Protestant
Do Catholics believe they are saved by works?
No — Catholics believe salvation is by grace from beginning to end, but that saving faith is a living faith that necessarily bears the fruit of works, as Scripture teaches faith without works is dead.
Catholic teaching
Justification is a free gift of God's grace received through faith, but that same grace transforms the believer so that charity and good works flow from it as its fruit, not as a separate wage-earning system alongside grace.
Biblical foundation
Paul insists we are saved by grace through faith, 'not because of works' (Eph 2:8-9), yet James teaches 'faith apart from works is dead' (Jas 2:26) and 'a person is justified by works and not by faith alone' (Jas 2:24) — both truths held together, not contradicted.
Scripture references
Historical evidence
The Council of Trent (1547) carefully affirmed that justification comes from grace alone while condemning both the idea of earning salvation apart from grace and the idea that good works are irrelevant, a balance consistent with the early Church's teaching.
The Church Fathers
“We are not justified by ourselves... but by faith, through which Almighty God has justified all men.”