Catholicism and Path to Salvation

Re “Vatican Declares Catholicism Sole Path to Salvation,” Sept. 6:

As a Catholic, no sooner do I finish apologizing to my Jewish friends for the pope’s beatification of Pope Pius IX then now I must apologize to my non-Catholic religious friends for the Vatican’s statement that the Catholic Church is the sole path to spiritual salvation for all of humanity. So my church has now offended the Jews and all non-Catholic religious individuals--not too many left to offend except for the atheists and the agnostics, but I guess they’re not worth the trouble to offend, since I’m sure my church has concluded their cause is most certainly lost.

DONALD A. BENTLEY

La Puente

* So, the Catholic Church, like practically every other religion, declares itself the “sole path to salvation.” Yet, in flat-out contradiction to this assertion, it also says that salvation can result for non-Catholics and even non-Christians from a divine grace “in some mysterious way” that theologians are urged to understand. Moreover, these positions are expressed “objectively speaking.”

I usually reserve my laugh-out-loud reactions for the funny pages. But, when they are triggered by items elsewhere in the newspaper, it’s almost always by the words of theologians.

LEON ALBERT

Temple City

* I am sorry to see the stand the pope has taken. In my Bible I read, “Come unto me all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” I could not believe in a God who would reject people because of their method of worship. It is the love of God that counts, not the religion, denomination or sect.

DAVID S. EICHER

Glendale