I believe there is a nice xplanation in the Catechism of the
Church. If they do not intentionally reject the Catholic Church,
they will be judged on their merit of thier works.
Catechism of the CC
"Outside the Church there is no
salvation"
846 How are we to understand this affirmation, often repeated by
the Church Fathers?335 Re-formulated positively, it means that all
salvation comes from Christ the Head through the Church which is
his Body:
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.336
847 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.337
848 "Although in ways known to himself God can lead those who,
through no fault of their own, are ignorant of the Gospel, to that
faith without which it is impossible to please him, the Church
still has the obligation and also the sacred right to evangelize
all men."
