According to Catholicism can you be saved without being baptised?

Question

Is faith through Jesus Christ without baptism enough for salvation? According to the bible, “without faith, it is hard to please God”. If someone at a young age whose been baptised didn’t have faith when they reach maturity, would this cancel out the grace of salvation through baptism? Would this also be the same for those who have faith but without baptism?

Answer 1

Is faith through Jesus Christ without baptism enough for salvation?

Regarding baptism of desire, let the Catechism of the Catholic Church speak for itself:

1259 For catechumens who die before their Baptism, their explicit desire to receive it, together with repentance for their sins, and charity, assures them the salvation that they were not able to receive through the sacrament.

1263 By Baptism all sins are forgiven, original sin and all personal sins, as well as all punishment for sin.65 In those who have been reborn nothing remains that would impede their entry into the Kingdom of God, neither Adam's sin, nor personal sin, nor the consequences of sin, the gravest of which is separation from God.

1265 Baptism not only purifies from all sins, but also makes the neophyte "a new creature," an adopted son of God, who has become a "partaker of the divine nature,"68 member of Christ and coheir with him, and a temple of the Holy Spirit.

Thus infant who are baptized have been free from original sin and have become a new creature in the eyes of the Church and of God.

Babies that die after baptism are in heaven and their salvation in not in question:

1279 The fruit of Baptism, or baptismal grace, is a rich reality that includes forgiveness of original sin and all personal sins, birth into the new life by which man becomes an adoptive son of the Father, a member of Christ and a temple of the Holy Spirit. By this very fact the person baptized is incorporated into the Church, the Body of Christ, and made a sharer in the priesthood of Christ.

1280 Baptism imprints on the soul an indelible spiritual sign, the character, which consecrates the baptized person for Christian worship. Because of the character Baptism cannot be repeated (cf. DS 1609 and DS 1624).

1281 Those who die for the faith, those who are catechumens, and all those who, without knowing of the Church but acting under the inspiration of grace, seek God sincerely and strive to fulfill his will, are saved even if they have not been baptized (cf. LG 16).

1282 Since the earliest times, Baptism has been administered to children, for it is a grace and a gift of God that does not presuppose any human merit; children are baptized in the faith of the Church. Entry into Christian life gives access to true freedom.

1283 With respect to children who have died without Baptism, the liturgy of the Church invites us to trust in God's mercy and to pray for their salvation.

1284 In case of necessity, any person can baptize provided that he have the intention of doing that which the Church does and provided that he pours water on the candidate's head while saying: "I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."

Answer 2

Baptism is necessary for salvation.

Scriptural teaching that baptism is, for salvation, a

necessity of means

John 3:5:

Jesus answered: Amen, amen I say to thee, unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

Mk. 16:16:

He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved: but he that believeth not shall be condemned.

necessity of precept

Mt. 28:19:

Going therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

Magisterial teaching

The Council of Trent defined this de fide dogma of the necessity of baptism in its session 7 canon 5:

If anyone shall say that baptism is optional, that is, not necessary for salvation: let him be anathema.
_{Si quis dixerit, baptismum liberum esse, hoc est non necessarium ad salutem, A.S.}

The types of baptism

1. Water baptism
2. Baptism of desire
3. Baptism of blood

Answer 3

According to Catholicism can one be saved without being water baptized? The Catholic Catechism says,

Baptism is birth into new life in Christ. In accordance with the Lord's will, it is necessary for salvation. As is the Church herself which we enter by baptism.

CCC 1277

The Apostle Paul makes known the gospel under the influence of the Holy Spirit and the Lord's will the following at:

Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures

1 Corinthians 15:1-4

Since this is the gospel of Jesus Christ whereby one is saved, how is it that water baptism is not mentioned? The catechism (#1277) clearly states it's the Lord's will that water baptism is necessary for salvation.