Does the Catholic Church teach that only those who partake in the Holy Eucharist will have everlasting life?

Question

I have read statement like that in my Catholic Bible Study.

I am trying to understand this. What about non-Catholics, Jews and Muslems? They will not go to Heaven?

In John 6:51 "I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world."

The other quote, I don't remember where, Jesus said: "The only way to my Father is Through Me."

Can anyone explain all this? What are the Catholic Church's teachings on these quotes and what do other Christian religions teach on the same quotes?

I found the answer myself. Check this website:
http://www.catholic.com/library/Christ_in_the_Eucharist.asp

Answer 1

--Is Catholic--

The answer is yes and no. The quick answer to this is:

All those that have received eternal life and are in heaven receive the Eucharist.
Not all those in heaven received the Eucharist on earth.

Let us unpack John 6:51. What do we know?
This verse is what the previous discourses lead to and you should go back and re read the beginning of John 6.
1. Christ is THE living bread (fulfillment of OT verses and the previous discourses)
2. Christ comes down from heaven (recalling God sending the manna from heaven) (Christ is sent from God to take care of his people and to provide the means of life for them).
3. Whoever eats bread, lives for another day. Whoever eats THIS bread, lives forever.
4. This bread, which is synonymous with Christ’s life, is also a sacrifice of atonement given to redeem the world (cf. Ex 11:3-4 and others).

Now I want to point out something that this passage doesn't say:
It does not say that whoever doesn't eat the Eucharist will not see heaven. It says that those who participate in the Eucharist participate in eternal life. The verse says nothing about what happens to those who do not eat the Eucharist.

If we now turn to Jn 6:53 "Truly, Truely, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day" we can take the discourse a step further. Here Jesus is saying that participate in the Eucharist is participation in true life. This must be understood in the sense of "true life" = the divine life. All other life, in classical thought, is not considered "true" because it is only temporary and does not last. If we understand this, we can see why non-participation is not "true life" regardless of the state of man in regards to sin. Thus, here in this discourse, Jesus is not talking per say about man's sin and need of redemption. Rather he is teaching his listeners a higher truth.
1. That all life stems from God.
2. That God not only creates life, but he sustains it constantly. 3. If God stopped sustaining life, it would cease utterly to exist.
4. God is calling man not to simply have the life that he was created with, but to have a participation in the Divine Life.
5. Being raised up on the last day, speaks of how those that participate in the Eucharist will live beyond the last day of this world (aka, when the temporary nature of this world and this life comes to its designed end, those who participate in the Eucharist will not end but will be raised up (elevated) to the new life, the life of the Kingdom of God, the new earth and the new heavens.).

As you can see we are going off into some very deep metaphysical waters here...something that is way beyond simple salvation/justification thought. The Jewish people pray for the messiah to come and save them from their sins and from their enemies. Christ came and did something more, he gave them a participation in his own life. The Christian message is not something simply of sin and redemption, but it is a calling to a new life and to communion with God.

As such, when we talk about the salvation of non-Catholics, this is a bit of a different topic then when we talk about the participation in "true life". However, both ideas are caught up in the Eucharist, for the Eucharist is both the source of our salvation (because it is the sacrifice of atonement offered once and for all for the salvation of man) as well as the summit of our salvation (because it is the participation in the divine life). Once you are justified, then you can participate in the Eucharist and the "true life". Thus when we talk about the salvation of those who are not Christian, we both say that the Eucharist is the source of their salvation, but participation in the "true life" of the Eucharist is not open to them yet. That is why "The only way to the Father is through me".

TEACHINGS OF OTHER CHRISTIANS
The Orthodox teach the same thing as Catholics.
Protestants teach a variety of things, but as a whole the do not teach or understand the Eucharist as being "true life" and man's participation in the Divine Life. If they do, it is a very loose and "spiritual" conceptualization, not like the fundamental reality that is the Catho-Orthodox tradition. Protestants tend to focus on justification concepts. Modern Main Stream Protestants tends to shy away from Christ being the only way to the Father.

