Catholic
There are still a surprising number of people who think that the Catholic Church is exactly the same as the Roman Catholic Church, but this is not so. The Roman Catholic Church is that part of the Catholic Church which obeys and is ruled by the Pope or Bishop of Rome.
In the Apostles’ Creed we say that we believe in the Catholic Church. The word ‘Catholic’ comes from a Greek word which means ‘complete’ or ‘whole’. Over fifteen hundred years ago (in around 440 AD), St Vincent of Lérins explained it by saying, “We within the Catholic Church…hold that which has been believed everywhere, always and by all men (that is, by all Christians)”. (1) In other words, the Catholic Faith is the whole Christian Faith; and the Catholic Church is the same as that which Jesus founded. This can be seen from the fact that it has the same Ministry and Sacraments and teaches the same Faith as it did for the first 1,000 years of its existence when Christendom was still united.
The Catholic Ministry
The Apostolic Commission
The Apostles, whom Jesus had chosen to be his closest followers and friends, were the first people to look after the Church, and he gave them his own authority (i.e. the right and power) to act on his behalf as his personal representatives. “As the Father has sent me”, he told them on Easter Day, “so I send you” (NRSV, John 20:21). We call this their Apostolic Commission.
The three-fold Ministry: deacons, priests and bishops
At the very beginning, when the number of Christians in Jerusalem was small, the Apostles were able to look after them without any help. But as the number grew, they appointed deacons to assist them. Later on, as the Apostles set out on their missionary journeys and the Church spread far and wide, so they ordained men, first known as presbyters and later as priests, to look after the Church for them in each city or town. Lastly the Apostles, acting on Our Lord’s behalf, appointed men called bishops to take their own place as Apostles when they had gone. And Our Lord, through the Apostles, gave to these bishops the same authority to be his personal representatives as he had given to the Apostles themselves on Easter Day.
So it was that there were three ranks or orders of clergy: bishops, priests and deacons. We call this the three-fold Ministry and it goes right back to the Apostles and through them to Jesus himself.
The Apostolic Church
One of the marks of the Church is that it is Apostolic. The Apostolic Church means the Church which was first looked after and governed by the Apostles and which has now spread to all parts of the world.
The Catholic Sacraments
When the Church began at the first Pentecost (Whitsunday) it had, besides Our Lady, only 12 members, the Apostles. By the same evening, however, there were 3,000. These had become members of the Church by being baptised (christened), and that is still the way by which we join the Church today. Sunday by Sunday they attended the Eucharist, the great Christian act of worship which Jesus himself gave to the Apostles the evening before he was crucified. And ever since then the Eucharist, which he commanded them to celebrate, has been the central service of the Church at which we should be present every Sunday. Baptism and the Eucharist are what we call Sacraments.
There are seven Sacraments altogether in the Church. The other five are Confirmation, Reconciliation (also called the Sacrament of Penance or Confession), Holy Matrimony (Christian Marriage), Holy Order (Ordination to the Ministry), and Holy Unction (Anointing of the Sick with oil).
The Catholic Scriptures
Eyewitnesses
When the Apostles were teaching the people about Jesus, they were able to tell them what they had actually seen and heard with their own eyes and ears. So St John would have been able to say, “I stood beneath the Cross of Jesus with his mother”.
The need for a written record
But as time went on a written record was needed of Our Lord’s teaching and especially of his life, death and resurrection in order that the details should not be forgotten. So the four Gospels were written. At the same time there were also other writings by the Apostles or by men who knew the Apostles. And the Church chose these and put them with the Gospels to form what we call the New Testament. The New Testament and the Old Testament were together called the Scriptures.
The Catholic Creeds
Now, although everyone agreed on what the Scriptures said, after a time people began to have their own private ideas of what it meant. Some, for example, got so far away from the truth as to say that Our Lord Jesus Christ was not really God. So, in order that everyone might know the truth as it had come down from the Apostles, the Church drew up the Nicene Creed which we sing at the Eucharist. We also have the Apostles’ Creed which is said at Evensong. This was originally a summary of the Christian Faith which was learnt by candidates for Baptism and Confirmation. In addition, there is the Athanasian Creed which you will find in the Prayer Book after Evensong.
The Catholic Faith
Thus these Creeds put into words part of the Catholic Faith. The Catholic Faith itself, including for example, teaching about the Eucharist, are handed down by the Church from one generation to another.
SUMMARY
1. The Catholic Church today is the same Church which Our Lord founded over 2,000 years ago.
2. It can be recognised as such because it has the original three-fold Ministry of Bishop, Priest and Deacon; the original Sacraments; the Scriptures; and the Creeds. And the Catholic Faith which it holds and teaches is the whole Christian Faith as held and taught by the Church for the first 1,000 years of its existence when Christendom was still united.
Reference
1. Vincent of Lérins (died c 450 AD) Commonitorium:2.