Traditionally, we speak of the “Four Marks of the Church” as being four unique and foundational qualities of the Church.  These four marks speak to the essence of what the Church is and gives us insight into God, as well, as we ponder the way He designed the Church itself.  The Four Marks are: One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic.

One: All of us realize that there are countless religions and there are even countless Christian denominations.  As we look at the history of Christianity, we can find that there were numerous conflicts that led to splits and to the founding of new churches.  But there is no new Church, there are only new churches.  What I mean is that there is only one Body of Christ, there is only one Church and that one Church is the Church of Christ Jesus.  We believe and profess that this one Church of Christ is found, in its fullness, within the Catholic Church.  As Vatican II is quoted in the Catechism:

“For it is through Christ’s Catholic Church alone, which is the universal help toward salvation, that the fullness of the means of salvation can be obtained. It was to the apostolic college alone, of which Peter is the head, that we believe that our Lord entrusted all the blessings of the New Covenant, in order to establish on earth the one Body of Christ into which all those should be fully incorporated who belong in any way to the People of God” (UR 3 § 5). (CCC #816) 

So the key here is to be able to distinguish between “The Church” and “The Catholic Church.”  We say that the Catholic Church is the instrument through which the fullness of the Church and salvation is found.  But the Church of Christ is also found outside of the visible structures of the Catholic Church to a lesser degree.  Interestingly, though, we would still say that, in a sense, everyone who is a member of Christ is still, in a very real way, a member of His one Catholic Church…they just don’t know it!

The key principle at work here is that of unity.  Christ is one, and His body is one.  This unity comes about especially through charity and faith.  It comes about because we are united in love and faith with Christ our head.  But with that said, there is also incredible diversity in the Church.  Diversity is NOT disunity.  Rather, diversity actually can help to foster true unity.  Diversity refers to the various cultures, languages, traditions and expressions of faith.  So, the concrete way that one worships in Africa may look very different from the way one worships in Europe, Indonesia, Mexico or the United States.  The way we worship today may look different than the way Christians did 500 years ago.  Though the expression may be different and diverse, the faith and charity are the same.   To be continued…