What is the Catholic Church? / by Richard Felix. +e-iix I ^ici)airc;j — Unaf ts Ai>Poqiq WHAT IS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH? Rev. Richard Felix, O.S.B. Price 10 Cents WHAT IS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH? by REV. RICHARD FELIX, O.S.B. Altar and Home Press Conception Abbey Conception, Mo. Imprimi Potest : Philippus Euggle, 0. S. B. Abbas Neo-Angelo Montanus. Nihil Obstat: Rev. Francis J. Holweck Censor Librorum. Imprimatur : Thomas P. Lillis, D. D. Episcopus Kansanopolitanus. August 15, 1936. Copyright lUot) Rev. Richard Felix, O.S.B. What Is the Catholic Church? HO is this? What is that? Why? Who or what, and why? These are the questions found first and ever on the lips of the little child. Strange- ly enough, these self-same queries present themselves spontaneously to the man of maturer reason; He too would know the what and why of everything; Child- hood yields to youth, youth to manhood, and man- hood to old age; yet throughout, the mind of man puts forth the same persistent inquiries of what and why. What and why? These are searching questions. They go to the roots of things. Only when they are answered to satisfaction does reason rest secure in certainty and responsive action follow without fail. In studying then the claims of a great institution like the Catholic Church, we can pursue no better plan than that dictated by the very nature of our being. What is the Catholic Church? To this question we might give many answers, but if I were asked to answer it in one brief statement I should say that the Catholic Church is nothing less than the Mystical Body of Jesus, the Incarnation extended across the universe and adown the ages, Jesus Christ living in the world today—^that is what we Catholics under- stand by the Church. Jesus came down from Heaven to teach and save all men. In this all Christians are agreed. But WHAT IS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH? Jesus died on a Cross nineteen hundred years ago. How then does He teach and save men today? We answer: by means of the Church which is the living representation, the living perpetuation of Himself in the world today. Jesus came into this world in a visible form, a God-man, a Person at once human and divine. Like unto Him, His Church too is some- thing visible, a visible society, a society at once human and divine ; human of course in its member- ship, but its members are members of the Mystical Body of Jesus; divine in its origin and life-giving principle, Jesus Himself. Jesus came to teach men, and the Church, His living Voice, continues to do the same; Jesus came to save men, and the Church in His Name and in His Person fulfills that same office today, applying the merits of His Passion to the souls of men, nourishing them with that life of Grace which He merited for them on the Cross. Let us take up these points somewhat more in detail; per- haps they will become clearer as we go on. First of all, the Church is a visible society. With- out any doubt Almighty God could have saved us in a purely spiritual manner. A simple act of His Will would have sufficed to blot out all the sins of man- kind. Although God could have saved us in this in- visible manner, as a matter of historical fact, He did not. In His infinite wisdom He sent His only-begotten Son in the visible form of a man, the Word-made-fiesh, to redeem us. There is but one Mediator of God and men, the Man Christ Jesus’’ (1 Tim. 3, 5). 4 WHAT IS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH? Just why God chose to save us through the visible mediation of His Son made man is a mystery, some- thing we are not able fully to fathom. This much however we know for certain, His infinite Mercy and Love lay behind it all. On our part too we can see a reason for it, and that reason is the simple psycho- logical fact that God would save man, and man is not a purely spiritual being. He is a composite creature made up of body and soul and his visible body stands as much in need of redemption as his invisible soul. However we explain it, the fact re- mains that Almighty God did send His dearly-beloved Son to us on Christmas night in the visible form of a man, and He it is, the God-man, who saves and sanctifies us. Since Jesus came as a visible mediator, we natu- rally would expect that the means wherewith He would perpetuate His mediation and apply the merits of the same to the souls of men down to the end of time would likewise be of a visible nature. And Avhat we would naturally have been led to expect we find fulfilled when we see our Divine Saviour making the formation of a visible society one of the chief concerns of His earthly career. One of the first things our Saviour did when He began His public ministry, as all four of the Evangelists tell us, was to call about Him a body of men whom He might in- struct in all knowledge and prepare with all care for the work He had in store for them. These men to whom He gave a distinctive name (Luke 6, 13), and a special mission (Mark 16, 15), and from 5 WHAT IS THE CATHOLIC CHUECH? amongst whom He chose out one to be their chief and leader (Matt. 16, 15; John 21, 15), were none other than the Apostles. For three long years they were His intimate friends and followers. His officers in training, so to speak. They accompanied Him on His journeys, were witnesses to His miracles, heard His discourses, and were taken apart from the multi- tude and had disclosed to them more fully the mys- teries of the Kingdom of God. To them our Blessed Saviour foretold His bitter Passion and Death. To them He committed His Sacramental Body on the night before He died (Luke 22, 19; 1 Cor. 11, 23). To them He appeared after the Eesurrection and dur- ing the next forty days instructed them still more thoroughly in the work to which they were called. To them He gave the power of forgiving sin (Matt. 16, 19; John 20, 22; 2 Cor. 5, 18), and then, just be- fore ascending