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"Loyalty to
the Church is loyalty to
Christ."
"For
since none but the true religion can be from God, all other religions
must be from the father of lies; and therefore highly displeasing to the
God of truth." "And
if it be asked which of the many conflicting religions it is necessary
to adopt, reason and the natural law unhesitatingly tell us to practice
that one which God enjoins, and which men can easily recognize by
certain exterior notes, whereby Divine Providence has willed that it
should be distinguished, because, in a matter of such moment, the most
terrible loss would be the consequence of error." (Pope Leo XIII,
"Libertas Praestantissimum", 1888 A.D.) "Let
us love our Lord God, let us love His Church: Him as a Father, her as a
Mother; Him as a Master, her as His Handmaid; for we are the children of
the Handmaid herself. But this marriage is held together by a great
love; no one offends the one and gains favor with the other... What does
it profit you not to have offended your Father, when He will vindicate
your offended Mother? What does it profit you to confess the Lord, to
honor God, to preach Him, to acknowledge His Son, to confess the Son
seated at the right hand of the Father, if you blaspheme His Church...
Cling, then, beloved, cling all with one mind to God our Father
and to the Church our Mother." (St. Augustine, Doctor of the
Church, 5th century
A.D.)
"Such
is the Church: a spiritual, but at the same time an exterior and visible
society; just in the same way as man is spiritual and because of his
soul and material because of his body, which is an essential part of his
being. The Christian, therefore, should love the Church such as God has
made her; he should detest that false and hypocritical spiritualism
which, with a view to subvert the work of Christ, would confine religion
within the exclusively spiritual domain. We never can admit such a
limitation. The Divine Word has assumed our flesh; he permitted his
creature man to hear and see and handle him; and when he organized his
Church on earth, he made it speaking, visible, and so to say
palpable." (Gueranger)
"[T]hose
who arbitrarily conjure up and picture to themselves a hidden and
invisible Church are in grievous and pernicious error: as also are those
who regard the Church as a human institution which claims a certain
obedience in discipline and external duties, but which is without the
perennial communication of the gifts of divine grace, and without all
that which testifies by constant and undoubted signs to the existence of
that life which is drawn from God. It is assuredly as impossible that
the Church of Jesus Christ can be the one or the other, as that man
should be a body alone or a soul alone. The connection and union of both
elements is as absolutely necessary to the true Church as the intimate
union of the soul and body is to human nature." (Pope Leo XIII,
"Satis Cognitum", 1896 A.D.)
"But
the mission of Christ is to save that which had perished: that is to
say, not some nations or peoples, but the whole human race, without
distinction of time or place. 'The Son of Man came that the world
might be saved by Him' (John iii., 17). 'For there is no other
name under Heaven given to men whereby we must be saved' (Acts iv.,
12). The Church, therefore, is bound to communicate without stint to all
men, and to transmit through all ages, the salvation effected by Jesus
Christ, and the blessings flowing therefrom. Wherefore, by the will of
its Founder, it is necessary that this Church should be one in all lands
and at all times. To justify the existence of more than one Church it
would be necessary to go outside this world, and to create a new and
unheard-of race of men." (Pope Leo XIII, "Satis Cognitum",
1896 A.D.)
"You
already know well, venerable brothers, the other portentous errors and
deceits by which the sons of this world try most bitterly to attack the
Catholic religion and the divine authority of the Church and its laws.
They would even trample underfoot the rights both of the sacred and of
the civil power. For this is the goal of the lawless activities against
this Roman See in which Christ placed the impregnable foundation of His
Church. This is the goal of those secret sects who have come forth from
the darkness to destroy and desolate both the sacred and the civil
commonwealth. These have been condemned with repeated anathema in the
Apostolic letters of the Roman Pontiffs who preceded Us We now confirm
these with the fullness of Our Apostolic power and command that they be
most carefully observed." (Bl. Pope Pius IX, "Qui
Pluribus", 1846 A.D.)
"Moreover,
to this Spirit of Christ as to no visible principle is this also to be
attributed, that all parts of the Body are joined to one another as they
are with their exalted head; for He is entire in the Head, entire in the
Body, entire in the individual members, and with these He is present,
and these He assists in various ways, according to their various duties
and offices, according to the greater or less degree of spiritual health
which they enjoy. He is the one who by His heavenly grace is to be held
as the principle of every vital and in fact every salutary act in all
the parts of any body. He is the one who, although He Himself is present
of Himself in all members, and is divinely active in the same, yet in
the inferior members also operates through the ministry of the higher
members; finally, He is the one who, while He always day by day produces
the growth of the Church by imparting grace, yet refuses to dwell
through sanctifying grace in members wholly cut off from the Body.