READING LIST:
You can find a host of quotes from the Fathers on all sorts of doctrinal issues from "THE FAITH OF THE EARLY FATHERS" by Jurgens. This is a 3 vol. Set.

The Best books for understanding the Eucharist are
God Is Near Us: The Eucharist, the Heart of Life
by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, et al.

A Key to the Doctrine of the Eucharist
by Abbot Vonier, et al.

The best and most current document that you want to read is
DOMINUS IESUS. It is not on the Eucharist but on Christ and his unique and universal roll and means to salvation.

Answer 2

The Catholic Church holds traditions as high or higher then it holds the Bible. They believe salvation by works. You can pay to have sins removed, and you can keep sinning as long as you goto the communions to have Christs blood cover you. Confession is also wrong, all confession should be to the Lord and not to a priest. You can talk to the Lord yourself, you don't need a priest.

The Jewish priests accused Jesus of blasphemy when he forgave people, because men cannot do this only God can. Little did they know he was the son of God in the flesh.

Yes it is true, the only way to be saved is via Christ Jesus who was crucified. You are on the right track, most Catholics don't read into the Bible too much, but it is my friend the very Word of God.

Also it is taught that Jesus is sacrificed again and again at each and every Holy Communion, when it is said that it was one sacrifce which lasted forever.

Heb 10:12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God;

Heb 10:26 For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,

There are so many other things Catholicism teach that are not Biblical.

For example, they changed the 10 commandments. Look at your catechism, and look at exodus 20.

God Bless

Answer 3

Almost every religion believes that their belief is the only way to get to heaven. Most Christian religions partake in communion because of this but the catholics have communion every service where other churches will have it less often some times only once a year. Its not the religion that will get you into heaven its your relationship with God and Jesus that will get you there.

Answer 4

+ Eucharist +

The Gospel of John, chapter 6 states:

Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day."

Even with this enthusiastic encouragement from Jesus to receive his Body and Blood in the Holy Eucharist, the Catholic Church says that this will greatly help someone get to heaven but is not a requirement.

+ Non-Catholic Christian Churches +

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states, "Furthermore, many elements of sanctification and of truth" are found outside the visible confines of the Catholic Church: "the written Word of God; the life of grace; faith, hope, and charity, with the other interior gifts of the Holy Spirit, as well as visible elements."

Christ's Spirit uses these Churches and ecclesial communities as means of salvation, whose power derives from the fullness of grace and truth that Christ has entrusted to the Catholic Church. All these blessings come from Christ and lead to him.

+ Judaism +

The Catholic Church officially teaches:

When she delves into her own mystery, the Church, the People of God in the New Covenant, discovers her link with the Jewish People, "the first to hear the Word of God.

The Jewish faith, unlike other non-Christian religions, is already a response to God's revelation in the Old Covenant.

To the Jews "belong the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs, and of their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ"; "for the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable."

+ Islam +

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states, "The plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst whom are the Muslims; these profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind's judge on the last day."

+ Other Non-Christian Churches +

All nations form but one community. This is so because all stem from the one stock which God created to people the entire earth, and also because all share a common destiny, namely God. His providence, evident goodness, and saving designs extend to all against the day when the elect are gathered together in the holy city.

With love in Christ.

Answer 5

The catechism has plenty to declare inclusive of the under. we are justiifeid via the sacriface of christ and hence able, want, and would and via abolsution interior the sacrament of confession. exciting justification is on the subject count of confession and salvation to communion. there is an enormously wealthy meditation right here. wow. Please see the link to the catechism searchable version. thank you for the question. super question. 2019 Justification is composed of the remission of sins, sanctification, and the renewal of the indoors guy. 169 Salvation comes from God on my own; yet via fact we acquire the existence of religion during the Church, she is our mom: "We have self assurance the Church via fact the mummy of our new beginning, and not interior the Church as though she have been the author of our salvation." via fact she is our mom, she is likewise our instructor interior the religion.

Answer 6

Yes, this is true.
Only catholics can go to heaven and everybody else in the world is condemned to everlasting torment in hell.
I had 17 years of this hideous nonsense.

Answer 7

Yes and confession.