Part Two:
On the Visible Marks of the True Church of Christ

In the words of St. Paul, there is but "one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of all." (Eph. 4:5-6) so there is but one Church established by Christ.

Christ said: "Upon this rock I will build my Church"Cnot Churches. (Matt.16:18). "There shall be one Fold and one Shepherd." (John 10:16). And the Apostles call the Church the "Body of Christ" (1 Cor. 12:27, and elsewhere). Now, Christ has only one Body; therefore He has also established only one Church.

Yes; for Christ has established a visible Church with perceptible "marks", so that it is easy to find Her; otherwise He could not have commanded us, under pain of eternal damnation, to "apply to the Church", and to hear Her."

"Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but upon a candlestick, that it may shine to all that are in the house." (Matt. 5:15) "If thy brother shall offend against thee, go and tell the Church; and if he will not hear the Church, let him be to thee as the heathen and publican." (Matt. 18:17)

A mark is a given and known sign by which a thing can be distinguished from all others of its kind. Thus, a trademark is used to distinguish an object bearing it from all mere imitations of the genuine article.

The Church of Christ is visible: 1. In Her Superiors and members; 2. In Her doctrine; and 3. In the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and in the administration of the seven Sacraments.

If the Church were not visible in this manner, how would it then be possible, according to the direction of Christ and the Apostles (Heb. 13:17; Mark 16:15-16; and elsewhere), to "obey the Prelates" (Bishops and Priests) of the Church, to hear Her Teachers, to participate in Her Sacrifice and Sacraments, or, in general, in Her Divine Service?

The TRUE Church of Christ may be known by these four marks; 1. She is One; 2. She is Holy; 3. She is Catholic; and 4. She is Apostolic.

As early as 325 a.d. it was pronounced in the Nicene Creed: "I believe in One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church."

She must be, 1. ONE, because no Kingdom can stand "that is divided against itself." (Luke 11:17); 2. HOLY, because Her Founder is holy, and Her purpose is to lead all men to a life of holiness; 3. CATHOLIC, or Universal, because She has been established, according to the promise of Christ and of the Prophets, for ALL nations and for ALL times (Matt. 28:19), teaching ALL truth; and 4. APOSTOLIC, because Her origin and Her doctrine are Apostolic (Eph. 2:20), and Her Rulers must be lawful Successors of the Apostles (true Catholic Bishops).

It is evident that no Church has these four marks except the Roman Catholic Church, namely, that Church which acknowledges the true Successor of St. Peter as Her Head, who established his See in Rome, and there shed his blood for Christ.

The Roman Catholic Church is manifestly ONE because She has at all times and in all places, 1. One and the same Faith; 2: One and the same Sacrifice and Sacraments; and 3. One common Head, who takes the place of Christ.

"One Lord (authority), one Faith (doctrine or belief), one Baptism (Sacraments and worship)." (Eph. 4:5-6)

The Catholic Church is manifestly Holy, 1. Because Her Founder is holy, and She teaches a holy doctrine; 2. Because She faithfully preserves and dispenses all the means of sanctification instituted by Christ; and 3. Because there have been in Her, at all times, Saints, whose holiness God has also confirmed by miracles and extraordinary graces.

1. She is obviously Catholic because She has, since the time of Christ, spread over the entire world and to all nations; 2. Because She has continually existed from the time of Christ with the same Teaching, the same Priestly, and Pastoral Office as at the present time; and 3. Because She is consistently teaches ALL the doctrines that Christ commanded His Apostles to teach; "Go ye into the whole world, and preach to the Gospel to every creature." (Mark 16:5)

The Catholic Church is manifestly Apostolic; 1. Because Her origin is unquestionably traced back to Her foundation by Christ upon the Twelve Apostles (Apostolic Succession, which is possessed by no other church); 2. Because Her doctrine is grounded on the teaching of the ApostlesCApostolic Tradition; and 3. Because She is always governed by Rulers who are lawful successors of the ApostlesCthe Pope and the Bishops.

Apostolicity can be easily proven by historical facts. If a church cannot trace back its history in a lawful and unbroken line, step by step, to the Apostles, it is not the True Church of Christ.

