The 7 Sacraments
In 1215, the Fourth Lateran Council was convened by Pope Innocent III and was attended by over 400 bishops from all over Europe. The council's decree on 7 sacraments that are necessary for salvation, namely:
- Baptism
- Confirmation
- Eucharist
- Penance
- Extreme Unction (now called "Anointing of the Sick")
- Holy Orders
- Matrimony
There is indeed one universal church of the faithful, outside of which nobody at all is saved. -- Lateran IV, 1
This was reaffirmed in 1442, by the Council of Florence which declared:
It firmly believes, professes and preaches that all those who are outside the catholic church, not only pagans but also Jews or heretics and schismatics, cannot share in eternal life and will go into the everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels, unless they are joined to the catholic church before the end of their lives; that the unity of the ecclesiastical body is of such importance that only for those who abide in it do the church’s sacraments contribute to salvation and do fasts, almsgiving and other works of piety and practices of the Christian militia produce eternal rewards; and that nobody can be saved, no matter how much he has given away in alms and even if he has shed his blood in the name of Christ, unless he has persevered in the bosom and the unity of the catholic church.