Volume Iii Part 18 (1/2)
Q. 511. Why do we say it is only possible for a person to be saved who does not know the Catholic Church to be the true Church?
A. We say it is only possible for a person to be saved who does not know the Catholic Church to be the true Church, because the necessary conditions are not often found, especially that of dying in a state of grace without making use of the Sacrament of Penance.
Q. 512. How are such persons said to belong to the Church?
A. Such persons are said to belong to the ”soul of the church”; that is, they are really members of the Church without knowing it. Those who share in its Sacraments and wors.h.i.+p are said to belong to the body or visible part of the Church.
Q. 513. Why must the true Church be visible?
A. The true Church must be visible because its founder, Jesus Christ, commanded us under pain of condemnation to hear the Church; and He could not in justice command us to hear a Church that could not be seen and known.
Q. 514. What excuses do some give for not becoming members of the true Church?
A. The excuses some give for not becoming members of the true church are: (1) They do not wish to leave the religion in which they were born; (2) There are too many poor and ignorant people in the Catholic Church; (3) One religion is as good as another if we try to serve G.o.d in it, and be upright and honest in our lives.
Q. 515. How do you answer such excuses?
A. (1) To say that we should remain in a false religion because we were born in it is as untrue as to say we should not heal our bodily diseases because we were born with them; (2) To say there are too many poor and ignorant in the Catholic Church is to declare that it is Christ's Church; for He always taught the poor and ignorant and instructed His Church to continue the work; (3) To say that one religion is as good as another is to a.s.sert that Christ labored uselessly and taught falsely; for He came to abolish the old religion and found the new in which alone we can be saved as He Himself declared.
Q. 516. Why can there be only one true religion?
A. There can be only one true religion, because a thing cannot be false and true at the same time, and, therefore, all religions that contradict the teaching of the true Church must teach falsehood. If all religions in which men seek to serve G.o.d are equally good and true, why did Christ disturb the Jewish religion and the Apostles condemn heretics?
LESSON TWELFTH.
ON THE ATTRIBUTES AND MARKS OF THE CHURCH.
Q. 517. What is an attribute?
A. An attribute is any characteristic or quality that a person or thing may be said to have. All perfections or imperfections are attributes.
Q. 518. What is a mark?
A. A mark is a given and known sign by which a thing can be distinguished from all others of its kind. Thus a trademark is used to distinguish the article bearing it from all imitations of the same article.
Q. 519. How do we know that the Church must have the four marks and three attributes usually ascribed or given to it?
A. We know that the Church must have the four marks and three attributes usually ascribed or given to it from the words of Christ given in the Holy Scripture and in the teaching of the Church from its beginning.
Q. 520. Can the Church have the four marks without the three attributes?
A. The Church cannot have the four marks without the three attributes, because the three attributes necessarily come with the marks and without them the marks could not exist.
Q. 521. Why are both marks and attributes necessary in the Church?
A. Both marks and attributes are necessary in the Church, for the marks teach us its external or visible qualities, while the attributes teach us its internal or invisible qualities. It is easier to discover the marks than the attributes; for it is easier to see that the Church is one than that it is infallible.
Q. 522. {122} Which are the attributes of the Church?
A. The attributes of the Church are three: authority, infallibility, and indefectibility.
Q. 523. What is authority?
A. Authority is the power which one person has over another so as to be able to justly exact obedience. Rulers have authority over their subjects, parents over their children, and teachers over their scholars.
Q. 524. From whom must all persons derive whatever lawful authority they possess?
A. All persons must derive whatever lawful authority they possess from G.o.d Himself, from whom they receive it directly or indirectly.
Therefore, to disobey our lawful superiors is to disobey G.o.d Himself, and hence such disobedience is always sinful.
Q. 525. {123} 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.