Indeed, the presence and activity of the Spirit of Jesus Christ are
succinctly and vigorously expressed by Our most wise predecessor, Leo
XIII, of immortal memory in the Encyclical, 'Divinum illud,'
in these words: 'Let it suffice to state this, that, as Christ is
the Head of the Church, the Holy Spirit is her soul.'" (Pope Pius
XII, "Mystici Corporis", June 29, 1943 A.D.)
"[A]
perfect harmony of opinion should prevail; in which intent we find Paul
the Apostle exhorting the Corinthians with earnest zeal and solemn
weight of words: 'Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be
no schisms among you: but that you be perfectly in the same mind, and in
the same judgment.' The wisdom of this precept is readily
apprehended. In truth, thought is the principle of action, and hence
there cannot exist agreement of will, or similarity of action, if people
all think differently one from the other. In the case of those who
profess to take reason as their sole guide, there would hardly be found,
if, indeed, there ever could be found, unity of doctrine. Indeed, the
art of knowing things as they really are is exceedingly difficult;
moreover, the mind of man is by nature feeble and drawn this way and
that by a variety of opinions, and not seldom led astray by impressions
coming from without; and, furthermore, the influence of the passions
oftentimes takes away, or certainly at least diminishes, the capacity
for grasping the truth. On this account, in controlling State affairs
means are often used to keep those together by force who cannot agree in
their way of thinking. It happens far otherwise with Christians; they
receive their rule of faith from the Church, by whose authority and
under whose guidance they are conscious that they have beyond question
attained to truth. Consequently, as the Church is one, because Jesus
Christ is one, so throughout the whole Christian world there is, and
ought to be, but one doctrine: 'One Lord, one faith;' 'but having the same spirit of faith,' they possess the saving
principle whence proceed spontaneously one and the same will in all, and
one and the same tenor of action." (Pope Leo XIII, "Sapientiae
Christianae", 1890 A.D.)
"Hence,
as it is clear that God absolutely willed that there should be unity in
His Church, and as it is evident what kind of unity He willed, and by
means of what principle He ordained that this unity should be
maintained, we may address the following words of St. Augustine to all
who have not deliberately closed their minds to the truth: 'When we see
the great help of God, such manifest progress and such abundant fruit,
shall we hesitate to take refuge in the bosom of that Church, which, as
is evident to all, possesses the supreme authority of the Apostolic See
through the Episcopal succession? In vain do heretics rage round it;
they are condemned partly by the judgment of the people themselves,
partly by the weight of councils, partly by the splendid evidence of
miracles. To refuse to the Church the primacy is most impious and above
measure arrogant. And if all learning, no matter how easy and common it
may be, in order to be fully understood requires a teacher and master,
what can be greater evidence of pride and rashness than to be unwilling
to learn about the books of the divine mysteries from the proper
interpreter, and to wish to condemn them unknown?' (De Unitate Credendi,
cap. xvii., n. 35). It is then undoubtedly the office of the Church to
guard Christian doctrine and to propagate it in its integrity and
purity. But this is not all: the object for which the Church has been
instituted is not wholly attained by the performance of this duty. For,
since Jesus Christ delivered Himself up for the salvation of the human
race, and to this end directed all His teaching and commands, so He
ordered the Church to strive, by the truth of its doctrine, to sanctify
and to save mankind. But faith alone cannot compass so great, excellent,
and important an end. There must needs be also the fitting and devout
worship of God, which is to be found chiefly in the divine Sacrifice and
in the dispensation of the Sacraments, as well as salutary laws and
discipline. All these must be found in the Church, since it continues
the mission of the Savior for ever. The Church alone offers to the
human race that religion - that state of absolute perfection - which He
wished, as it were, to be incorporated in it. And it alone supplies
those means of salvation which accord with the ordinary counsels of
Providence." (Pope Leo XIII, "Satis Cognitum", 1896 A.D.)