into Heaven He gathered them to- gether for the last time and conferred upon them His final and official commission. What was that commis- sion? St. Matthew tells us (28, 18) : ^^All power is given to Me in Heaven and on earth. Going there- fore, teach ye all nations ; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world.’' His power divine He delegates entirely to them making them and them alone His accredited ambassadors, the authorized emissaries of eternal truth, and the sole dispensers of His life-giving Grace unto all the chil- 6 WHAT IS THE CATHOLIC CHUECH? dren of men; and this new covenant He seals with the promise of His personal Presence down to the end of ages. How this divine commission was carried out, we know full well. No sooner had they received the Holy Ghost, according to the instructions of the Mas- ter, than the Apostles dispersed into the four quar- ters of the globe bearing the glad tidings of the Gos- pel to all mankind. St. Peter, as the Acts of the Apostles (ch. 2) informs us, converted three thou- sand on the first day and five thousand on the sec- ond. And with success no less signal labored all the rest of the Apostles in the ministry of the living Church throughout the world. Going forth,’’ says St. Mark, ^Hhey preached everywhere: the Lord work- ing withal, and confirming the word with signs that followed” (16, 20). Here then is an incontestable fact of history. In the light of this fact, we will consider briefly the position of those who maintain that the Bible and the Bible alone is the one and only rule of faith. Here we have a visible society, a teaching organiza- tion established and empowered by Jesus Christ Him- self to teach and save all men. This society, this teaching organization called the Church, was in full operation in this world carrying out the command of Christ, teaching and baptizing and saving souls for more than five years before the first book of the New Testament was written; fifty years more elapsed before the last one was completed. This teaching organization called the Church, let me repeat, was 7 WHAT IS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH? living and laboring throughout the world saving the souls of men just as she is doing today for fully five years before a single line of the New Testament was written, for more than fifteen years before St. Paul penned his wonderful epistles, for more than fifty years before St. John wrote the last Gospel. What does that mean? That means that the Church is prior in time to the New Testament and does not de- pend upon it. What is of even greater importance, that means that the Church is not only prior in time to the New Testament but under the guidance of the Holy Ghost is the very parent of the New Testament itself. Had there been no Church, there would have been no New Testament. The New Testament grew out of the Church; the Church did not grow out of the New Testament. Christ Himself wrote no part of the Bible, most of His Apostles wrote no book, and those that did write took up the inspired pen simply and solely as an instrument in their work of the teaching Church, and this they did only after they had been laboring for years already in the ministry of that living Church throughout the world. I would not be misunderstood. No one prizes the Bible as does the Catholic Church. For her every word of it is sacred, every word of it the word of God. She reveres it, she loves it, she shows her love and reverence for it by the way she uses and respects it. Briefly, the official prayer of the Church, the Divine Office, which the priests and ministers of the Church have to say every day in the year and which takes from one to two hours daily if recited, from 8 WHAT IS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH ? four to five hours if chanted, as is done in hundreds of religious houses across the country, is taken al- most entirely from the Bible. The same holds true of the Mass. We urge our people to read the Bible, and that even those who neglect to do so may still hear something of the Word of God, the Church lays her ministers under strict obligation to read and ex- plain the chief portions of the Scriptures from the pulpit every Sunday. We Catholics do revere the Bible and use it as do no others but that does not blind us to the fact that the Bible is not the only rule of faith. Tradition shares that honor with it. Does not St. John tell us (21, 25) that only the least por- tion of what Jesus has said and done was written down? Scripture and tradition together then make up the deposit of the Christian faith, and over both, the Bible and tradition, Christ Himself has set that teaching organization called the Church to be His official custodian and interpreter. To that Church alone and not to any book or private individual did He say, Teach ye ... I will be with you.’’ That the Bible itself stands in need of such a su- preme and official interpreter, vouched for by Christ Himself, is more than evident if we but look about us in the realms of religion today. There are over two hundred different denominations in this country alone, all of them built upon one and the same Bible yet no two in perfect accord on all points of doctrine. That is what private interpretation means when put into practice. In secular matters men are more wise. The Fathers of our glorious Republic did not pen that 9 WHAT IS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH? wonderful document called the Constitution and then leave it to the people at large to interpret as they saw fit. They knew better than that. They set up a Supreme Court for that purpose. And do you think that the All-wise God would be less careful in a matter of so great importance where the salvation of millions of immortal souls is at stake? Most as- suredly not! He too set up a supreme court, an authorized interpreter of His Law.