Lesson 3

THE FOUR MARKS and ATTRIBUTES OF THE

CATHOLIC CHURCH

 The Church is:

 1. ONE
 2. HOLY
 3. CATHOLIC
 4. APOSTOLIC
Lesson 3:  The Church is ONE
Marks and Attributes
of the Church  First – the Source, the
Holy Trinity, Father, Son
and Holy Spirit-perfect
unity of the three divine
persons
 Second – the Founder,
Jesus Christ who came
to reconcile all mankind
 Third – the Soul, the
Holy Spirit, unites all of
the faithful into one
communion of believers
 The oneness of the Church is also visible

 We are united in our Creed,

teachings, celebration of the
sacraments and hierarchical
structure based on the apostolic
succession preserved and handed on
through the Sacrament of Holy
Orders.

 Whether one attends Mass in the

Philippines, San Francisco, Japan,
Taiwan, the Mass is the same, same
readings, structure, prayers except
for difference in language –
celebrated by the faithful who share
the same Catholic beliefs, and
offered by a priest who is united to
his Bishop, to the Holy Father, the
Pope.
 Wounds of unity in
the Church
Sin and its consequences
threaten the gift of unity in
the Church
 HERESY
 - the Latin root haeresis,
"school of thought or sect,"
was used by Christian
writers to mean
"unorthodox sect or belief”.

 -is the obstinate denial or

doubt of any truths which
must be believed with divine
and Catholic faith by a
baptized Christian.
Total repudiation
of the Christian
faith by a
baptized
Christian
The withdrawal Click icon to add picture
of submission to
the Supreme
Pontiff or from
communion
with the
members of the
Church subject
to him.
ECUMENISM
-is an effort initiated by
the Roman Catholic
Church that promotes
and restores unity of
Christian Churches
through prayer, dialogue
and other initiatives.
 The Church is HOLY

 The Church is Holy – our Lord

Himself is the source of all
Holiness
 Christ sanctifies the Church,
through Him and with Him, the
Church is the agent of
sanctification
 Through the ministry of the
Church and the power of the
Holy Spirit, our Lord pours
abundant Graces, especially
through the Sacraments.
 Our Christian Call

 Through its teaching,

prayer and worship, and
good works, the Church
is the visible sign of
Holiness.
 We must not forget that
each of us as a member
of the Church has been
called to holiness.
 Universal CALL – to be
HOLY.
 Striving Towards Perfection
 Every one must strive
therefore at Christian
Perfection.
 Yes, we are frail human beings,
and at times we sin; yet we
repent of that sin and continue
again on the path of
HOLINESS.
 Even though poor frail
individual members of the
Church fail and sin, the Church
continues to be the sign and
instrument of HOLINESS.
 The Church is Catholic
 catholic cath·o·lic [káthlik, káthəlik]
 [14th century. Via Latin < Greek
katholikos "universal" < katholou "in
general" < kata "in regard to" + holos
"whole"]

 1. all-inclusive: including or
concerned with all people
 2. useful to all: useful or interesting
to a wide range of people
 3. all-embracing: interested in or
sympathetic to a wide range of
things
Bishop Ignatius
 Bishop Ignatius of Antioch – wrote to
the Church at Smyrna before his
martyrdom in 110 AD
 “where the Bishop is present, there
let the Congregation gather, just as
where Jesus Christ is, there is the
Catholic Church”
 - simply meant “the whole Church or
the universal Church
 Bishop- focal point of unity of the local
Church
 Jesus Christ – focal point of unity of
the “whole, total or universal Church
 In Christian theology the Universal Church is divided
into:

 the Church Militant (Ecclesia
Militans), comprising
Christians on earth who are
living; Christian militia, who
struggle against sin, the
devil and "..the rulers of the
darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness
in high places" (Ephesians
6:12).
 In Christian theology the Universal Church is divided
into:

 the Church
Triumphant (Ecclesia
Triumphans),  members
of the church who have
died and are regarded as
enjoying eternal
happiness through
union with God
 In Christian theology the Universal Church is divided
into:

 the Church Penitent (Ecclesia
Penitens), a.k.a. Church
Suffering or Church
Padecent or Church
Expectant (Ecclesia
Expectans), which in Catholic
theology comprises those
Christians presently in 
Purgatory.
 Communion of Saints

 these terms are often

used in the context of the
doctrine of the
Communion of Saints
although Christians may
be physically separated
from each other by the
barrier of death, they
nonetheless remain united
to each other in one
Church, and support each
other in prayer.
The Church is Apostolic

 The Church is apostolic in three

ways:
 She is built on "the foundation of
the Apostles," those witnesses
chosen by Christ.
 The Church hands on the teaching
of the Apostles (the deposit of
faith).
 The Church is guided by the
successors of the apostles, the
bishops in union with the Pope.
Jesus is "the eternal shepherd who
never leaves his flock untended"
(Preface of Apostles).
 The Church is Apostolic
DEPOSIT OF FAITH

 The body of revealed truth

in the Sacred Scriptures and
Sacred Tradition proposed
by the Roman Catholic
Church for the belief of the
faithful – was preserved,
taught, and handed on by
the Apostles
 The Magisterium

 Magisterium comes from the Latin

word magister which
means "teacher." It is the role of
the Magisterium to interpret in a
decisive way both Sacred Scripture
and Sacred Tradition.

 -The body of revealed truth in the

Sacred Scriptures and Sacred
Tradition proposed by the Roman
Catholic Church for the belief of
the faithful – was preserved,
taught, and handed on by the
Apostles
 The Attributes of the Church

 - An attribute is any characteristic

or quality that a person or thing
may be said to have. All
perfections or imperfections are
attributes

 - The chief attributes of the

Catholic Church are authority,
infallibility, and indefectibility.
They are called attributes
because they are qualities
perfecting the nature of the
Church.
 Authority of the Church


 Authority of the Church

The Pope and the Bishops, as

the lawful successors of the
Apostles, have power from
Christ Himself to teach,
sanctify and to govern the
faithful in spiritual matters. (2
Cor. 5:20)
 Infallibility of the Church

 Infallibility – the Church

by the special
assistance of the Holy
Spirit, cannot commit
error when it teaches
or believes a doctrine
of faith or morals.


Infallibility of the Church
 Indefectibility of the Church

 Indefectibility – the Church as

Christ founded it, will last until the
end of time. (Mt. 28:20)

 -The Church will remain

uncorrupted and faithful to
Christ’s teaching until the end of
time.
 - The powers of death shall not
prevail against the Church
 - Jesus made this promise to Peter
and the Church (Vatican I and II)
-