"When
about to ascend into heaven He sends His Apostles in virtue of the same
power by which He had been sent from the Father; and he charges them to
spread abroad and propagate His teaching. 'All power is given to Me
in Heaven and in earth. Going therefore teach all nations...teaching
them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you' (Matt.
xxviii., 18-20). So that those obeying the Apostles might be saved, and
those disobeying should perish. 'He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved, but he that believed not shall be condemned' (Mark
xvi., 16)... Hence He commands that the teaching of the Apostles should
be religiously accepted and piously kept as if it were His own - 'He who hears you hears Me, he who despises you despises Me'
(Luke x., 16). Wherefore the Apostles are ambassadors of Christ as He is
the ambassador of the Father. 'As the Father sent Me so also I send
you' (John xx., 21). Hence as the Apostles and Disciples were bound
to obey Christ, so also those whom the Apostles taught were, by God's
command, bound to obey them. And, therefore, it was no more allowable to
repudiate one iota of the Apostles' teaching than it was to reject any
point of the doctrine of Christ Himself. Truly the voice of the
Apostles, when the Holy Ghost had come down upon them, resounded
throughout the world. Wherever they went they proclaimed themselves the
ambassadors of Christ Himself. 'By whom (Jesus Christ) we have
received grace and Apostleship for obedience to the faith in all nations
for His name' (Rom. i., 5). And God makes known their divine
mission by numerous miracles. 'But they going forth preached
everywhere: the Lord working withal, and confirming the word with signs
that followed' (Mark xvi., 20)... [T]he Apostolic mission was not
destined to die with the Apostles themselves, or to come to an end in
the course of time, since it was intended for the people at large and
instituted for the salvation of the human race. For Christ commanded His
Apostles to preach the 'Gospel to every creature, to carry His name
to nations and kings, and to be witnesses to him to the ends of the
earth.' He further promised to assist them in the fulfillment of
their high mission, and that, not for a few years or centuries only, but
for all time - 'even to the consummation of the world.' ...
But how could all this be realized in the Apostles alone, placed as they
were under the universal law of dissolution by death? It was
consequently provided by God that the Magisterium instituted by Jesus
Christ should not end with the life of the Apostles, but that it should
be perpetuated. We see it in truth propagated, and, as it were,
delivered from hand to hand. For the Apostles consecrated bishops, and
each one appointed those who were to succeed them immediately 'in
the ministry of the word.' Nay more: they likewise required their
successors to choose fitting men, to endow them with like authority, and
to confide to them the office and mission of teaching. 'Thou,
therefore, my son, be strong in the grace which is in Christ Jesus: and
the things which thou hast heard of me by many witnesses, the same
command to faithful men, who shall be fit to teach others also' (2
Tim. ii., 1-2). Wherefore, as Christ was sent by God and the Apostles by
Christ, so the Bishops and those who succeeded them were sent by the
Apostles. 'The Apostles were appointed by Christ to preach the
Gospel to us. Jesus Christ was sent by God. Christ is therefore from
God, and the Apostles from Christ, and both according to the will of
God... Preaching therefore the word through the countries and cities,
when they had proved in the Spirit the first-fruits of their teaching
they appointed bishops and deacons for the faithful... They appointed
them and then ordained them, so that when they themselves had passed
away other tried men should carry on their ministry' (S. Clemens
Rom. Epist. I ad Corinth. capp. 42, 44). On the one hand, therefore, it
is necessary that the mission of teaching whatever Christ had taught
should remain perpetual and immutable, and on the other that the duty of
accepting and professing all their doctrine should likewise be perpetual
and immutable. 'Our Lord Jesus Christ, when in His Gospel He
testifies that those who are not with Him are His enemies, does not
designate any special form of heresy, but declares that all heretics who
are not with Him and do not gather with Him scatter His flock and are
His adversaries: He that is not with Me is against Me, and he that
gathereth not with Me scattereth' (S. Cyprianus, Ep. lxix., ad
Magnum, n. I)." (Pope Leo XIII, "Satis Cognitum", 1896
A.D.)
"Now,
if we look at what was done, Jesus Christ did not arrange and organize
such a Church as would embrace several communities similar in kind, but
distinct, and not bound together by those bonds that make the Church
indivisible and unique after that manner clearly in which we profess in
the symbol of faith, 'I believe in one Church.' ... Now, Jesus Christ
when He was speaking of such a mystical edifice, spoke only of one
Church which He called His own: 'I will build my Church' [Matt. 16:18].