^' He Himself re- fers us to that court saying, ^^Hear the Church. He that does not hear the Church, let him be to thee as the heathen and the publican^’ (Matt. 18, 17). It would seem then that our Divine Saviour did not build His religion on a book, even though that book be inspired.^^ He Himself wrote not a word nor laid He any such charge upon the Apostles. What He did do was to organize and identify Himself with a teaching Church. What He did do was to send the constituted leaders of that living Church out into the world as His personal representatives to preach and teach in His Name telling them, ‘Hie that heareth *For a more detailed consideration of this subject, read The Apostles’ Creed advertised on the last page of this pamphlet. **The “Bible Only” thesis is equally untenable on other grounds. For instance, it presupposes that all men have sufficient education at least to read the Bible, a supposition quite contrary to fact even in this our twentieth century. Granted sufficient education, it presupposes that all men be able to secure a copy of the Bible. In this day that were an easy enough matter, but in centuries gone by an utter impossibility. It was not till well along in the fifteenth century that the art of printing was invented. Previous to that time, books in the modern sense of the word were not in existence. Everything had to be copied out .in longhand. Nat- urally that was a tedious task, involving an immense amount of time and labor. To possess such a manuscript copy was to possess a priceless treasure. None but the very rich could afford it. And yet the millions of men who lived during those first fifteen centuries of the Christian era had immortal souls to save, souls as precious in the eyes of God as our own. What became of them? For the most part they had no Bibles, and even if they had, they would have been unable to read them. 10 WHAT IS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH? you heareth Me, and he that despiseth you, despiseth Me, and he that despiseth Me, despiseth Him that sent Me’^ (Luke 10, 16). Many years after Jesus Christ had thus organized His Church and sent it forth on His mission to mankind, some of His chosen ones under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit wrote down the main doctrines of the Master and the chief events of His Life which we now know of as the New Testament. The Bible therefore is a real rule of faith, but it is not the only rule of faith. It is a rule of faith, but only in so far as it is used as Cod de- signed it to be used, namely, as a textbook in the hands of His teaching Church. Those who wrest it from that place wherein God has placed it and pin their faith to its private interpretation, wrest it to their own destruction’’ (2 Pet. 3, 16), for ^Cio prophecy of Scripture is of private interpretation” (2 Pet. 1, 20). The Church then for us Catholics is the Voice of Christ living in the world today, teaching as of yore ^^as one having authority” (Matt. 7, 29). Such is the Church. But if w^e stop here in our analysis of the Church Ave stop far short of the truth. Christ came not merely to teach men but also to save and sanctify men. So likeAvise His Church. She is the medium through Avhich He applies the merits of His Life and Death to the souls of men. As the teaching Christ, Holy Scripture presents the Church to us under the simile of a teaching or- ganization ; as the Grace-giving Christ, that same Holy Writ presents her to us as a Dmne Organism. Every 11 WHAT IS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH? organism is made up of two parts, the one visible and the other invisible, and of the two, the invisible is of far greater importance. Man, for example, is an organism. Man is composed of a visible body and an invisible soul; but it is from the soul that he has life, and it is from the soul that all his vital actions proceed. So too in that Divine Organism called the Church. Just as she has a visible body, this visible society of which we have been treating, so likewise has she an invisible soul and that soul is Christ. He is her life and from Him proceed all her vital actions. For this reason the great Apostle St. Paul calls the^ Church the Body of Christ and says that Christ is its head. ^Hle is the Head of the Body, which is the Church’’ (Col. 1, 18), ‘Hhe Head from which the whole Body being supplied with nourishment grow- eth unto the increase of God” (Col. 2, 19) ; ^Ghe God of Our Lord Jesus Christ . . . hath made Him Head over all the Church Avhich is His Body” (Eph. 1, 22) ; Christ is the Head of the Church; He is the Saviour of His Body” (Eph. 5, 23) ; ''we, being many, are one Body in Christ, and every one members one of another” (Rom. 12, 5) ; "you are the Body of Christ, and members one of another” (1 Cor. 12, 27) ; "we are members of His Body, of His Flesh, and of His Bones” (Eph. 5, 30). Christ Himself, addressing His Disciples, said to them, "I am the Vine, you are the branches” (John 15, 5). Vine and branches grow together, one principle of life pulsating through root and stem and leaf and tiny tendril. What could more clearly express the living and organic union, 12 WHAT IS THE CATHOLIC CHUECH? the perfect solidarity existing between Christ and His 'Church, and the members of His Church one with another ! If then we view the Church in her Head and her Heart and her Soul, she is Christ Himself ; if we view her as the Body of the faithful made one in the unity of the Head, she is the Mystical Body of Christ and related to Him as the body to the soul."'' In her soul she is Christ, in her Body she is His Body. The Mystical Body of Jesus, Jesus Christ living in the world today—that is the Catholic Church. No wonder then that this Church is One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic, as we say in the Nicene Creed. The Church of Christ must be One for Christ is but one. He cannot contradict Himself. ‘^Thou art Peter, said the Lord, ^^and upon this rock I will build My Church’’—not