John Chrysostom wrote:
Also to draw this into a larger debate we've been having for quite awhile. Even saying that is an accurate quote, which I am not, has this been the teaching of the Catholic church since the beginning?
In short, no, it is not.
The teaching of the Catholic Church has always been something called "extra Ecclesiam nulla salus" or, loosely translated, "No Salvation outside of the Church".
Below are some relevant quotes on the subject:
Pope Eugene IV, Council of Florence:
Whoever wishes to be saved, needs above all to hold the Catholic faith; unless each one preserves this whole and inviolate, he will without a doubt perish in eternity.”
Pope Innocent III, Fourth Lateran Council, Constitution 1, 1215:
“There is indeed one universal Church of the faithful, outside of which nobody at all is saved, in which Jesus Christ is both priest and sacrifice.”
Pope Boniface VIII, Unam Sanctam, 1302:
“With Faith urging us we are forced to believe and to hold the one, holy, Catholic Church and that, apostolic, and we firmly believe and simply confess this Church outside of which there is no salvation nor remission of sin… Furthermore, we declare, say, define, and proclaim to every human creature that they by absolute necessity for salvation are entirely subject to the Roman Pontiff.”
Pope Gregory XVI, Mirari Vos 1832:
“With the admonition of the apostle that ‘there is one God, one faith, one baptism’ (Eph. 4:5) may those fear who contrive the notion that the safe harbor of salvation is open to persons of any religion whatever. They should consider the testimony of Christ Himself that ‘those who are not with Christ are against Him,’ (Lk. 11:23) and that they disperse unhappily who do not gather with Him. Therefore, ‘without a doubt, they will perish forever, unless they hold the Catholic faith whole and inviolate” (Athanasian Creed).
Obviously, these sorts of statements are not particularly palateable to those wishing to promote a broadly ecumenical approach to Catholicism, therefore this teaching got watered down significantly during the course of Vatican II and later years. I would hazard a guess that very few Catholics today (through no fault of their own) have neither read nor heard of the teaching of extra Ecclesium nulla salus.
It's not hard to see why when you read the below - taken from the new Catechism, which Pound Foolish has quoted:
“Basing itself on Scripture and Tradition, the Council teaches that the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and Baptism, and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through Baptism as through a door.Hence they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or to remain in it.
This affirmation is not aimed at those who, through no fault of their own, do not know Christ and his Church:
“Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience – those too may achieve eternal salvation.” (Quoting the Vatican II document Lumen Gentium, 16)
Another major Vatican II document
Gaudeiem et Spes states:
All this holds true not only for Christians, but for all men of good will in whose hearts grace works in an unseen way. For, since Christ died for all men, and since the ultimate vocation of man is in fact one, and divine, we ought to believe that the Holy Spirit in a manner known only to God offers to every man the possibility of being associated with this paschal mystery. (22)
I would encourage the reader to compare the two writings and come to your own conclusion.