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The Marks of the Church (OSV Encyc. 1997)
When we say in the Creed that we believe the Church to be one, holy, catholic and apostolic, we are affirming fundamental features by which the Church founded by Christ can be recognized.
The Church is one. Oneness refers both to the "uniqueness" and the unity of the Church. The Church founded by Christ is necessarily unique, for he founded just one Church (it follows that the present multiplicity of christian churches is not according to the will of Christ). He also intended that his Church be one - united and undivided (cf. Jn 10:16) - as a reflection of his own unity with his Father. He especially prayed for this: Jn 17:21.
Unity is a proof and the fruit of love for Christ and of union with him, and passes through unity and communion with the Church and the Pope. It is a mark of the Church which especially needs to be loved, for all of us have an individualist spirit that tends towards separation from others and from the principles of unity or authority; "sin and the burden of its consequences constantly threaten the gift of unity. And so the Apostle has to exhort Christians to 'maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace'" (CCC 814).
Unity does not mean uniformity. In the Church, on the basis of true "communio", there has always been a great diversity of persons, classes, cultures, forms of worship; yet all within a fundamental unity of faith and heart (cf. Acts 4:32). The type of variety introduced by the Reformation involved a rejection of the norm of unity that Christ himself gave us: obedience to the guidance of the Magisterium and the hierarchy as expressing his will: "he who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me" (Lk 10:16). It left the individual Christian on his own, with the risk of following a direction that is not Christ's. It tended moreover to create a diversity ever more individualistic.
Unity has to be maintained not just in Faith, in the Truth and Charity of Christ, but also in government. Therefore the unity willed by Jesus is broken not just by heresy but also by schism. While all Catholics must be concerned to maintain ecclesial unity (cf. c. 209), this is a particular responsibility of bishops, along with the Pope. The Catechism insists that "the bishop's pastoral responsibility for his particular church" is closely connected with "the common solicitude of the episcopal college for the universal Church" (CCC 879). Ecclesial unity is powerfully fostered by periodic events such as the Synods of bishops, and perhaps even more so by the "ad limina" visits to the Pope and the Roman Curia which every bishop makes once every five years.
The Church is holy. As the continuation of the life and work of Jesus, the Church is endowed with the holiness of Christ himself. This holiness is not be sought first in men who, with their defects, can obscure but not destroy it, but in the institutions with which Christ himself endowed the Church. The holiness of the Church is to be found:
- in her belief and doctrine. So we speak of the Holy Bible, Holy Scripture; Sacred Tradition. The sacredness of Tradition helps one realize the special holiness which necessarily permeates the Magisterium, by which Christ guarantees Tradition and the new insights Tradition gradually incorporates into itself. So it is because of his office that the Pope (whatever his personal merits or example) is rightly called Holy Father; God ensures that his teaching is a source of holiness for those who follow it.
- in her worship and sacraments. The sacraments are holy and make people holy (independently of the worthiness of the minister; cf. CCC 1128). The Eucharistic Sacrifice, even if celebrated by a priest living deeply in sin, is still the Holy Mass, and brings us fruits of holinesss.
- in the government of the Church where, again despite human defects, a holy principle is at work. That is why it is called "hierarchy" (hieros-archos), which means sacred power.
- in her members. Throughout the centuries, the Church's life has been marked by outstanding personal holiness in so many of her members: the Saints, and especially Mary. Even those who have long lived in sin, if they die in God's grace show the power of the Redemption and bear witness to the holiness of the Church.
The Church is Catholic, which means universal. The embrace of the Church is as broad as that of God, taking in the whole world. The spirit and doctrine of Catholicism are open to all mankind. If freely accepted, they not only save individuals, but also raise, strengthen and purify cultures. So each grows in strength and identity, in oneness with Christ and in a variety that becomes mutually enriching.
Catholicity is intimately connected with unity. The Church would not be catholic, if she did not draw all into one. When we describe the Church as "Roman Catholic", this does not indicate a catholicity which is less than universal, but rather underlines the necessary reference point so as to remain universal. As the Pope is the Holy Father, so Rome, along with Jerusalem, remains the Holy City for a Catholic.
In order to be legitimate and enriching, variety or "inculturation" must draw its fundamental inspiration from the overall richness of Catholicism. It should also remain open to other local incarnations of the Gospel; otherwise these would be in danger of becoming branches separated from the vine. "In virtue of this catholicity each part contributes its own gifts to other parts and to the whole Church, so that the whole and each of the parts are strengthened by the common sharing of all things and by the common effort to attain to fullness in unity" (LG 13).
The Church is apostolic. "Built upon the foundation of the apostles" (Eph 2:20), who received the fullness of Revelation and of the means of salvation, the Church hands on the apostolic faith, evangelizing and sanctifying with the doctrine and authority of Christ. The bishops are the successors of the Apostles, and guardians of that one faith which comes down to us from them. Each bishop has the responsibility to to keep legitimate local interests vitally linked with the center. Continuity in episcopal succesion has always been the first condition of maintaining apostolicity.
These marks are tests to identify the one Church Christ wished to found; in a certain sense too they are tests of whether the individual Christian is properly assimilating the spirit of Christ into his own life. If he loves the unity of the Church and lives and protects it, if he is living with a heart open to all and filled with confidence in the links that bind us to Christ - Hierarchy, Magisterium, Tradition - then, despite personal sins and weakness, his life is gradually being made holy.