churches—^^and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16, 18). ^^One Lord, one faith, one baptism,” said St. Paul (Eph. 4, 5). Look about you in the world today and where do you find that unity? In one Church alone, and that the Catholic Church. Her three hundred million children in every part of the universe united and in unison worship the same God, believe the same truths revealed by Jesus Christ, obey the same spirit- ual authority, receive the same Seven Sacraments. *For a beautiful presentation of the Church, considered as the Mystical Body of Christ, read Christ in the Church, by K. H. Benson, published by B. Herder Book Co., St. Louis, Mo.; price, $1.50. Msgr. Benson was the son of the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, and one of the most noted converts to the Catholic Church during the past generation. He was a brilliant writer, the book indicated above being one of his best. Another book that will repay careful reading is The Spirit of Catholicism by Karl Adam (Macmillan Co., price $1.50). 13 WHAT IS THE CATHOLIC CHUECH? Not only are the three hundred million Catholics in the world* today united in everything pertaining to religion, but they have identically the same beliefs as their forefathers in the faith. The Catholics of today believe identically the same truths as the Chris- tians of the first and the second and the third and the fourth centuries, and the Christians of those early days held fast to the same things as we. Do not take my word for this. We have the writings of all the Doc- tors of the Christian Church from the very beginning.** Many of them have been translated and published in English. The Catholic Church therefore in time and place is one in Faith, and by that token is the Church founded by Christ. Look outside the Catholic Church and what do you see? Anything but unity. Denominations with- out end ; one denomination differing fundamentally from the other, and what is even more painful, the various denominations themselves split up hopelessly into confiicting parties. The official religious census *According- to data gathered by the National Geographic Society of Washington, D. C,, the population of the world is estimated at 751,000. Of this number, 600,414,000 profess themselves Christians. Dis- tributed into three great divisions of Christianity, we have these results : Catholics, 294,583,000; Protestants of all denominations, 194,102,01)0; East- ern Orthodox, 120,729,000. Cf. Encyclopedia Americana, New York, 1920, vol. vi., p. 607. **J. P. Migne, Patrologise Latinse cursus completus, 221 vols. ; Patrologiss Grseose cursus completus, 247 vols.; Paris, 1866. Numerous translations of individual writers have been given us in English. The three most comprehensive series are : The Library of the Fathers, in 45 volumes, by members of the English Church, 1832; The Ante-Nicene Fathers, in 24 volumes, edited by A. C. Coxie, New York, 1889, and the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, in 14 volumes, edited by P. Schaff and H. Wace, New York, 1900. None of these translations are from Catholic pens. They are, however, accurate and well done. With the exception of vicious footnotes and partisan insinuations here and there, they are the best serial translations available. 14 WHAT IS THE CATHOLIC CHUECH? of the United States published by our Government^ will verify and substantiate the truth of this state- ment. To cite a feAv examples, you will find listed therein twenty-two different kinds of Lutherans, nineteen different kinds of Methodists, eighteen different kinds of Baptists, nine kinds of Presby- terians, five kinds of Adventists and four kinds of Eeformed. Anything but unity. And yet unity was to be and is one of the main distinguishing marks of Christ ^s Church. How earnestly Jesus prayed for that unity on the night before He died. Father, keep them in Thy Name whom Thou hast given Me; that they may be one, as We also are’’ (John 17, II). Other sheep I have that are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and there shall be one fold and one Shepherd” (John 10, 16). How insistent is St. Paul on the same eternal truth ! Schism and disunion he classes with the crimes of murder and debauchery and declares that they who are guilty of ^dissensions and sects shall not obtain the Kingdom of God” (Gal. 5, 21). In his Epistles to the Corinthians and the Ephesians, he repeatedly sets forth the same doctrine, exhorting them to be ^‘careful to keep the unity of *Religious Bodies. Bureau of the Census. Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C. 1926. 2 vols. The Church population of the United States in 1926 as revealed by this official census amounted to 54,576,346. This figure represents the total membership of the 212 different and distinct religious organizations working in this country. The seven Religious Bodies numbering over a million members each are as follows : Roman Catholics, 18,605,003; Baptists, 8,440,922; Methodists, 8,070,619; Butherans, 3,966,003; Presbyterians, 1,894,030; Episcopalians, 1,859,086; Disciples of Christ (Christians), 1,377,595. It may be urged that these figures, compiled as they were some years ago, do not represent the present status of the various bodies. That is true. Catholics today number over 20,000,000, and we have no reason to think that the other religious bodies have not increased proportionally. Still, for the sake of reliability, the Governmental Statistics are preferable in that they are non-partisan and official. 