Is the Catholic Churchthe “One True Church”?

Catholic Apologetics: “Yes!”

Scriptural WitnessJesus founded only one Church

○ “And on this rock I will build my Church…” (Mt 16)○ Prayer “that they may all be one” (Jn 17)

Historical ContinuityCatholic Church still one and the same Church,

founded by Jesus Witness of Early Church Fathers

«…Our one mother, the Catholic Church, gives birth to all the faithful Christians dispersed throughout the world».

--St. Augustine (354-430)

Objections to this View

Arrogant and judgmental?

Objections to this View

Goes against Vatican II?

Vatican II on Church Membership

Not so simple as an all-or-nothing“Elements of sanctification and truth” in

these other Christian communities (Lumen Gentium, n. 8)

Varying degrees of communion In other words, outside of the Catholic

Church is not an “ecclesiological vacuum”

The Underlying Question

What is “the Catholic Church”?

Underlying Question #2

What is “the One True Church”?

Catholicity / Universality

1) One Church extended universally to all places

2) One Church extended universally to all times

3) Holding to the one “catholic” faith (that is, the “correct” faith)

4) The one Church of Christ fully present and active in each particular Church

5) Already in communion with the Heavenly Church

1) Extended to All Places

In ScriptureTaking the Gospel to the ends of the earth

○ “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations…” (Mt 28:18)

○ "Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature” (Mk 16:15)

○ (Image of sowing)A universal gathering of all the nations for the

Last Judgment○ Sheep and Goats (Mt 25)○ Wheat and Chaff (Mt 3)○ “The harvest is great…” (Mt 9)

1) Extended to All Places

In Early Christian WritingsThe Didache (1st or 2nd Century)The Martyrdom of Polycarp (2nd Century)The Shepherd of Hermas (1st or 2nd Century)

Against Early Heretical GroupsContrasting these limited sects with the

“Catholic” Church spread throughout the world○ Clement of Alexandria, Irenaeus, Augustine, etc.

A theme that is present through the ages

2) Extended to All Times

The “Pre-Existence” of the ChurchBased on Ephesians and ColossiansA common theme in early Church Fathers

Ecclesia ab Abel (St. Augustine)The “Universal Church” includes all the true

followers of Christ who ever have lived or ever will live○ From “Abel the just one” all the way to “the

last of the elect”

3) Catholicity as Correct Faith

Using the adjective “catholic” to contrast the true faith with false ideasClement / Irenaeus against the GnosticsPope Leo the GreatSt. Maximus the ConfessorSt. Thomas AquinasVarious Ecumenical Councils

4) A “Catholic” Presence of the Whole Church in the “Parts”

In Scripture“The Church of God” present at Corinth,

Galatia, etc (1 Cor 1:2; 2 Cor 1:1; Gal 1:13) Early Church Fathers

“The Church of God sojourning at Rome to the Church of God in sojourn at Corinth” (Clement of Rome – 1st Century)

Church unity centered around the bishop○ Ignatius of Antioch, Irenaeus, Cyprian

Vatican II on “Whole” and “Parts” (LG 13)

Lumen Gentium n. 13

“In virtue of this catholicity each individual part contributes through its special gifts to the good of the other parts and of the whole Church. Through the common sharing of gifts and through the common effort to attain fullness in unity, the whole and each of the parts receive increase.”

5) “Universal Church” includes the Heavenly Church

In Scripture“The Jerusalem above who is our mother”

(Gal 4:26)“Our citizenship is in heaven” (Phil 3:20)“You have come to Mount Zion, the city of

the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem…” (Heb 12:22)

The “Pre-Existence” of the Church The Church is “already but not yet” the

Kingdom

“Already” the Kingdom…

St. Augustine (354-430)“The Church even now is the Kingdom of Christ and the

Kingdom of Heaven”“The Church, which is now a pilgrim, is joined to that

heavenly Church, where we have the angels as fellow citizens”

St. Gregory the Great (540-604)“The Kingdom of Heaven is the Church of those who are

just, for when their hearts center upon nothing earthly, but sigh after the things that are above, the Lord already reigns in them in an almost heavenly way”

