“Extra ecclesiam nulla salus,” a Latin phrase implying a single, true faith, means “outside the church there is no salvation” and has been at the heart of religious ? and often civil ? strife from time immemorial.

It contributed to the Israelites? Egyptian bondage, Christ?s crucifixion, Islam?s conquest of Byzantium, Roger Williams? expulsion from Massachusetts in the 1600s, and even ? in a twist of usage ? Father Leonard Feeney, S.J.?s excommunication fromthe Catholic Church in 1949.