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84 • Part I. The Creed: The Faith Professed
JESUS IS THE SAVIOR OF ALL
There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there
any other name under heaven given to the human race
by which we are to be saved.
—Acts 4:12
At the beginning of the third millennium, the world celebrated global
awareness and the diversity of cultures. The revolution in communica-
tions, transportation, and computer technologies is making us all aware
of peoples and diversity in ways seldom experienced so directly in times
past. The United States itself is a primary case study in continuing cul-
tural diversity, especially witnessing the arrival of large numbers of
Hispanics and Asians.
Amid the excitement generated by global awareness, it is helpful to
point out that God’s plan to save the world has been global from the
very start. Christ’s final words to his Apostles precisely present a global
scale to their mission: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations”
(Mt 28:19).
The energetic missionaries of the Church have brought the Good
News of Jesus Christ to every part of the world. Time after time the
Church has incarnated the Gospel in yet another new and fascinating
culture. If anyone is an expert in cultural pluralism, it is the Church,
whose Gospel outreach has evangelized ancient Judea, Greece and
Rome, Egypt and North Africa, the tribal communities that flowed into
northern Europe, the Medieval and Renaissance worlds, the far-flung
lands of Asia, and the new fields opened up by the discovery of America.
In recent times, the Church’s revitalized mission to Africa and Asia is yet
another chapter in her proclamation of Christ to the world.
While we correctly celebrate the rich variety of cultures, we also
are reminded that unity and harmony in Christ constitute the greatest
value and hope for the human community. There should be no clash
of cultures or civilizations, but rather the growth of universal respect
for everyone’s human dignity. We search for unity as we honor ethnic
and cultural diversity. This is a unity that reflects the unity of the Holy