<Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (October 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> The Latin phrase extra Ecclesiam nulla salus means: "outside the Church there is no salvation". The 1997 Catechism of the Catholic Church explained this as "all salvation comes from Christ the Head through the Church which is his Body ." </P> <P> This expression comes from the writings of Saint Cyprian of Carthage, a bishop of the 3rd century . The axiom is often used as shorthand for the doctrine that the Church is necessary for salvation . It is a dogma in the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox churches in reference to their own communions . It is also held by many historic Protestant Churches . However, Protestants, Catholics and the Orthodox each have a unique ecclesiological understanding of what constitutes the Church . The theological basis for this doctrine is founded on the beliefs that (1) Jesus Christ personally established the one Church; and (2) the Church serves as the means by which the graces won by Christ are communicated to believers . </P> <P> Kallistos Ware, a Greek Orthodox bishop, has expressed this doctrine as follows: </P>

Who said outside the church there is no salvation