|
What We Mean by
“the
Catholic Church”
When we talk today about “the Catholic Church,” we must
acknowledge the historical reality that the one, holy, catholic
and apostolic church founded by Jesus Christ has over time
splintered into different churches, ecclesial communities and denominations.
The first division come when the Eastern and Western Church split apart in the
11th century; more divisions occurred when the Western Church
divided into various Christian denominations in the wake of the
Protestant Reformation. As a result, the church founded by Jesus now
exists sadly divided, more as a goal to be achieved than as a
reality which has been preserved.
What
people usually mean when they refer to “the Catholic
Church” is the Roman (or Latin) Catholic Church, which in fact
commonly
refers to itself as “the Catholic Church.” The (Roman) Catholic
Church believes and teaches that the one, holy, catholic and
apostolic church founded by Jesus subsists in the Roman church. The term “subsists” was used by the Second
Vatican Council (1963-65), and there are various explanations of what exactly the Council meant by the term.
The Council deliberately rejected language equating the Roman
Catholic Church with the one church founded by Jesus, and the consensus which has emerged among
Catholic theologians is that “subsists in” means that the church
founded by Jesus exists most completely or fully in the Roman Catholic Church. Other Christian
churches, ecclesial communities and denominations participate in
and manifest, to one degree or another, the church which Jesus
intended to be one and undivided.
Every Christian church, ecclesial community and denomination
manifests and teaches part of the truth, tradition and reality
of the church founded by Jesus. As a general rule, each
emphasizes some aspects of the tradition more than others. The Roman Catholic Church
believes that it has preserved and embodied the Christian
tradition more fully than any other,
although there are some aspects which the Catholic Church tended to emphasize less than
others during the period after the Protestant Reformation. Part
of the vision of the Second Vatican Council was that the Catholic Church would recover those aspects, both through the process of internal reform and
in dialogue with other Christian churches. The Catholic Church
now shares with
many other Christian churches, ecclesial communities and
denominations both a desire and the effort to eventually
reconcile the differences which divide the Body of Christ on
earth.
When an individual is baptized into, or makes a profession of
faith in, “the Catholic Church” today, they are being baptized into, or
professing faith in, the one, holy, catholic and apostolic
church founded by Jesus Christ as it is embodied and manifest in
the Roman or Latin Catholic
Church.
When you participate in faith formation, enrichment and
initiation programs sponsored by the Catholic Parishes in
Waterloo, we will generally use the term “Catholic Church” to
refer to the church founded by Jesus, now understood, embodied
and manifest in the Roman or Latin Catholic tradition, in dialogue with
our brothers and sisters in other Christian churches, ecclesial
communities and denominations.
-- Dave Cushing
• • •
Back
to RCIA Main Page
Back to RCRA Main Page
Posted
11.10.10
•
Last Update 03.22.12
|