“The present Church is frequently called the Kingdom of heaven in the holy Gospel”

…But Not Yet

(St. Augustine & St. Bede)

…But Not Yet Contrast the Tabernacle in the desert with the

Temple in Jerusalem (St. Augustine & St. Bede):The present Church is like the tent in the desert

○ Stretched daily by her labors○ On a long journey○ Much fighting

The heavenly Church is like the Temple○ Perfect peace○ Rest from labors

[But it’s the same divine presence in the same Church]

…But Not Yet

St. Gregory the Great

…But Not YetThe Church as “The Dawn” (St. Gregory, reflecting on Song of Songs)

“The holy Church, striving for the rewards of heavenly life, is called ‘the dawn,’ for as she leaves behind the darkness of sin, she shines forth with the light of righteousness. But while we live, it is dawn, not perfect day […] For dawn or daybreak indeed announces that the night has passed, but does not manifest the full splendor of the day. Rather, as it dispels the former and takes on the latter, it holds a light that is mixed with darkness […] It is still the dawn, for as long as the law of the flesh clashes with the law of the spirit, and the law of the spirit with the law of the flesh, light and darkness will blend together. Thus when Paul says, ‘The night is far gone’ (Rom 13:12), he does not add, ‘the day has arrived,’ but rather, ‘the day is near’ […] The day shall arrive when no darkness of sin triumphs. Then the Church of the elect will be fully day, when no shadow of sin is mixed with her.”

To Sum up…

“Catholic” suggests a Church:1) Extended universally to all places

2) Extended universally to all times

3) Holding to the correct faith

4) fully present and active in each authentic local Church

5) In an “already but not yet” communion with the Heavenly Church

Question

How to understand all of these dimensions

together?

The Church as the “Whole Christ”

Christ and the Church as one mystical person

In Scripture Christ the Head, we the Members (Ephesians) Christ the Vine, we the Branches (John 15)

In the Eastern Fathers “That which is not taken up cannot be saved” (St. Gregory Nazianzen)

○ Christ fully took up our humanity○ All of humanity (and all of creation) now being taken up into Christ’s risen

flesh “Just as the body and head are one man, so also are the Church and

Christ called one” (St. John Chrysostom) We are “con-corporeal” with Christ and with each other in the Eucharist

(St. Cyril of Alexandria) St. Augustine

St. Augustine

“The body of this head is the Church, not that which is in this place, but that which is both in this place and throughout the whole world, and not only that of this time, but from Abel himself to those who will be born and will believe in Christ – all the way to the end of time: the whole people of the saints belonging to one city. This city is the body of Christ, whose head is Christ.”

St. Augustine

“His body is the Church, not this or that Church, but the one that is dispersed throughout the world, not [only] that which exists now in the men of the present life, but includes also those members who existed before us and those who will exist after us all the way to the end of the world. For the whole Church, made up of all the faithful (for all the faithful are members of Christ), has in heaven that head placed over her that governs his body; though separated in vision, she is joined in charity.”

The Church as the “Whole Christ”

Christ and the Church as one mystical person

“The Whole Christ”

An understanding of the Church that unites all the dimensions of catholicity:

The present worldwide ChurchUnited under the one Head with all those who

ever have lived or will liveIncluding the Saints already in HeavenThis whole Christ is wholly present in each

authentic local Church, especially in the Eucharist

“catholic” faith shared by all these members○ (more on than point later)

Question

Is this “whole Christ” a visible body or a mystical

reality?

Vatican II- It’s both!

“Christ, the one Mediator, established and continually sustains here on earth His holy Church, the community of faith, hope and charity, as an entity with visible delineation through which He communicated truth and grace to all. But, the society structured with hierarchical organs and the Mystical Body of Christ, are not to be considered as two realities, nor are the visible assembly and the spiritual community, nor the earthly Church and the Church enriched with heavenly things; rather they form one complex reality which coalesces from a divine and a human element” (Lumen Gentium, n. 8).

