Do Catholics say protestants get into heaven?

Answer 1

It would really depend on the Catholic. Some have varying beliefs on the matter of who is going to heaven and who isnt.

Some catholics may feel only Catholics can go to heaven but if you are looking at catholic doctrine and what the catholic doctrine teaches it does not say you must be Catholic to go to heaven.

Answer 2

The Catholic Church teaches that God wills the salvation of all mankind. And that He extends that salvation to everyone who dies in a state of grace, loving Him. The important thing to remember is that all of the helps which Our Blessed Lord, Jesus Christ, left to help us on our way to salvation are contained only in the Catholic Church and that it is morally very difficult, if not down right impossible, to live a whole life and die in a state of grace without supernatural help. However, God extends that help to all who genuinely desire it. Thus a pagan, with no knowledge of Christianity, would have all the help that he would desire if he genuinely tried to follow God and live a moral life with the lights that were available to him. Protestants have a different problem, as there is no way that a protestant can claim to have no knowledge of Christianity, however, most protestants are brought up with such an ingrained hatred of Catholic Christianity and taught to believe that it isn't real Christianity. The problem is that Our Blessed Lord said outright to His Apostles, "he who hears you hears me, he who rejects you rejects me" and protestants are rejecting His apostles - the bishops, and His Vicar, the Pope. That being said, because it is morally impossible for some of them to come to recognize the truth, God grants them every chance to come to the truth and live according to it. In the end, we cannot judge another's salvation, that is between the individual and God, but we can certainly not be uninterested when so many are brought up to reject the Church that Christ founded. I would say that most Catholics, who don't even know their own religion that well, would say that protestants have no problems going to heaven; and even some Catholic theologians would say the same. Vatican Council II certainly said that salvation was possible; however, it went on to say that it certainly was not probable, so we should continue to work for the salvation of all, as that is the very basis of what Christianity is.