15 WHAT IS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH? the Spirit in the bond of peace'’ (Eph. 4, 3). Such declarations as these coming from the great Apostle are clear evidence of that essential unity which must ever characterize the true Christian Church. PolloAving in the footsteps of St. Paul, the Fathers of the Church are no less emphatic than he on this matter of unity. Witness the testimony of St. Irenseus"^' (writing in the year 166) as spokesman for them all. ^^The faith received from the Apostles is preserved by the Church with as great care as if she occupied but one house, whereas she has spread over the whole world, and she accepts this faith as if she had but one heart and soul, and she proclaims and teaches it as if she had but one mouth. For although there are different languages, the substance of our tradition is always the same. The Churches established in Germany do not believe or teach any- thing different from the Churches in Iberia, or Gaul, or in the East, or in Egypt, or in Lybia, or in the centre of the world. But just as there is one and the same sun all over the world, so does the preaching of Truth shed light everywhere, enlightening all who desire to come to a knowledge of the Truth" (Adv. haer. I, 10). A little further on in the same book (Adv. haer. Ill, 3) he tells us that the test of this one true Church in which alone is to be found salvation is its union with the Bishop of Rome. That member- ship in the church is consistent with differences in faith was unheard of before the rise of Protestantism. That Christian unity is a chimera if it be not a unity *Iren8eus was a pupil of Polycarp who in turn was a disciple of St. John. He is therefore a direct witness to the teachings of the Apostles. 16 WHAT IS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH? centering around Peter and his successors is plain and patent to any one who has observed the futile efforts at unity put forth by those outside the Church during the past feAv years. Nor could we expect otherwise. In the words of St. Cyprian (in the year 250), ^^God is one, and Christ is one, one the Church, and one the Chair founded by the Lord upon Peter. Whosoever gathers elsewhere, scattereth’’ (Ep. XLI, ad Pleb.). The Catholic Church is One; the Catholic Church is Holy. She is holy because Jesus, the fountain- head of all holiness, is her very life. He is her ^^head from which the whole body being supplied with nourishment groweth unto the increase of God’’ (Col. 2, 19). He it is who makes the children of His Love holy with His own holiness, pumping the holiness of His own Sacred Heart through the seven great arteries of the Sacraments into all the members of His Mys- tical Body. He it is in the fullness of His Divinity who sanctifies the souls of His chosen ones, communi- cating to them His own Divine Life in the Seven Sacra- ments of the Church. Would that we could make men appreciate what this Sacramental Life of the Church really means! Would that we could make men realize how Jesus, the Source of all sanc- tity, gives us His own Divine Self in the Sacraments of the Church making us thereby ^^participators in His own Divine Nature” (2 Peter 1, 4). Listen to what He Himself has to say about one of them, the Most Blessed Eucharist: am the Living Bread that came down from Heaven. If any man eat of 17 WHAT IS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH? this Bread, he shall live forever; and the bread that I will give you is My Flesh for the life of the world. Except you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His Blood, you shall not have life in you. For My Flesh is meat indeed and My Blood is drink indeed; he that eateth My Flesh and drinketh My Blood abid- eth in Me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent Me, and as I live by the Father ; so he that eateth Me, the same also shall live by Me^^ (John 6, 51). Behold Avhat the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist means to us—Jesus giving us Himself as the spiritual food of our souls. And what He does in this adorable Sacrament He does likewise in all the rest for one and all they are His own appointed channels of Orace, and Grace is defined as Divine Life communicated to the soul. The Sacramental Life then is the secret of the sanctity of the Church; Jesus in the Sacraments the source of all our strength. Any one who lives that Life cannot but become a Saint. What is more, only those who do lead that Life become great Saints. Even those outside the fold recognize this fact, for whenever they wish to point to a real Saint they have to come to us. The Benedicts, the Bernadettes, and the Little Flowers of Jesus do not grow anywhere else. Jesus in the Sacraments, let me repeat, is the source of all our sanctity and all our strength. He it is who enables priest and people to lead pure and holy lives. He it is who makes His Holy Church the natural home of Saints. I scarcely need dwell on the other side of the pic- ture. Ignoring the plain teachings of Holy Scripture 18 WHAT IS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH? as well as one thousand five hundred years of Chris- tian history, Protestantism at its very inception ruled five of the Sacraments out of court altogether, namely, Confirmation, Matrimony, Extreme Unction, Penance, and Holy Orders. With the Priesthood went the Mass, and with the Mass the Lord’s Supper, in as far as it may be truly called a Sacrament. With equal reason the so-called Reformers might have re- jected Baptism and the semblance of the Lord’s Sup- per that they did retain. But even these were quickly shorn of their Sacramental character. Few indeed are they today who look upon the Lord’s Sup- per as anything more than an empty symbol. Bap- tism fortunately has fared somewhat better, but even here the number of those who consider it a Sac- rament in the historical sense of the word grows daily less and less. The Christian idea of the Sacraments as Grace-giving signs that not merely represent but effect redemption is all but lost outside the Catholic Church. Would to God that w^e could get all good people outside that Church to study this matter and realize this truth! Then instead of the few scat- tered crumbs that now fall to their lot they would soon be feasting at their Father’s table. Before leaving this subject, I must take cognizance of an oft-repeated objection. We generally meet it in some such form as this: If the Catholic Church be holy, as you claim her to be, how do you account for all the bad Catholics in the wmrld today? There is this fallen priest and that faithless nun and dozens of the laity who are leading anything but holy lives. 