Catholic Faith Foundations. David Werning
“Roman” because it can obscure the universal nature of the Church. Jesus sent the apostles to the whole world (cf. Mt 28:19–20) so that every person might be offered the fruits of his salvation. That’s why the Church goes to every land and exists among every people. The Church is even willing to adopt local customs as long as they are good and complement the truth of the Gospel of Christ (cf. LG, 13).
The universality of the Church is enhanced by her presence in so many localities and by her existance within so many political systems across the globe. Every diocese, or local church, makes present the one Catholic Church in its particular place. For instance, just as Paul could write to the “church of God that is in Corinth” (1 Cor 1:2), a person today can write to the “church at Fort Wayne, Indiana,” or the “church at Paris.” There are also the Eastern-Rite churches, which bring the variety of their liturgical traditions to the Catholic Church. The fathers at Vatican II were very proud of this richness: the “variety of local churches with one common aspiration is splendid evidence of the catholicity of the undivided Church” (LG, 23).
Eastern-Rite Churches
Churches of the Eastern Rite form one of two parts of the Catholic Church. The other part is the Western or Latin-Rite Catholic Church, the mother church of which is in Rome presided over by the pope. The Eastern-Rite Churches have different liturgies, ecclesiastical disciplines, and spiritual heritage, but they all profess the same faith and submit themselves to the authority of the pope. The bishops of all the Churches, east and west, constitute the Apostolic College of Bishops. Many of the Eastern-Rite Churches have counterparts in the Orthodox tradition, which is not in union with Rome and in fact separated from Rome in 1054. Over the years, some of the Orthodox churches reunified with Rome. The Maronite Catholic Church never left communion with Rome. The Eastern Catholic churches have five traditions and twenty-one Churches.
Alexandrian Tradition
• Coptic Catholic Church
• Ethiopian Catholic Church
Antiochene Tradition
• Syro-Malankara Catholic Church
• Maronite Catholic Church
• Syrian Catholic Church
Armenian Tradition
• Armenian Catholic Church
Byzantine Tradition
• Albanian Church
• Belarussian Church
• Bulgarian Catholic Church
• Eparchy of Krizevci
• Greek Catholic Church
• Hungarian Catholic Church
• Italo-Albanian Catholic Church
• Melkite Greek Catholic Church
• Romanian Greek Catholic Church
• Russian Church
• Ruthenian Catholic Church
• Slovak Catholic Church
• Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
Chaldean Tradition
• Chaldean Catholic Church
• Syro-Malabar Catholic Church
The Orthodox and Catholic churches separated in 1054. With the decline of the Roman Empire, the patriarch of Constantinople thought that the authority over the whole Church should be transferred to his city. The bishop of Rome, however, argued that he was the successor of St. Peter, not Constantinople. In short, they excommunicated each other. Tensions continued so that today the chair of Peter is not recognized to have any authority over the Orthodox. There was also a major disagreement over the inclusion of the world “filioque” (“and the Son”) in the creed: the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. The Orthodox interpreted the Latin word as meaning a subordination of the Spirit. Today, both the Orthodox and the Catholic Church have been able to agree on the unity of the Trinity, taking nothing away from any of the divine Persons.
The Church Is Apostolic
Closely connected to the catholicity of the Church is her apostolic character. Here again one can find people who charge the Church with dissimulation, stating that whatever the Church calls her leaders, she cannot call them apostles. This is true in one sense: The Twelve Apostles chosen by Christ during his earthly ministry, and who received from Christ the great commission to spread the Gospel, are unique. However, the Twelve soon realized that Jesus’ promised return was not going to be as quick as they originally thought and, indeed, the Second Coming might happen after their deaths, so they returned to Jesus’ words in order to discern how they could fulfill the mission he gave them.
Jesus promised to be with the Church until the end of time through the Holy Spirit, whom the apostles received in a special way at Pentecost. Through prayer the apostles discerned that they were to choose successors to carry the Gospel to the end of time. These successors, who are called bishops today, are not the apostles and they do not claim to be so. What they do claim is to be in the line of apostolic succession that was initiated by the apostles through the laying on of hands. This line of succession is what binds the bishops to hand on the Faith they have received, to guard it and protect it, and to prohibit any innovations obnoxious to it.
Two Ways the Church Is Apostolic
1. Just as the Twelve were given their mission as a body with Peter as the leader, the bishops form a college with the pope as head. As the pope serves his brother bishops as a leader among equals, he shares with them the primary mission of preaching the Gospel of Christ.
2. The whole Church is apostolic in as much as both people and ministers are united in Christ and share in the same mission to make Christ and his kingdom known and available to all.
Conclusion
While other Christian churches celebrate some of the sacraments, revere Sacred Scripture, and have many holy people within their ranks, only the Catholic Church has all the elements Jesus intended:
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. These elements, as gifts belonging to the Church of Christ, are forces impelling toward catholic unity. (LG, 8)
This teaching, which distinguishes the Catholic Church from other churches, is important for two serious reasons: First, it grounds the teaching and practices of the Catholic Church in the authority of Christ. Second, it warns the Catholic Church never to take for granted her divine gifts, but to work tirelessly to share them with all.
The Salvation of All
Lumen Gentium teaches that the Lord wills that all be saved. The gift is there; people need to receive it. If there is a person who is invincibly ignorant of God’s existence and will — i.e., there is no culpability involved — then that person can be saved as long as he or she strives “to live a good life” according to God’s grace, which is bestowed upon all:
“Those also can attain to salvation who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, yet sincerely seek God and, moved by grace, strive by their deeds to do his will as it is known to them through the dictates of conscience. Nor does divine providence deny the help necessary for salvation to those who, without blame on their part, have not yet arrived at an explicit knowledge of God and with his grace