Pope Says Other Christians Aren't Saved

The Vatican released a report approved by Pope Benedict XVI clarifying the relationship between the Catholic church and other churches according to an AP report. The report was initially drafted in 2000 by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Essentially, it states that Christian churches cannot be called churches in the proper sense because Christ only established one church here on Earth. The Roman Catholic church claims to be that entity, citing a succession of apostolic authority going back in an unbroken line to the Apostle Peter and to Jesus Christ before him. Because they lack this apostolic succession, the Vatican report claims that all other Christian communities lack the “means of salvation.” Further, the Vatican’s report claims that although other Orthodox churches have apostolic succession and therefore the “means of salvation,” they are flawed because they do not recognize the primacy of the Pope. The Vatican report is likely to have no effect on most Protestant denominations, which don’t recognize the authority of the Pope anyway. Instead, these churches claim direct communion with the Pope’s immediate supervisor, who could not be reached for comment.