Catholic Q & A → Nature and Identity of the Church

The news media reported that on June 29, 2007 the Vatican issued a document saying that the Catholic Church is the only true Church. Is this report true? If so, what does it mean?

Relevant Documents:

Answer:

It must be said up front that many of the secular news media reports failed to accurately convey the full content and meaning of the Congregation For The Doctrine of the Faith's recent document regarding the doctrine on the Church. You are invited to read the document for yourself (see the above links) and also read the short article below to learn what was actually written.

The Catholic Church Responds to Certain Questions:

In response to a number of queries addressed to the Congregation For The Doctrine Of The Faith (CDF) regarding the nature and identity of the Church, William Cardinal Levada, Prefect for the Congregation, issued a document on June 29, 2007, the Solemnity of the Apostles Peter and Paul, titled “Responses To Some Questions Regarding Certain Aspects of the Doctrine On The Church” (hereafter called the "Response"). These responses were ratified and confirmed by His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI who ordered their publication. The English translation of this document may be viewed on the Vatican website (see above link).

The "Response" is essentially intended for Catholics... bishops, priests, deacons, theologians, religious, Catholic educators and laity. It states that reflection on the doctrine of the Church in recent times has not been "immune from erroneous interpretation which in turn give rise to confusion and doubt." This has led to certain questions which have been submitted to the CDF for clarification. The CDF document is a response to these questions.

Main Points Made in the CDF Document:

  1. The Second Vatican Council (Vatican II) did not change the doctrine on the Church. The "Response" says nothing new. The "Response" reitterates what was written in "Dominus Iesus" in August, 2000. The "Response" reitterates what was taught by Vatican II. The "Response" simply reaffirms the constant teaching of the Church throughout the centuries.
  2. Jesus Christ established on earth only one Church.
  3. Although "numerous elements of sanctification and of truth" are found outside her visible structure, it is only in the Catholic Church that the fullness of the Church established by Christ is found.
  4. The particular, local churches of the Eastern Orthodox Church are properly called sister Churches of the particular, local Churches of the Catholic Church because these Orthodox Churches have preserved apostolic succession and the sacramental priesthood.
  5. Other communities of Christian believers (non-Catholic and non-Orthodox) rejected and therefore lack "apostolic succession in the sacrament of Orders" and a "sacramental priesthood" necessary to preserving the "genuine and integral substance of the Eucharistic Mystery". Lacking these necessary, essential elements of the Church, these ecclesial communities "cannot, according to Catholic doctrine, be called 'Churches' in the proper sense".

The "Response" is not a polemical attack on non-Catholics.

It is important to understand that the "Response" is not a polemical attack on non-Catholic Christians. The Catholic Church simply understands "Church" to possess a certain meaning and nature. Our understanding of what "Church" means is not shared by non-Catholic, Christian faiths. The "Response" states:

"Christ 'established here on earth' only one Church and instituted it as a 'visible and spiritual community', that from its beginning and throughout the centuries has always existed and will always exist, and in which alone are found all the elements that Christ himself instituted."

The non-Catholic Christian faiths are not insignificant or unimportant and the Catholic Church recognizes that God has worked through them as instruments of salvation. The "Response" states:

"It follows that these separated churches and Communities, though we believe they suffer from defects, are deprived neither of significance nor importance in the mystery of salvation. In fact the Spirit of Christ has not refrained from using them as instruments of salvation, whose value derives from that fullness of grace and of truth which has been entrusted to the Catholic Church."

The Prefect of the CDF, Cardinal William J. Levada, stated in an interview with the Weekly Newspaper of the San Francisco Archdiocese that the Catholic Church does not "deny that the Holy Spirit who guides the Church is also working with his gifts of grace and truth in those other communities and churches."

The "Response" is a clarification, given to Catholic believers and teachers, on the meaning and nature of "Church".

We (mankind) did not create the Church, Jesus Christ did, and He, not mankind, established it with certain gifts and elements. Cardinal Levada stated in the above-referenced interview that the Church is, "...a gift from God. And we have to accept that gift. We have to accept the elements of that gift. Take the Eucharist, for example. Not optional. Apostolic succession is not optional."

It is only in the Catholic Church that the fullness of the Church established by Christ is found. This is a dogma of the Church, a truth that must be embraced by Catholics even while Catholics seek eccumenical reconciliation with non-Catholics. Pope John Paul II, in his encyclical on ecumenism, "Ut unum sint", stated:

"A 'being together' which betrayed the truth would thus be opposed both to the nature of God who offers his communion and to the need for truth found in the depths of every human heart."

The "Response" simply identifies that Catholics and non-Catholic Christians mean different things when they say "Church". It thus is intended to serve the "truth" spoken of by Pope John Paul II in "Ut unum sint".

Nothing new:

A final note to clear up a persistent point of confusion. People have asserted that Vatican II somehow changed the teaching on the nature and identity of the Church. The "Repsonse" intends, by both explicit statement and reference to Vatican II and post-Vatican II documents, to show that this is not the case. This document does not undo changes, it corrects erroneous ideas that have managed to be suggested by some to be new Church teaching.