A Visible Church Jesus left behind a visible Church

Governed by the ApostlesWith Peter presiding in a special wayA 3-fold ministry

○ Preaching○ Sanctifying○ Shepherding

Apostolic SuccessionThis visible Church structure did not die with

Peter and the Apostles, but continued through the ages

But Still a Transcendent Mystery

“We are the Church”?True to an extent, but the Church is so much

more than just us Constant call to conversion and renewal

The Mystery of the Whole Christ “looms over us” (Henri de Lubac)

As individual disciples and as a Church, we must constantly be renewed in holiness and strive to be conformed to Christ

Underlying Question #2

What is “the One True Church”?

Lumen Gentium n. 2 Describes the One Church of Christ

Planned, foreknown, and predestined (but hidden) by the Father for all eternity

Foreshadowed in the Old TestamentEstablished in the Present AgeManifested at PentecostTo be gloriously perfected at the end of time,

“when, as is read in the Fathers, all the just, from Adam and from Abel the just one, to the last of the elect,’ will be gathered together with the Father in the universal Church”

Observation

Two seemingly different senses of “universal Church”1) The “one true Church” in God’s plan (as in

the quote we just saw) – all things definitively gathered into one in Christ.

2) The present Church spread throughout the world (the more common use of the term)

One Reality: The “Whole Christ”

If the Church is indeed “the whole Christ” these two senses are relatedThe present worldwide Catholic Church is

“already but not yet” the Whole Christ, the one perfect Heavenly Church.

Not two separate realities, but one mystical body, “one complex reality” (Lumen Gentium n. 8)

One in and through the Eucharist

Eucharist as “Source and Goal of the whole Christian life” (LG 11)

Each time we celebrate the Eucharist, we perpetually “become who we are”By receiving the Body of Christ, we are ever

renewed as the Body of Christ… The Eucharist as “the beating heart of

the Church” (Fr. Paul McPartlan)

Back to the Original Question

Is the Catholic Church the “One True Church”?

A: Yes, properly understood…

More from Lumen Gentium n. 8

“This is the one Church of Christ which in the Creed is professed as one, holy, catholic and apostolic, which our Savior, after His Resurrection, commissioned Peter to shepherd, and him and the other apostles to extend and direct with authority, which He erected for all ages as "the pillar and mainstay of the truth." This Church constituted and organized in the world as a society, subsists in the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the Bishops in communion with him, although many elements of sanctification and of truth are found outside of its visible structure”

“Subsists in”

Pope Pius XII in Mystici Corporis (1943)“The true Church of Christ – which is [est]

the holy, catholic, apostolic, and Roman Church…”

Lumen Gentium (1964) – how the phrase “subsists in” developed…

est adest subsistit in

Recent Debate Side A: Vatican II rejected Pius XII in favor of

being more inclusive of the “elements of sanctification and truth” in other Christian bodies

Side B: Pius XII and Vatican II teach exactly the same thing“Clearly, therefore, for Lumen Gentium n. 8, the one

Church of Christ is none other than the Catholic Church and it is only within this context that the term subsistit can be interpreted” (Karl Becker)

2007 Statement by CDF

Vatican II did not change Pius XII’s teaching, but merely developed it and explained it more deeply

Meaning of “Subsists in”:Established by Christ as the one and only ChurchVisible and uninterrupted historical existenceGuaranteed to persist to the end of time

Chosen to replace “est”In order to emphasize the “elements of truth and

sanctification” found in other Christian bodiesThese elements allow the one Church of Christ to be

present and active in them at least to some degreeBut “subsists in” applies only to the Catholic Church,

which still IS the one Church founded by Christ

A Careful Balancing Act

BUT…

Still the “not yet”

described by the Fathers (conversion

always needed)

The Catholic Church “is”

the one Mystical Body of Christ

A Careful Balancing Act

BUT…

That one Church can

still be present and

active in other ecclesial

communities

Only the Catholic

Church can claim to be the one Church of

Christ

Necessary for Salvation?

“He cannot have God as a Father who does not have the Church as a mother”

--St. Cyprian (d. 258)

Q: Can those who refuse to be in full communion with the Catholic Church still be saved?

To Be Continued…

Questions?

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