19 WHAT IS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH? ^‘By their fruits you shall know theni/^ said the Mas- ter. What do you have to say for these? I answer: Certainly, by their fruits you shall know them. But tell me, how do you judge of the fruits of any tree? By the rotten apples on the ground or by the sun- kissed product on the branch above? We Catholics, I am sorry to say, do have our renegades. That is true. Christ had His Judas and the Church has hers. But just as it would have been unfair to judge Christ by Judas, so too is it unfair to censure His Church on the score of those who fail to live up to her teaching. Moreover these so-called bad Catholics can scarcely be classed as Catholics at all. No man is really a Catholic unless he be in living communion with the Church, unless he participate in the Sacra- mental Life of the Church. He may still profess the name or even go to Sunday services now and then but that does not constitute him a Catholic. Unless he be in Sacramental communion with the Church, he is no more a real Catholic than the fallen twig is a part of the vine to which it once belonged. The Church of Christ then is One and Holy; the Church of Christ is Catholic. The word Catholic means universal, scattered throughout the wdiole world. That the Church founded by Christ must be Catholic is amply evident from the explicit promises and instructions of Christ Himself: ^^You shall be witnesses unto Me . . . even to the uttermost parts of the earth’’ (Acts 1, 8). Going, therefore, teach ye all nations” (Matt. 28, 19). ^‘Go ye into the whole world and preach the Gospel to every creature ’ ’ 20 WHAT IS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH? (Mark 16, 15). Christ came to save all men. Hence His Church must extend over all the world. Now what Church is and has ever been extended over all the world? Here we are concerned with a simple question of history and geography. Historically we know' that none of the denominations round about us were even in existence during the first fifteen centuries of the Christian era. For a very good reason there- fore they could not be spread over any part of the earth at all. Geographically considered, the situation is very much today as it was in the days of St. Augustine. Heretics,’’ said he, ^‘are everywhere but no partic- ular heresy is everyivhere. ” Today too the sects arc everyw^here, but taken separately—and that is the only way you can take them if the note of unity means anything at all—no sect is to be found in every part of the world. They are local, national, confined to one or at the most a very few countries. Only one Church is truly universal, and that the Catholic. Go w^here you will and you will find the Catholic Church there before you. She counts and has ever counted her children by the million in every clime and in every nation under the sun. She alone reaches from pole to pole and belts the globe. To- day as in the centuries gone by she alone can lay claim to universality and for that reason she alone is truly Catholic. The mark of universality is again a matter that the Fathers of the Church stress very much. I cite the testimony of one wLo is recognized by all as one 21 WHAT IS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH? of the greatest minds that ever lived. Setting forth some of the reasons why he is a Catholic, the great Augustine (who died in the year 430) declares that besides the intrinsic acceptability of her doctrine ^Hhere are many other things which most justly keep me within the bosom of the Church.’’ After indicat- ing the agreement in faith among her members as well as ^Hhe succession of priests from the installation of Peter the Apostle to Avhoni Our Lord intrusted His sheep to be fed down to the present episcopate,’.’ he adds, Lastly there holds me the very name of Catho- lic—a name which in the midst of so many heresies this Church alone has rightly so held possession of that though all heretics would fain be called Catholics, still to the inquiry of any stranger. Where are the services of the Catholic Church held, not one of these heretics would dare to point to his own conventicle” (Contra. Ep. Fund., n. 5). Would not the same question be answered in the same way today? Lastly, the Church of Christ must be Apostolic, that is to say, must come down in unbroken line from the Apostles. Any Church that claims to be the Church of Christ must be able to trace its lineage back to Christ and to those upon whom He founded His Church. Now Christ founded His Church upon the Apostles. ‘‘You are fellow-citizens with the Saints, built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner- stone” (Eph. 2, 20). “Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16, 18). That 22 WHAT IS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH? Church alone therefore whose genealogy goes back directly to Peter and His Divine Master is truly Christian and Apostolic. Here again we are con- cerned with a plain fact of history. Study the his- tory of the various denominations, and what do you find? When were they founded? By whom? They were founded, all of them, not by Christ but by men, by weak, fallible men. They were founded not at the time of Christ and His Apostles but quite re- cently, many of them within the past century (e. g., the Spiritualists, Mormons, Christians, and Christian Scientists), all of them within the past four hundred years. ^ None of them come within a thousand five hundred years of Christ. Compared to the Catholic Church, they are as of yesterday. The Catholic Church alone was founded not by man but by God. She alone goes back historically to Christ. Just as history vindicates to the Chief Executive of our Nation the sole right to sit in the Presidential Chair by tracing his ancestry in that office back through the legitimate incumbents who have succeeded immortal Washington, so in like manner, does history bear witness to the claim of Catholics that the Pope of Rome is the legitimate head of Christ’s Church on earth by tracing his prerogative in that office back through the two hun- dred and sixty Popes who have preceded him in the Chair of Peter. With St. Irenaeus (writing in the year 177), ^Sve confound all those who assemble otherwise than as behooveth them by pointing to the *The leading religious organizations in our country, their founders, and dates of origin will be found listed at the conclusion of this pamphlet. 