What is the Church?

[theculturewarrior]

Are all the baptized members of the Church, even if they are not in full communion? If the Orthodox Eucharist is the same as the Catholic, what does schism mean?

Does no salvation outside the Church mean outside of baptism, or outside the visible boundaries of the Catholic Church?

[kjvail]

Good question, and at the heart of several controversies in the post-councilar era. I was called a "fundamentalist" in my liberal RCIA class for speaking of "no salvation outside the Roman Catholic Church" which is a dogma of faith. So I'll let the Baltimore Catechism, which asks and answers the question unequivocally speak for me

115. Q. What is the Church?

A. The Church is the congregation of all those who profess the faith of Christ,
partake of the same Sacraments, and are governed by their lawful pastors under
one visible head.




116. Q. Who is the invisible Head of the Church?

A. Jesus Christ is the invisible Head of the Church.




117. Q. Who is the visible Head of the Church?

A. Our Holy Father the Pope, the Bishop of Rome, is the Vicar of Christ
on earth and the visible Head of the Church.




118. Q. Why is the Pope, the Bishop of Rome, the visible
Head of the Church?

A. The Pope, the Bishop of Rome, is the visible Head of the Church because lie
is the successor of St. Peter, whom Christ made the chief of the Apostles and
the visible Head of the Church.




119. Q. Who are the successors of the other
Apostles?

A. The successors of the other Apostles are the bishops of the Holy Catholic
Church.




120. Q. Why did Christ found the Church?

A. Christ founded the Church to teach, govern, sanctify, and save all
men.




121. Q. Are all bound to belong to the Church?

A. All are bound to belong to the Church, and he who knows the Church to
be the true Church and remains out of it cannot be saved.

122. Q. Which are the attributes of the Church?

A. The attributes of the Church are three: authority infallibility, and
indefectibility.




123. Q. What do you mean by the authority of the
Church?

A. By the authority of the Church I mean the right and power which the Pope and
the bishops, as the successors of the Apostles, have to teach and to govern the
faithful.




124. Q. What do you mean by the infallibility of the
Church?

A. By the infallibility of the Church I mean that the Church cannot err when it
teaches a doctrine of faith or morals.




125. Q. When does the Church teach infallibly?

A. The Church teaches infallibly when it speaks through the Pope and the
bishops, united in general council, or through the Pope alone when he proclaims
to all the faithful a doctrine of faith or morals.




126. Q. What o you mean by the indefectibility of the
Church?

A. By the indefectibility of the Church I mean that the Church, as Christ
founded it, will last till the end of time.




127. Q. In whom are these attributes found in their
fullness?

A. These attributes are found in their fullness in the Pope, the visible Head
of the Church, whose infallible authority to teach bishops, priests, and people
in matters of faith or morals will last till the end of the world.




128. Q. Has the Church any marks by which it may be
known?

A. The Church has four marks by which it may be known: it is One; it is Holy;
it is Catholic; it is Apostolic.




129. Q. How is the Church One?

A. The Church is One because all its members agree in one faith, are all in one
communion, and are all under one Head.




130. Q. How is the Church Holy?

A. The Church is Holy because its founder, Jesus Christ, is holy; because it
teaches a holy doctrine; invites all to a holy life; and because of the eminent
holiness of so many thousands of its children.




131. Q. How is the Church Catholic or
universal?

A. The Church is Catholic or universal because it subsists in all ages, teaches
all nations, and maintains all truth.




132. Q. How is the Church Apostolic?

A. The Church is Apostolic because it was founded by Christ on His Apostles,
and is governed by their lawful successors, and because it has never ceased,
and never will cease, to teach their doctrine.




133. Q. In which Church are these attributes and marks
found?

A. These attributes and marks are found in the Holy Roman Catholic Church alone.




134. Q. From whom does the Church derive its undying
life and infallible authority?

A. The Church derives its undying life and infallible authority from the Holy
Ghost, the spirit of truth, who abides with it forever.




135. Q. By whom is the Church made and kept One, Holy,
and Catholic?

A. The Church is made and kept One, Holy, and Catholic by the Holy Ghost, the
spirit of love and holiness, who unites and sanctifies its members throughout
the world.

[Apotheoun]

[quote name='theculturewarrior' date='Feb 7 2005, 01:25 AM']Are all the baptized members of the Church, even if they are not in full communion? If the Orthodox Eucharist is the same as the Catholic, what does schism mean?[/quote]
This is a complex theological question, but suffice to say that if a man knows that membership in the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of St. Peter, is necessary for salvation and then either fails to enter the Church, or if already in her, if he fails to remain in communion with her, it is impossible for him to be saved.

As the Second Vatican Council taught, "Christ, the one Mediator, established and continually sustains here on earth His holy Church, the community of faith, hope and charity, as an entity with visible delineation through which He communicated truth and grace to all. But, the society structured with hierarchical organs and the Mystical Body of Christ, are not to be considered as two realities, nor are the visible assembly and the spiritual community, nor the earthly Church and the Church enriched with heavenly things; rather they form one complex reality which coalesces from a divine and a human element. For this reason, by no weak analogy, it is compared to the mystery of the incarnate Word. As the assumed nature inseparably united to Him, serves the divine Word as a living organ of salvation, so, in a similar way, does the visible social structure of the Church serve the Spirit of Christ, who vivifies it, in the building up of the body.This is the one Church of Christ which in the Creed is professed as one, holy, catholic and apostolic, which our Saviour, after His Resurrection, commissioned Peter to shepherd, and him and the other apostles to extend and direct with authority, which He erected for all ages as 'the pillar and mainstay of the truth.' [i]This Church constituted and organized in the world as a society, [b]subsists[/b] in the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the Bishops in communion with him, although many elements of sanctification and of truth are found outside of its visible structure. These elements, as gifts belonging to the Church of Christ, are forces impelling toward catholic unity[/i]." [Vatican 2, [u]Lumen Gentium[/u], no. 8] Thus it is clear that there is one subsistence of the true Church, and it follows that any particular Church or ecclesial community that is not in communion with the Catholic Church is inherently defective, because such particular Churches and communities do not reflect fully that communion which God has given to His Church. The Fathers of the Second Vatican Council, as Cardinal Ratzinger has made clear, used ". . . the word [i]subsistit[/i] (subsists) exactly in order to make clear that one sole [i]subsistence[/i] of the true Church exists, whereas outside her visible structure only [i]elementa ecclesiae[/i] (elements of Church) exist; these 'being elements of the same Church' end and conduct toward the Catholic Church (Lumen Gentium, 8)." [CDF [u]Notification to Father Leonardo Boff[/u], issued 12 March 1985]

[quote name='theculturewarrior' date='Feb 7 2005, 01:25 AM']Does no salvation outside the Church mean outside of baptism, or outside the visible boundaries of the Catholic Church? [/quote]
It is best to think of it this way: any man who is saved, is saved by the grace of God which necessarily flows to him from the Catholic Church, even if the man in question is invincibly ignorant of this fact.

God bless,
Todd

[cathqat]

[quote name='Apotheoun' date='Feb 7 2005, 08:39 AM'] It is best to think of it this way: any man who is saved, is saved by the grace of God which necessarily flows to him from the Catholic Church, even if the man in question is invincibly ignorant of this fact.
[/quote]
Well said.

There have also been lots of threads on this topic before, recommending many articles on this topic, like this one: "[url="http://www.cuf.org/member/withoutchurch.pdf"]Without the Church There Is No Salvation[/url]."