No, these falsely Christian bodies are not, nor can they ever be one, 1. Because they have no common Head; and 2. Because every one of their members has a right to interpret and believe the Holy Scriptures as he likes.

Therefore, "they are children tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine." (Eph. 4:14) There have been literally thousands of these so-called "Christian" sects, each claiming to be the true church of Christ.

They can never be called holy: 1. Because their founders were not holy; 2. Because they have rejected many articles of the true Faith and the only valid means of sanctification, such as the holy Sacrifice of the Mass and most of the Sacraments; and they have, on the contrary, established principles which are directly opposed to sanctity (e.g., the pernicious doctrine of justification by faith alone, which denies the necessity of good works); and 3. Because they cannot produce from among themselves so much as even one Saint, confirmed as such by his miraculous power.

Martin Luther, one of the chief instigators of Protestantism, was a fallen-away Catholic priest who broke his vows and "married" an ex-nun. He ridiculed the Ten Commandments as the "ten suggestions" which no man could possibly keep. King Henry VIII of England, enraged because the Pope would not (and could not) grant him a divorce, seized the Church in England, thus establishing the Anglican church. After successively having eight wives, some of whom he executed, he died of venereal disease.

"The Spouse of Christ cannot be defiled; She is incorrupt and chaste; She knows only one home. It is She who rescues us for God, She who seals for the Kingdom the sons She has borne. Whoever is separated from the Church is joined to an adulterous union and cut off from the promises made to the Church. He who has abandoned the Church of Christ shall not come to the rewards of Christ: he is a stranger, a worldling, an enemy. He cannot have God for his Father who does not have the Church for his Mother. If there was escape for anyone who was outside the Ark of Noah, then there is for one found to be outside the Church. Our Lord warns us when He says: "He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who gathers not with Me, scatters" (Luke 11:23) Whoever breaks the peace and harmony of Christ acts against Christ; whoever gathers elsewhere than in the Church, scatters the Church of Christ. He who does not keep this Unity does not keep the law of God, does not hold the Faith, and does not save his soul. This holy mystery of one-ness, this unbreakable bond of close-knit harmony, it portrayed in the Gospel by the cloak of Our Lord Jesus Christ which was not divided. That man cannot possess the garment of Christ who rends and divides the Church of Christ. Can anyone, then, be so wicked and faithless, so insane with the madness of discord, as to believe it possible that the one-ness of God, the garment of the Lord, the Church of Christ, should be divided, or dare to divide it himself? Do you think a man can hold his own, or survive, when he leaves the Church and sets up a new place and a separate home for himself? How can a Christian breast harbor the fierceness of wolves and the madness of dogs and deadly venom of serpents and bloodlust of wild beasts? It is a blessing when such men break away from the Church!" (St. Cyprian, 4th century)

None of these non-Catholic religious societies can be called Catholic because they have not existed from the time of Christ, rising only in later years, especially in the sixteenth century; and since then have not ceased to split again into numerous sects, none of which has universally spread or is spreading to all nations in the manner ordained by Christ. Furthermore, these pernicious sects obviously fail to teach ALL the doctrines that Christ commanded His Apostles to teach, since they have rejected the body of infallible doctrine which the Catholic Church has received from the Apostles.

These false Christian sects have a particular repugnance for DIVINE TRADITION, or those Divinely revealed truths which the Apostles preached, but did not commit to writing. (Tradition is contained chiefly in the decrees of the Popes and Bishops, the writings of the Fathers of the Church, and in the words and usages of the Sacred Liturgy.) "Brethren, stand firm: and hold the teachings that you have learned, whether by word or by letter of ours." (2 Thess. 2:15)

None of these sects can be called Apostolic, 1. Because they did not come into existence till long after the time of the Apostles, and then by separating themselves from the original Apostolic Church; 2. Because a doctrine ever wavering and changing, as theirs does, certainly cannot be Apostolic; and 3. Because they have no lawful successors of the Apostles, and, therefore, neither Teachers nor Pastors sent by Christ.

The following passage from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans bears distinct testimony not only to the necessity of divinely commissioned Teachers, but also to the error of those who attempt to preach "without being sent." He specifically maintains that "Faith depends upon hearing," which is precisely the doctrine of the Catholic Church. The Apostle also declares that the preaching of the Gospel has indeed gone forth "into all the earth," but "all did not obey" the word of Christ, i.e., by rejecting His Church, they have rejected His teachings.

