied original sin, and declared grace not necessary for salvation. The doctrines were condemned by the synods of Milevi and Carthage, and the decision ratified by the Pope.

• Nestorius, Bishop of Constantinople, in the fifth century taught the doctrine that Jesus Christ was two persons: a man and God the Son; only the man Jesus was born of Mary and died on the cross. Hence, the Nestorians rejected the title "Mother of God" for the Blessed Virgin. In the year 431 the Third Council of Ephesus condemned the heresies.

• As a form of extreme reaction from Mestorianism, the Monophysites held that Jesus Christ had only one nature, His divinity totally engulfing his humanity. Dioscoros, Patriarch of Alexandria, was the chief propagator of the heresy, which was condemned by the Council of Chalcedon in 451. In an effort to call back the Monophysites to the Church, the heresy of Monothelitism arose. The chief doctrine was the Christ had a single will; the heresy was condemned by the Council of Constantinople in 681.

• In the year 727, the Greek emperor Leo forbade all veneration to images on the ground that such veneration was idolatry. The heresy spread, and mobs entered churches to break images, to burn and destroy priceless works of art. Great harm was done to the people and their faith, before this heresy, called Iconoclasm (image-breaking), died out. The Council of Nicea in 787 defined the true doctrine of the Church.

• In the year 727, the Greek emperor Leo forbade all veneration to images on the ground that such veneration was idolatry. The heresy spread, and mobs entered churches to break images, to burn and destroy priceless works of art. Great harm was done to the people and their faith, before this heresy, called Iconoclasm (image-breaking), died out. The Council of Nicea in 787 defined the true doctrine of the Church.

• The great schism suffered by the Christian Church was that of the East, resulting in the establishment of the Orthodox Eastern Church. The Eastern emperors, desiring more power in the Church, tried to make the patriarchs of Constantinople independent of Rome. Finally, Photius, with the support of the emperor, held a council of Eastern bishops in the year 867, and broke from Rome.

      The cause of the schism was not doctrinal, but rather political and material - jealousy between the East and West. It has resulted in the separation from Rome of millions of people with valid priesthood and sacraments. In the United States there are a number of schismatical churches, among them the Greek Orthodox, and the Russian Church. After minor schisms and misunderstandings between East and West in 1054 there was a final break by Cerularius patriarch of Constantinople, continuing today.

      Today the Orthodox Eastern Church remains in schism, but does not spread. It is a withered branch, having cut itself off from the parent tree. The Orthodox Eastern Church denies the Catholic dogma that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. It also teaches that the souls of the just will not attain complete happiness till the end of the world, when they will be joined to their bodies; and that the souls of the wicked will not suffer complete torture in hell until that last day. These are heresies against the doctrines of the Church.

      Thus it can be seen that today the Orthodox Eastern Church is not merely schismatical, but truly heretical for it holds primary doctrines in a different light. But it has valid orders.

• In the 12th Century Albigensianism arose in southern France. It upheld dualism; two opposing creative principles, the good creating the spiritual world, and the evil creating the material world.

      The Albigenses went to excesses, recommending suicide, forbidding marriage, asserting that Our Lord did not have a human body, denying the resurrection of the body. The heresy was condemned by the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215.

• As an offshoot of Albigensianism, Waldensianism spread throughout Spain. Lombardy, Bohemia, and neighboring countries. The heresy continued until the outbreak of Protestantism, when it merged with this. The Waldenses denied the existence of Purgatory, combatted indulgences, asserted that laymen could preach and absolve, oaths were unlawful, sinful priests had no valid power of ministry, etc.

      But out of evil God has often drawn good. Each schism and heresy has led to profound study in the Church, study of scholars to discover the correct interpretation of doctrine under dispute. In this way light came from darkness. As wise Saint Augustine said: "Those who err in doctrine only serve to show forth more clearly the soundness of those who believe aright."

• In the fourteenth century, Wycliff in England taught that the Bible was the sole rule of faith, that there was no freedom of the will, that confession was useless, that the Pope had no primacy.

      Adopting the theories of Wycliff, Huss in Bohemia spread the errors. Political considerations complicated the heresy; fighting broke out, lasting years.

• In the sixteenth century the Protestant revolt took place, this beginning of a multitude of heresies, this sad event that has divided Christendom for centuries.

      In general, Protestants are adherents of the religious organizations that broke off from the Catholic Church in the sixteenth century, or of any religious body formed from them. The term "Protestant" was first adopted by those who protested against the decree of the second Diet of Speyer in 1529. Later the term was applied to all reformers, all opposing the doctrines of the Church.

      In the year 1517 Martin Luther, an Augustinian monk of Erfurt, Germany, taking offense at what he believed was a lack of appreciation for him at Rome, combated the teaching of the Church on indulgences. It must be understood that he had many good points and the Popes during that era were not the greatest role models or held up the ideals Christ had intended for His Holy Church. This had been brought crystal clear by the rogue Borgia Pope Alexander VI and his successors Popes Pius III, Julius II and Leo X. The latter was the Sovereign Pontiff at the time when Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the cathedral. None of these Popes had a clue how to deal with this enlightenment movement and rebellion. In truth, they were more interested in building up the coffers and building the magnificent monument of St. Peter's employing the masters Michelangelo and Raphael. Yes, it was a low point in Church History, but as Jesus says "the gates of hell will not prevail against it" and indeed she withstood this onslaught of rejection by hundreds of thousands who protested various tenets of the Faith.

      Pope Leo X commanded Luther to retract his teachings; upon his refusal, he was excommunicated, in 1520. His heretical teachings spread like wildfire over Germany, occasioning religious wars; peace came only with the Peace of Augsburg, in 1555.

      The Council of Trent met (1545-1563) to set forth in a clear manner the errors of the Protestants, by explaining the true doctrine of the Church on those points. At that time, religious training had relaxed; many did not know the true doctrines. Among the errors of Luther were these: that there is no supreme teaching power in the Church; that temporal rulers have the right to interfere in ecclesiastical matters; that the Bible is the sole guide to faith; that every man should interpret the Bible according to his own mind; that faith is sufficient for salvation; that the priesthood does not imprint a special character on the soul of a man, and that everybody is or can be a priest, as a result; that Penance is not a sacrament, but a mere invention of the Church; that the Mass gives no special grace; that there is no Purgatory, etc.

      In the beginning, Protestantism spread rapidly. Whole countries, led by their rulers, adopted its doctrines. In Switzerland Zwingli and Calvin; in England Henry VIII, about this time increased the defections from the Church. But soon there were other kinds of Protestantism, all with varying doctrines.

• The 1960's. There is a saying that if you can't beat them, join them. That, so tragically, is what the progressive apparatchiks were able to do behind the scenes from the beginning of the 20th century on, coming out of the proverbial closet at Vatican II and, like the robber barons they were, storming the gate through Vatican II and taking over, throwing out the tried and true in order to compromise and cave to those in schism and apostasy, thus, in fact, becoming apostate themselves.