The Distinctiveness of the Catholic Church

The Catholic Church confesses the centrality of the Triune God in one divinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), the incarnation of the Son of God in Christ who took on a human flesh for the redemption of mankind and in his Resurrection to justify us. As such, at the centre of the Catholic Church's faith is Jesus Christ, Lord and Saviour of all. The Catholic Church shares such central doctrines with many other Christian confessions. Moreover, many important doctrines such as the Apostolic succession, the sacraments, and the veneration of saints (particularly of Mary the Mother of God) the Catholic Church shares with the Orthodox and Old Oriental Eastern Churches, who as yet have an imperfect communion with the Catholic Church. However, the Catholic Church believes that in it alone is found the fullness of truth and unity that lack in other Churches and confessions. Her sign of unity is found in the ministry of the Pope, the bishop of Rome, who is the head of the visible Church on earth. In full communion with him are all the Catholic bishops (including the Eastern Catholic Patriarchs and bishops) and the Catholic people around the world. Here is a summary of what distinguishes the Catholic Church*: Sacramentality:A sacrament is a visible sign of an invisible grace (St. Augustine), or a reality imbued with the hidden presence of God (Pope Paul VI). Catholicism sees the divine in the human, the infinite in the finite, the spiritual in the material. Therefore all reality is sacred. i.e.“God in all things”(St. Ignatius Loyola). It is only through the material realities that we can encounter the invisible God. The great sacrament of our encounter with God and God’s encounter with us is Jesus Christ. The Church, in turn, is the fundamental sacrament of our encounter with Christ. The sacraments, in turn, are the signs and instruments by which ecclesial encounter with Christ is made effective. Mediation:God is not only present as an object of faith in the sacramental action; God actually achieves something through that action (draws people to himself). God is present to all, and through all creation, but there are moments and actions wherein God’s presence is specially focused (e.g. the Eucharist, and other sacraments). The function of the priest as mediator is to focus more clearly the encounter between God and the human person for the sake of the person and ultimately for the sake of the community of faithful. This explains the role of Mary (and other saints.) The invisible God is active on our spiritual behalf through the material and the visible. Catholics engage in venerating (not worshiping) Mary and ask her to intercede for us not because she is a kind of “goddess”, but because she is a symbol, image, and instrument of God who fills her (by her total openness and submission to his love). And thus, the sacraments both signify and cause grace. Communion:Even when the divine-human encounter is most personal and individual, it is still communal in that encounter is made possible by the mediation of the community of faith. The Church is therefore the sacrament of Christ mediating salvation through sacraments, ministries, and other institutional elements. In Catholicism, the Church is the mystical body of Christ, the People of God, the communion of saints throughout all history in one Church: the militant (pilgrim) church on earth, the suffering church in purgatory, and the glorious church in heaven. The Catholic Church is further distinct by its unity in diversity. i.e. it includes many diverse local churches and rites of worship (e.g. Eastern Catholics, and Western Roman Catholics), and still is visibly and spiritually united through the ministry of the Pope, bishop of Rome, who, together with the other bishops successors of the Apostles in full communion with him, leads the faithful in their pilgrimage on earth. Tradition:The church has a long tradition and spiritual experience. The Bible itself is the product of tradition, and its meaning is deciphered by the Church. The history of Church is carrier of divine revelation, and not only Scriptures. The Church not only reads the sacred Scriptures but also its own corporate life and experience over the ages. Reason:Catholicism emphasizes the role of reason in understanding and expression of faith. All created reality is graced including the intellect. Though fallen, it is redeemed. For Catholicism, it is never sufficient to repeat the words of sacred Scriptures or even official doctrinal pronouncement. The critical faculties must be applied to the data of faith if we are to appropriate it and then put it into practice. Universality and Both/and Character:Catholicism is characterized by a both/and rather than an either/or approach. It is not nature or grace but graced nature; not reason or faith but reason illuminated by faith; not law or Gospel but law inspired by the Gospel; not Scripture or Tradition but normative Tradition with Scripture; not faith or works but faith issuing in works and works as expression of faith; not unity or diversity but unity in diversity. In a word, Catholicism is catholic. Catholicism is a tradition that sees God in all things (sacramentality), using the human, the material and the finite (mediation), to bring about the unity of human kind (communion). * Excerpts taken mainly from “Catholicism,” by Fr. Richard McBrien, 1994