23 WHAT IS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH? greatest, most ancient and universally known Church of Rome. This Church was founded and organized by the two most glorious Apostles, Peter and Paul. The faith and tradition which this Church has de- rived from the Apostles comes down to ns through the succession of her Bishops. With this Church every other Church must be united on account of her preeminent authority.’’ Having spoken of Peter and the foundation of the Church, St. Irensens goes on to tell us that ^Hhe blessed Apostles then committed the sacred office of the Episcopacy to Linns, of whom Paul makes mention in his letters to Timothy. To him succeeded Anacletus, and after him, the third from the Apostles, who obtained that Episcopacy was Clement, who still had before his eyes the familiar preaching and tradition of the Apostles, and not he only, for many were then still alive who had been in- structed by the Apostles. To Clement succeeded Evar- istus, and to Evaristns, Alexander. Next to him, Six- tus was appointed, and after him, Telesphorns, who suffered a glorious martyrdom. Then Hyginus, fol- lowed by Pius, after whom was Anicetus. To Anicetus succeeded Soter; and to him—the twelfth in succes- sion from the Apostles—succeeded Eleutherius, who now holds the inheritance of the Episcopate. In this order and in this succession, the tradition and the preaching of the truth, which is in the Church, have come down to us from the Apostles. And this is a most complete demonstration that the life-giving Faith is one and the same, which from the Apostles even until now has been preserved in the Church and 24 WHAT IS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH? transmitted in truthfulness’’ (Ad. Haeres. HI., 3). History therefore tells of one Church only that has come down through the centuries, of one Church only that can go back to Christ in proof of her divine mission and authority. Indeed, the Catholic Church is the one outstanding fact of history. From the day of her foundation she has been the central fact around which all the facts of history have revolved, and without which most of them would be inex- plicable and without meaning. She is a continuous, ever-present fact; men and nations come and go, the Church endures; amid all the changes of suc- ceeding generations, she stands intact, one in con- tinuity, identical in delegated power with the Church of the Apostles, as truly the depository of Revelation and the living dispenser of the gifts of the Gospel today as were the Apostles themselves. Since the Catholic Church alone is Apostolic, the Catholic Church alone is commmissioned to carry on the work of the Apostles. To her alone is intrusted the salvation of mankind. Empowered by her au- thority, the Priests and Bishops of the Catholic Church alone are the legitimate representatives of Christ in this world. They alone are commissioned to preach the Gospel to every creature for they alone have the credentials of that Church which Christ founded upon the Apostles to continue His work. With St. Cyprian (who died in the year 258) they alone can say: ‘‘We hold communion with the Apostolic Church, and this is our witness of the truth ’ ’ (Ep. 55). With St. Jerome, writing to Pope Damasus 25 WHAT IS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH? (in the year 376), only they can say: ‘‘As I follow no leader save Christ, so I am in communion with no one but your Blessedness, that is, with the Chair of Peter. For this, I know, is the rock on which the Church is built. This is the house where alone the Paschal Lamb can be rightly eaten. He that gathers not with you, scatters^’ (Ep. 15). And to St. Jerome we are more indebted than to any one else for the preservation of the Bible. The great work of collating and translat- ing the books of sacred Scripture, he undertook only at the express request of the Pope. For him as for us the Chair of Peter was the source and centre of Apostolic authority and whosoever would do the work of the Apostles must needs be in communion with him who sits thereon, the Vicar of Christ on earth. These then are the four great marks of the Church—earmarks, one of my friends in the West calls them—Unity, Holiness, Catholicity, and Apos- tolicity. The true Church of Christ must possess them all. The Catholic Church alone enjoys that dis- tinction and for that reason is in truth the one and only Church of Christ. In our day we hear much about the Apostolic origin of the Church. But that the Catholic Church alone is truly Apostolic is freely admitted by no less an authority than the late Dr. Charles A. Briggs of Union Theological Seminary, N. Y. Prom an article on the Papacy which this eminent Protestant divine contributed to the North American Review for Feb- ruary 15, 1907, we cull the following: “The Papacy is one of the greatest institutions that has ever existed 26 WHAT IS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH? in the world, and it looks forward with calm assur- ance to a still greater future. Its dominion extends throughout the world over the only ecumenical Church. All other churches are national or provin- cial in their