The Catholic

Church: 
HER IDENTITY
AND MISSION

ReEd 203
 "Ekklesia"
Translated as

Origin of the "church" basically

means 'CALLED OUT'
and was commonly
Term Church used to indicate an
"ASSEMBLY" of
citizens of the Greek.

Citizens who were quite conscious of their privileged status

over against slaves and non-citizens were called to the
assembly by a herald and dealt with matters of common
concerns.
  TANAKH – people
of God.
Use more than one
hundred times in the
Greek translation of
the Tanakh.
Ekklesia in the New
Covenant Scriptures.
EKKLESIA

Hebrew word Qahal Ex: assembling of

which meant Prophets, soldiers,
'assembly' people of God.
 OLD NEW
TESTAMENT "People of God
TESTAMENT
called together" or an
QAHAL "assembly convoked by
God."
EKKLESIA

This faith-conviction that God is the ever-present source and ground for the Church is the reason for
explaining the Church as "mystery" and "sacrament."
 • Latin ecclesia
• Greek ek-ka-lein, to "call out of" means
CHURCH
convocation or an assembly.

Church, God is "calling

•Universal community of believers.
together" his people from Body of Christ
•
• Mystery of God's incredible loving grace.
all the ends of the earth.

• Used frequently in the Greek Old

Testament for the assembly of the
Ekklesia  Chosen People before God.
• "those called apart."

• Kirche in German that means "what

Kyriaka in belongs to the Lord."
Greek (english Church).
Catholic Church the first use of the term "Catholic
Church" (literally meaning "universal
church") was by the church father Saint
Ignatius of Antioch in his letter to the
Symrnaeans (circa 110 AD). 
known for Roman Catholic Church

world's oldest and largest

continuously functioning
international institutions

played role in the history

and development of
Western civilization. headed by the Bishop of Rome,
known as the Pope. The successor of
Christ's apostles and that the pope is
Teaches that it is the One, Holy, the successor to Saint Peter.
Catholic and Apostolic church
founded by Jesus Christ.
central administration is
the Holy See.
 Saint Ignatius of Antioch

• Ignatius of Antioch is also

attributed the earliest
recorded use of the term
"Christianity" 100 A.D.
• He died in Rome, with his
relics located in the
Basilice of San Clemente al
Laterano.
 Nature of the Church
1. Church as a mystery
• The word mystery does not indicate simply that a thing is unknowable or hidden.
• A reality imbued with the hidden presence of God which cannot be fully captured and explained by
human thought.
• Church is a divine, transcendent, and a salvific reality which is visibly present among men.
• "Church is in history," but at the same time she transcends.
• "with the eye of faith"
• Church as a salvific reality, is a mystery because of her inexhaustible richness (cf. CFC 1356) and as such,
become a reality which we can never fully grasp because there is always more to learn (cf. NCDP 200).
• God-given reality.
• A Church is a mystery simple means:
A. That it is a reality imbued with the hidden presence of God...always open to new and greater
exploration
B. Has a unique relation to God Himself and with all of God's people called to salvation.
Instrument of Spirit of Christ uses in order to sanctify
and save men (LG 8) • The mystery of the Incarnate World;

 Human
 Earthly
 Visible
 Juridicial
 Hierarchic
 Social part

Church is a mystery because of her

relationship to the Father, Son and Holy
Spirit. It manifests the Blessed Trinity by both
its nature and mission.
 The Church arose
ORIGIN from the saving design
of the Father, 
the redemptive
mission of the Son 
and the sanctifying
work of the Spirit.

Just as the Trinity is a

STRUCTU community, the
communion of love of
the Church is a
community of
together by Christ in
the power of the Holy
RE the Father, Son and
Holy Spirit, so too, 
believers drawn  Spirit.