Whatever other church is under consideration than this one, since it was
not founded by Jesus Christ, cannot be the true Church of Christ... And
so the Church is bound to spread among all men the salvation
accomplished by Jesus Christ, and all the blessings that proceed
therefrom, and to propagate them through the ages. Therefore, according
to the will of its Author the Church must be alone in all lands in the
perpetuity of time... The Church of Christ, therefore, is one and
perpetual; whoever go apart (from it) wander away from the will and
prescription of Christ the Lord and, leaving the way of salvation,
digress to destruction. But He who founded the only Church, likewise
founded it as one; namely, in such a way that whoever are to be in it,
would be held bound together by the closest bonds, so much so that they
form one people, one kingdom, one body: 'One body and one spirit, as you
are called in one hope of your calling' [Eph. 4:4]... Agreement and
union of minds are the necessary foundation of so great and so absolute
a concord among men, from which a concurrence of wills and a similarity
of action naturally arise... Therefore, to unite the minds of men, and
to effect and preserve the union of their minds, granted the existence
of Holy Writ, there was great need of a certain other principle...
Therefore, Jesus Christ instituted in the Church a living, authentic,
and likewise permanent magisterium, which He strengthened by His own
power, taught by the Spirit of Truth, and confirmed by miracles. The
precepts of its doctrines He willed and most seriously commanded to be
accepted equally with His own... This, then, is without any doubt the
office of the Church, to watch over Christian doctrine and to propagate
it soundly and without corruption... But, just as heavenly doctrine was
never left to the judgment and mind of individuals, but in the beginning
was handed down by Jesus, then committed separately to that magisterium
which has been mentioned, so, also, was the faculty of performing and
administering the divine mysteries, together with the power of ruling
and governing divinely, granted not to individuals [generally] of the
Christian people but to certain of the elect... Therefore, Jesus Christ
called upon all mortals, as many as were, and as many as were to be, to
follow Him as their leader, and likewise their Savior, not only
separately one by one, but also associated and united alike in fact and
in mind; one in faith, end, and the means proper to that end, and
subject to one and the same power... Therefore, the Church is a society
divine in origin, supernatural in its end, and in the means which bring
us closest to that end; but inasmuch as it unites with men, it is a
human community. When the divine Founder decreed that the Church be one
in faith, and in government, and in communion, He chose Peter and his
successors in whom should be the principle and as it were the center of
unity... But, order of bishops, as Christ commanded, is to be regarded
as joined with Peter, if it be subject to Peter and obey him; otherwise
it necessarily descends into a confused and disorderly crowd. For the
proper preservation of faith and the unity of mutual participation, it
is not enough to hold higher offices for the sake of honor, nor to have
general supervision, but there is absolute need of true authority and a
supreme authority which the entire community should obey... Hence those
special expressions of the ancients regarding St. Peter, which
brilliantly proclaim him as placed in the highest degree of dignity and
authority. They everywhere called him prince of the assembly of
disciples, prince of the holy apostles, leader of that choir, mouthpiece
of all the apostles, head of that family, superintendent of the whole
world, first among the apostles, pillar of the Church... But it is far
from the truth and openly opposed to the divine constitution, to hold
that it is right for individual bishops to be subordinate to the
jurisdiction of the Roman Pontiffs, but not for all taken together...
Now this power, about which we speak, over the college of bishops, which
Holy Writ clearly discloses, the Church has at no time ceased to
acknowledge and attest... For these reasons in the decree of the Vatican
Council, regarding the power and authority of the primacy of the Roman
Pontiff, no new opinion is introduced, but the old and uniform faith of
all ages is asserted. Nor, indeed, does the fact that the same (bishops)
are subordinate to a twofold power cause any confusion in
administration. In the first place, we are prohibited from suspecting
any such thing by God's wisdom, by whose counsel that very form of
government was established. Secondly, we should note that the order of
things and their mutual relations are confused, if there are two
magistrates of the same rank among the people, neither of them
responsible to the other. But the power of the Roman Pontiff is supreme,
universal, and definitely peculiar to itself; but that of the bishops is
circumscribed by definite limits, and definitely peculiar to themselves" (Pope Leo
XIII, "Satis Cognitum", June 29, 1897)
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