According to the catholic belief are the non Catholic christians as orthodoxs lutherans anglicans consider as christians and shall go to heaven or perhaps they consider as heretic sinners?

Answer 1

Orthodox Christians are considered schismatics while Protestants are heretics. According to Catholic doctrine, they can go to heaven if they are baptized and genuinely convinced of their faith and follow it as if it were the true one, live a holy life, and have sorrow for their sins because it offends God.

Answer

Sadly, the Roman Catholic Church officially regards protestants as heretics. I say the Church, but there are millions of rank and file Catholics who are working with protestants well in ecumenical ventures such as joint Roman Catholic/Anglican schools (I taight in one of these for 22 years) and Churches Together in various forms, and in these contexts we all mutually agree that we are part of God's family of Christians on earth; Christians first and foremost, and denominational catholics or Protestants a very poor second. In my own town in the UK, there is a small Catholic congregation that meets for mass weekly in the Methodist Church as they have no church building of their own... and the roof hasn't fallen in yet by divine intervention!

The excellent display of Christian Unity, however, does not hide the fact that the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church judges others (something which Christ forbade) as being heretics. Even Pope Benedict confirmed this recently when he affirmed that the Roman Catholic Church was the only 'true' Church.

However, many protestants see things very differently. They see in the Roman Catholic Church heirarchy (not in the rank and file membership) an organisation that is corrupt and sinister. They see an organisation that has invented doctrine over the last two thousand years that is unBiblical, unscriptural and unGodly. They see the doctrines of purgatory, limbo, the sacrificial nature of the mass, papal infallibility, the veneration of relics, the praying to saints, the overadulation of the Virgin Mary and transubstantiation as contrary to all Christ taught; they despair at the subservient role of women in the Church, something which Christ himself abhorred. They shake their heads at the forced celebacy of the priesthood despite many popes and priests in the past being married - until one day it was outlawed. They are also very worried about the movement in the Church that is determined to elevate Mary even further by making her co-redeemer ('co-redemptrix') with Jesus, which is not just heretical but heresy in the extreme.

Therefore, whilst the Roman authorities regard protestants as heretics, most Catholics do not. However, looking at the evidence, it seems that the protestants have much more to accuse the Roman Church of with regard to heresy, but they don't. They accept Catholics with open arms. They allow them full participation in their worship and allow them to receive the consecrated bread and wine in the Eucharist, because this is what Christ calls us to do - to love each other, and welcome each other, with a love that is profound, deep and unconditional. However, Roman Catholics bar all protestants from receiving the bread and wine at their masses, contrary to Christ's teaching. One must therefore ask, then, just who are the heretics?