It follows that the Roman Catholic Church alone is the true Church established by Jesus Christ.

Catholic Living Application. Pray frequently for the liberty, peace, and exaltation of our Holy Mother, the Catholic Church, and for the conversion of all those who are separated from the One True Fold of Christ.

Part Three:

The Purpose of the Church
And the Attributes Necessary for its Fulfillment

Christ established the Church, that by Her, He might lead all men to eternal salvation.

She must, 1. Teach the true doctrine of Christ to them; 3. To administer to them the means of grace instituted by Christ; and 3. To guide and govern them in the way to eternal life. (To teach, to sanctify, and to govern.)

1. He has entrusted the Church with His doctrine, His means of grace, and His powers, by conferring upon Her His Teaching, His Priestly, and His Pastoral Office; and 2. He has given her the help of the Holy Ghost, in order that She might always keep the Divine doctrine pure, rightly administer the means of grace, and exercise Her powers for the salvation of mankind. (see lesson 11, q.11.8-9)

What chief "Attributes" were given by Christ to His Church in order that She might fulfil Her purpose in teaching, sanctifying, and governing the souls of men, and thus lead them to eternal salvation?

The chief attributes of given by Christ to His Church that she might fulfil Her purpose are: 1. Authority, 2. Infallibility, 3. Indefectibility, and 4. Necessity.

These four attributes enable the Church to fulfill Her purpose by, 1. Authorizing Her to teach and govern in the Name of God ; 2. To be preserved by Him from all error; 3. To subsist until the end of time; and 4. To be the exclusive means of salvation for all men. (See following part on "No salvation outside the Church.")

No, because the attributes necessarily come with the marks, and without them the marks could not exist.

By the Authority of the Church is meant the right and power of the Pope and Bishops, as the Successors of the Apostles, have to teach, to govern and to sanctify the souls of men. (see les. 11, q. 8-20)

Christ, Who is God, gave His Church full authority and power when He said, "As the Father hath sent Me, I also send you." (John 20:21) (also Matt. 28:18)

No, the Authority of the Church is not restricted to matters of doctrine and belief; She may also command whatever She deems necessary for the good of the Church and its members. "Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound also in Heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed also in Heaven." (Matt. 18:18)

The Church exercises Her authority to teach, to govern and to sanctify by various means, among them being: 1. TEACHING by Sermons, catechetical conferences, and religious education in the churches and schools, also by preaching, deciding controversies, and by condemning heresies; 2. SANCTIFYING by the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, by the Sacraments, by public devotions and processions, and by Her many blessings; 3. GOVERNING by the commandments of the Church, by other laws and directives as the need arises, and by the general control and direction by the Pope and Bishops of the Flock of Christ.

The Divine doctrine is preserved pure and uncorrupted in the Catholic Church by the Infallible Teaching Body of the Church.

The Infallible Teaching Body of the Church is composed of the Pope, and the Bishops united with him.

They are also called the Teaching Church, the Church's Magisterium, or simply the Church (Matt. 18:17), to distinguish them from the rest the faithful, who are called the Hearing Church (those who are taught). They are called the "faithful" to signify their fidelity to Christ through their acceptance of the infallible authority He has placed over them.

The Magisterium of the Church is called infallible because, by the assistance of the Holy Ghost, She is protected from ever erring both in matters of faith and of morals. "And I will ask the Father and He will give you another Advocate to dwell with you forever, the Spirit of truth.... But the Advocate, the Holy Ghost, Whom the Father will send in My Name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your mind whatever I have said unto you." (John 14:16, 26)

Faith refers to the Christian teaching on what men must believe in order to be saved.
Morals refers to the Christian teaching on what men must do in order to be saved.

Christ Himself assures us that His Church cannot err, when He promises us, 1. That 'He will be with Her all days, even to the consummation of the world (Matt. 28:20); 2. That 'the Spirit of Truth shall abide with Her for ever.' (John 14:16-17) and 3. That the gates of Hell shall not prevail against Her.'

