Catholic soteriology teaches that salvation is entirely God's gift of grace, yet requires genuine human cooperation through faith, repentance, and works of charity. The Council of Trent (1547) defined justification against the Protestant doctrine of sola fide, teaching that faith, hope, and charity are all necessary for justification—grace transforms the believer, it does not merely impute righteousness forensically. The sacraments are the ordinary means by which God communicates saving grace: baptism removes original sin and regenerates the soul; the Eucharist nourishes it; penance restores grace after mortal sin.

Catholic teaching affirms that people of other religions and even non-believers who follow their conscience may receive salvation through what the Church calls 'implicit desire' for baptism (Baptism of Desire), though the fullness of salvation is found in the Church. Vatican II's Lumen Gentium (§16) and the Catechism (§847) affirm: 'Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel... and who, following the promptings of grace, try to do God's will as they know it through the dictates of conscience—these too may achieve eternal salvation.' The Church insists that Christ is the unique savior of all humanity.