One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic
How can a Church full of sinners be holy?
Main teaching: De fide
The big question
The Creed calls the Church “holy”. Yet the Church’s history includes corruption, violence and abuse, and every Catholic knows sinners in the pews, including themselves. How can the Church honestly be called holy? And what does it mean to call it “one” when Christians are divided into so many churches?
What the Church teaches
The Church is one, holy, catholic and apostolic (Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, 381; DH 150; CCC 811).
How sure is this? De fide.
The one Church of Christ “subsists in” the Catholic Church, governed by the successor of Peter and the bishops in communion with him. Yet many elements of sanctification and truth are found outside its visible structure (Lumen Gentium 8; CCC 816, 819).
The Church is holy, yet always in need of purification, because it embraces sinners in its bosom (Lumen Gentium 8; CCC 827).
How sure is this? Church teaching, set out by Vatican II.
Where it comes from
One. Jesus prayed on the night before he died “that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you” (John 17:21). St Paul insists on “one body and one Spirit… one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Ephesians 4:4–5).
Holy. “Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her”, to present her “without spot or wrinkle” (Ephesians 5:25–27). Yet Jesus also taught that in his kingdom the wheat and the weeds grow together until the harvest (Matthew 13:24–30).
Catholic. Christ sends the apostles to “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19).
Apostolic. The Church is “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone” (Ephesians 2:20).
The early Church. St Cyril of Jerusalem (died 386) explained to new Christians why the Church is called catholic: it extends throughout the world, teaches all the truths of faith, gathers every kind of person, and heals every kind of sin (Catechetical Lectures 18.23). St Augustine, against the Donatists who wanted a Church of the pure only, insisted that the Church on earth is a mixed body of saints and sinners.
How theologians explain it
The four marks. Each mark is both a gift Christ gives and a task the Church must live out:
| Mark | What it means | How it is visible |
|---|---|---|
| One | One faith, one set of sacraments, one government under the successor of Peter | The same Creed and Eucharist on every continent |
| Holy | Its founder, its means of grace and its goal are holy; it produces saints | The saints of every age; the sacraments |
| Catholic | Universal: it has the fullness of the faith and is sent to all people | Present in every nation and culture |
| Apostolic | Founded on the apostles, keeping their teaching, governed by their successors | The unbroken succession of bishops |
How a Church of sinners is holy. The Church’s holiness does not come from its members’ track record. It comes from its source, Christ, who makes it holy; from its means, the sacraments and the Word; from its goal, which is holiness; and from its fruit, the saints. The Catechism says the Church is holy, though it has sinners in it, because it has no other life than the life of grace (CCC 827). The sins of Catholics, including those of clergy, are real and must be named honestly. They are a betrayal of the Church’s holiness, not a sign that it never existed.
“Subsists in”. Vatican II chose this phrase carefully. It affirms that the Church of Christ is fully present, with all its means of salvation, in the Catholic Church; it does not say the Church of Christ is present nowhere else in any way. Other Christian communities have real elements of the Church: Scripture, Baptism, faith in Christ, and in the Orthodox churches the apostolic succession and all the sacraments (Lumen Gentium 15; CCC 819, 838). Their members are Christians, brothers and sisters, in real though imperfect communion with the Catholic Church.
The Church as a sign. Vatican I taught that the Church itself, by its wonderful spread, its holiness, its fruitfulness in good works, its unity and its unshaken stability, is a great and lasting motive of credibility, like a banner raised among the nations (Dei Filius ch. 3; DH 3013). Walshe’s chapters on the life of the Church develop this argument.
Philosophy bridge
The philosophy course explains how a visible sign can make known something not directly seen. Vatican I teaches that the Church itself is such a sign: its unity, holiness and endurance across two thousand years point to its divine origin, much as a work of art points to the skill of its maker.
What the Church does not claim
- Not that Catholics are sinless. The Church is holy and always in need of purification.
- Not that other Christians are not Christians. The baptised are joined to Christ and to his Church, though not in full communion.
- Not that unity means uniformity. The Church includes many rites, cultures and legitimate traditions, such as the Eastern Catholic Churches.
- Not that “catholic” means European. The Church is at home in every culture.
Check your understanding
- Name the four marks of the Church and say briefly what each means.
Show answer
One (one faith, sacraments and government); holy (its source, means and goal are holy, and it produces saints); catholic (universal, with the fullness of faith for all people); apostolic (founded on the apostles and governed by their successors).
- How can the Church be holy if its members sin?
Show answer
Its holiness comes from Christ its founder, from its sacraments and Word, from its goal, and from its saints, not from its members’ record. It is holy and at the same time always in need of purification.
- What does Vatican II mean by saying the Church of Christ “subsists in” the Catholic Church?
Show answer
That the Church of Christ is fully present, with all its means of salvation, in the Catholic Church, while real elements of the Church, such as Scripture and Baptism, are also found outside its visible structure.
- How did St Augustine answer the Donatists?
Show answer
He insisted that the Church on earth is a mixed body of saints and sinners, like the wheat and weeds growing together, not a Church of the pure only.
- How does Vatican I say the Church itself can be a reason to believe?
Show answer
By its wonderful spread, holiness, fruitfulness in good works, unity and stability, the Church is a lasting motive of credibility, like a banner raised among the nations.