St. Paul calls the Church "Pillar and ground of the truth." (1 Tim. 3:15)

Yes; but this happened only because they separated themselves from the Universal Magisterium of the Church, for Infallibility is not granted to each one as an independent teacher, but as a member of that Infallible Teaching Body of the Church which is composed of the Pope, and the Bishops in union with Him. (The only exception to this rule is the Pope, as Successor of St. Peter, the Rock upon which the Church was founded by Christ; see below.)

We must adhere without question to the decisions of the Church.

"And He gave some Apostles... and other some Pastors and Doctors,... that henceforth we be no more children tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the wickedness of men, by cunning craftiness, by which they lie in wait to deceive." (Eph. 4:11,14)

The infallible decisions for the universal Church are given by the Supreme Head of the ChurchCthe PopeCor by a Council of Bishops confirmed by the Pope.

Yes, whenever the Pope, as Head and Teacher of whole Church, decides or teaches in matters of faith and morals, his decision must be accepted as the very word of Christ.

Yes; the General Council of the Vatican, in 1870, defined as a solemn dogma that the Pope is infallible when he teaches the Church ex cathedra on a matter of faith and morals.

No, the Church's definition was but a solemn declaration in precise words of a doctrine which has always been held and acted on from the beginning of the Church.

Papal Infallibility was solemnly defined in 1870 because, in this very age, in which the salutary efficacy of the Apostolic Office is most of all required, not a few are found to take away from its authority, and it was altogether necessary to solemnly assert the prerogative which the Only-begotten Son of God vouchsafed to join with the Supreme Pastoral Office. (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church of Christ--"Pastor Æternus", General Council of the Vatican, 1970)

No, the Pope is a child of Adam, and, like other men, can have faults and can commit sin. Infallibility refers not to his life and conduct, but to his official teaching of doctrine. In such teaching he cannot fall into error.

Impeccability means that one is without sin, but this is not what infallibility implies. Infallibility does not prevent the Pope or the Bishops from sinning, but from teaching falsehood. They do not, however, lose their infallible teaching authority when they do sin. If they did, the Church would have ceased to exist long ago, as there no man is free of all sin.

The words of the Pope are always infallible when he teaches ex cathedra. If he is not speaking ex cathedra as Pope, he is not then speaking infallibly, but the words of the Pope are always to be received with utmost respect, due to his high authority.

The Pope, speaks ex cathedra when, in the exercise of His office as Head of the Church, and Chief Pastor and Teacher of all Christians, He declares what is to be held by the Universal (Catholic) Church as the true doctrine on any matter of faith or morals.

No, the Pope is infallible both in his solemn pronouncements and in the ordinary exercise of his teaching authority.

Therefore, a valid Pope is always speaking ex cathedra when he speaks to and teaches the Catholic Church on faith and morals, whether he is speaking solemnly, as when he promulgates a solemn dogma, or by his ordinary teaching authority in Encyclicals, Apostolic Letters, and Allocutions. For example, Pope Pius IX condemned the principal errors of his time by Encyclicals, Apostolic Letters, and Allocutions, which were collected and printed in the "Syllabus of Errors".

The chief contemporary opponents of Papal Infallibility are the Americanists and Modernists, who attack the Apostolic Office by striving to "take away from its authority" in a spirit of pride and disobedience, rashly setting themselves up to determine when and to what extent they shall accept the infallible pronouncements of the true Popes.

The Pope is protected from ever teaching error because God will not allow him to do so. Infallibility does not depend on the virtue or the learning of the Pope, but on the special assistance of the Holy Ghost, given him according to the promise of Christ, who said to St. Peter: "I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not. And thou, being once converted, confirm thy brethren." (Luke 22:32)

Yes, precisely. The Pope is the Supreme Pastor and Teacher, whose Voice all the faithful, clergy and laity, "lambs and sheep," are commanded by Christ to hear and to follow. If he could teach error ex cathedra, the Church would then follow him into error, and would thereby fail; and so the promises of Christ would be falsified, which is impossible. Moreover, the Pope possesses a personal "indefectibility" in his infallibility, which means that his teaching can never fail. (See following questions on the attribute of indefectibility.)

"And I say to thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this Rock I will build My Church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it..." (Matt. 16)

Because, from the beginning, whoever obstinately refused to accept and believe a doctrine of the Catholic Faith, when so declared ex cathedra by the Pope, was always cut off from the communion of the Church, and condemned as a heretic.