organization. It reaches back in un- broken succession through more than eighteen cen- turies to St. Peter appointed by the Saviour of the world to be the Primate of the Apostles. It com- mands the greatest central body of Christianity which has ever remained the same organization since Apos- tolic times. ^^The Papacy has a much firmer basis in a number of texts of the New Testament than most Protestants have been willing to recognize. All attempts to ex- plain the ^rock’ in any other sense than as referring to Peter have ignominiously failed. The early chap- ters of the Acts represent him as Chief of the Apos- tolic Community down to the Council of Jerusalem. If we had the continuation of the narrative of St. Peter’s work in Antioch, Western Asia, and finally in Rome, in all probability the same undisputed leadership would appear. It is evident that Jesus, in speaking of St. Peter, had the whole history of His Kingdom in view. We must admit that there must be a sense in which the successors of St. Peter are the rock of the Church and have the authority of the Keys in ecclesiastical government, discipline, and the determination of faith and morals. If the fiock continues the chief shepherd must be the successor of St. Peter to carry on his work as shepherd. The Christian Church from the earliest times recognized 27 WHAT IS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH? the primacy of the Roman Bishop, and all other great sees at times recognized the supreme jurisdiction of Rome in matters of doctrine, government, and disci- pline. When Protestants went so far as to deny all the historic rights of the Papacy, Protestantism set itself in a false position which must ultimately be abandoned.’’ 28 WHAT IS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH? LEADING RELIGIOUS BODIES^ IN THE UNITED STATES Name Date of Origin Founder Catholic 33 Lutheran 1517 Episcopalian 1534 Presbyterian 1560 Reformed (Dutch) 1563 Congregationalist 1580 Baptist 1609 Friends 1648 Moravian 1722 Methodist 1738 Unitarian 1773 Universalist 1785 Christian (Disciples of Christ) 1809 Mormon 1830 Adventist 1831 Salvation Army 1865 Christian Scientist 1874 Spiritualist 1893 Jesus Christ Martin Luther King Henry VIII. John Knox John Calvin Robert Browne John Smyth George Fox Count von Zinzendorf John Wesley Theophilus Lindsey John Murray Thomas Campbell Joseph Smith William Miller William Booth Mary Baker Eddy Many Collaborators The data here given has been gathered from the Encyclopedia Ameri- cana, New York, 1920, 30 vols. The same information may be found in any standard work bearing on the subject. 29 Here is something for which you have been looking — ALTAR AND HOME A monthly magazine setting forth in a plain and popular way the chief events in the Liturgical Life of the Church. Published by the Benedictine Monks of Conception Abbey. You will be astounded at the price. Subscrip- tion, paid in advance, twenty-five cents a year. Four years for one dollar. In bulk, one cent a copy on orders of twenty-five or more copies. Excellent for school and parish distribution. Splendid for private study. If you are not a sub- scriber, become one now. Sample copy sent upon request. Address : Altar and Home Press Conception Abbey Conception, Mo. PAMPHLETS The following pamphlets will be found useful for pamphlet racks, study clubs and general distri- bution. Church or Churches? What is the Catholic Church? What about the Bible? After death—What? These pamphlets are about thirty pages in length and come from the pen of Father Richard Felix, O. S. B. They are the result of many years of missionary experience. Single copy 10 cents; 12 copies for $1.00; $4.00 for fifty copies; $7.00 per hundred. Carriage free. Address: Altar and Home Press Conception Abbey Conception, Mo. THE APOSTLES’ CREED The Fundamental Facts of Faith Presented in a Plain and Popular Way By Father Richard Felix, O.S.B. 200 Pages. 24 Chapters Chapter Titles: God; Man; Faith, The Holy Trinity; Heaven; Creation of the World; Fall of Man; Christ, the Messias of the Old Law; Christ, the God-Man; Christ, the High Priest of the New Law; Mary, the Mother of Jesus; Devotion to Mary; Divine Grace; The Holy Bible; Church and Bible; Church of Christ; Church or Churches; The Church, a Visible Society; The Church of Religious Certainty; The Church of the Cross; The Communion of Saints; Purgatory, Forgiveness of Sins; After Death—What. “This book on the Apostles’ Creed is truly an arsenal of religious information. It covers the Creed completely and convincingly. No Catholic can read this book without a wider knowledge and a deeper appreciation of his holy faith. We know of nothing better to place into the hands of inquiring friends outside the Cliurch” (From the Foreword to the book by Bishop Lillis of Kansas City). “Here is a book which is a storehouse of information for Catholics and non-Catholics. It presents clear, solid informa- tion on each article of the Creed, and answers innumerable questions which bear directly on the matter explained. At no time is Father Felix argumentative. His idea is that Catholics need ready, handy explanation to help them follow the faith, and non-Catholics need enlightenment to dispel their misunder- standings and lack of knowledge of what the Church believes and teaches. So Father Felix’s explanations are fatherly, winning and convincing. The book should do untold good’’ — The Ave Maria. “Serious-minded men and women are looking for just such a plain and positive presentation of the fundamental facts of faith”—The Franciscan Herald. “This is a book that we unreservedly recommend. Who- ever you are, you should get it, and read it”—The Savior’s Call. “Splendid for instruction of converts and for use in study clubs”—The Orate Fratres. “The book is well worth the price”—Our Sunday Visitor. Price $1.00 Postage prepaid. Liberal discount on quantity orders. Address : Altar and Home Press Conception Abbey Conception, Mo.