The Church teaches infallibly through the Pope and the Bishops when convened in a General (or Æcumenical) Council. There have been 20 such councils in the history of the Church, the last being the General Council of the Vatican (1870), preceded by the General Council of Trent (1563).

All true Catholic Bishops in union with the Pope, as Successors of the Apostles and the Divinely Appointed Teaching Authority of Christ's Church, are infallible in teaching and applying the Deposit of Faith to their flocks, in union with the universal Magisterium of the Church. This is part of the ordinary universal teaching of the Catholic Church, which Christ promised to keep free from error.

The Church decides according to the sense of Holy Scripture and Divine Tradition. (See previous lesson on Divine Revelation)

The Church teaches no new doctrines; She only explains the Word of God entrusted to Her in Holy Scripture and in Divine Tradition; and she condemns all contrary errors and innovations. "For the Holy Ghost was not promised to the Successors of Peter, that by His revelation they might make known new doctrine, but that by His assistance they might inviolably keep and faithfully expound the Revelation or Deposit of Faith delivered through the Apostles." (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church of Christ, chap. 4, General Council of the Vatican, 1970)

By the Indefectibility of the Church is meant that the Church, as Christ established it, will last until the end of time.

We know this because Christ sent the Holy Ghost to abide with Her until the end of time, and because He promised to be with Her, even unto the consummation of the world.

These attributes are found in their fullness in the Pope, whose infallible authority to teach Bishops, Priests, and people in matters of faith and morals will last until the end of the world. Moreover, a validly reigning Pope (until his own death or voluntary resignation) is indefectible in His infallible teaching Office, that is, he will never err in teaching the universal Church in matters of faith and morals.

If an individual Pope were "defectible" in his teaching Office and could "fall away", the promise of Christ to Peter would be void, the Papacy would be meaningless, and the Church would be without a firm foundation in the Faith, since there would be no final, visible, and permanently infallible Teacher. This permanent Divine protection accorded to the infallible teaching of individual Popes is denied today by many of the false traditionalist sects, which erroneously hold that a true Pope can be automatically removed from Office by his "public defection from the Catholic Faith", or that a Pope who is a "manifest heretic" ceases to be pope automatically. Neither of these preposterous instances can ever occur, and such opinions and rash speculations were formally condemned by the solemn decree of the Vatican Council, Pastor Æternus. Those who yet cling to these condemned errors are heretics.

The false popes of the Vatican II sect could not ever have been Popes, since their official teaching contradicts the infallible teaching of previous Popes, thereby manifesting an absence of the Divine protection accorded the teaching of the true Successors of St. Peter.

One true Pope does not contradict another true Pope in his teachings, ex cathedra, to the universal Church in matters of faith and morals. To assert that this is possible is to commit the unutterable blasphemy of accusing the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of Truth, of contradicting Himself.

None, for the Office of Papal Infallibility was conferred by Heaven upon Peter and His Successors in this Chair, precisely that the whole Flock of Christ might be kept away by them from the poisonous food of error and might be nourished with the pasture of heavenly doctrine; yet it is only through the grossest of ignorance of this permanently infallible Papal teaching that anyone could remain in communion with a sect so vehemently opposed to the teachings of the true Popes.

So great an ignorance of such fundamental doctrines of the Catholic Faith is necessarily culpable, especially since it implies a rejection of the solemn dogma of Papal Infallibility, through which a Catholic is bound to firmly adhere to the permanently infallible teachings of all true Popes through the centuries. Yet, many adherents of the Vatican II sect, having fallen prey to "Modernism", forcefully denounce the declarations of previous Popes as "outdated", or even worse, are so ignorant of their Catechism as to be unable to recognize any contradiction at all between the true Catholic Faith and the heresies of their sect. Such ignorance is justly attributed to an indifference and lukewarmness in one's love of God and the True Faith, and is therefore wholly blameworthy. The urgent warnings of the Mother of God at La Salette, Lourdes, Fatima, and Marienfried were directed at this reprehensible indifference, revealing that it was gravely offensive to God, and would result in a universal loss of faith by millions of Catholics.

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