The Church originates

MISSION "from the mission of

the Son and the Holy
 in accordance with the
decree of
 God the Father," (PCP
11 103).
Spirit,

The destiny of the

DESTINY Church is the full
realization 
of this communion in
the Kingdom of 
God at the end of time.
2. Church as Sacrament of Christ
"Whoever has
    Sacrament is a special kind of sign or seen me, has seen
symbol, an efficacious symbol, something the Father" (Jn. 14:9)
concrete that brings about what it points
to.

Church  is the sacrament or sign

of intimate union with God,
and of the unity of all mankind.​

an instrument for
the achievement
of such unity.
 Church is Christ's
presence for mankind, an
outward visible sign of
God's loving gift of
Himself in human history.
 1. Church is one. The Trinity: Our source of
unity
The Four Marks
2. The Church is also holy
of the Church
3. The Church is also Catholic. St. Ignatius of
 (Essential Antioch
Characteristics of the
Church) 4. Church is apostolic
 •Church is one for three reasons:

 First, because of its source, which is the

Holy Trinity, a perfect unity of three divine
persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit;

 Second, because of its founder, Jesus

Church is one. The Christ, who came to reconcile all mankind
through the blood of the cross; and
Trinity: Our source
of unity  Third, because of its "soul," the Holy
Spirit, who dwells the souls of the faithful,
who unites all of the faithful into one
communion of believers, and who guides
the church (CCC#813).
Threats to
unity
HERESY APOSTASY SCHISM
• is a baptized person's • is a baptized person's • is a refusal to submit to
obstinate denial of turning her or his back the Pope, or
some fundamental on the faith. abandoning the
truth. It is concerned • St. Thomas Aquinas fellowship of those
only with the elements terms this "a who are faith to him.
of our faith that have blacksliding" • St. Thomas observes,
been explicity defined "...schematics... are
by the Church. those who willfully and
intentionally separate
themselves from the
unity of the Church.  
 The Church is also holy

Through its teaching, prayer and worship, and good works, the
Church is a visible sign of holiness.
The Church is also Catholic. St.
Ignatius of Antioch (c. 100)

• meaning "UNIVERSAL" 
• "Go therefore and make
disciples of all nations.
Baptizing them in the name
of the Father, and of the son
and of the Holy Spirit."
(Matthew 28:19)
• Understanding of the
communion of saints – the
union of the faithful in
Heaven, in Purgatory, and on
earth. 
 Church is apostolic

The Church is also

apostolic in that the
deposit of faith found in
both Sacred Scripture
and Sacred Tradition
was preserved, taught,
and handed on by the
apostles.
 Profession of Faith

Creeds (from Latin credo meaning "I believe") are concise doctrinal statements or confessions,
usually of religious beliefs. They began as baptismal formulas and were later expanded during
the Christological controversies of the 4th and 5th centuries to become statements of faith.
 THE APOSTLES CREED ​

(Symbolum Apostolorum) was
developed between the 2nd and 9th centuries. It is
the most popular creed used in The Nicene Creed
worship by Western Christians. ​
Its central doctrines are those of the Trinity and God
the creator. Each of the doctrines found in this creed Largely a response  to Arianism, was
can be traced to statements current in the apostolic
period. The creed was apparently used as a summary formulated at the Councils of Nicaea
of Christian doctrine for baptismal candidates in the and Constantinople in 325 and 381
churches of Rome.​ respectively, and ratified as the
​ universal creed of Christendom by the
Council of Ephesus in 431. It sets out
the main principles of Catholic
Christian belief. This creed is recited at
Sunday Masses and is the core
statement of belief in many other
Christian churches as well.
 The Chalcedonian Creed  The Athanasian Creed
Developed at the Council of Received in the western Church as
Chalcedon in 451, though not having the same status as the Nicene
accepted by the Oriental Orthodox and Chalcedonian, says: "We
Churches, taught Christ "to be worship one God in Trinity, and
acknowledge in two natures, in Trinity in Unity; neither confounding
confusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, the Persons nor dividing the
inseparably': one divine and one Substance.
human, and that both natures are
perfect but are nevertheless
perfectly united into one person.
Characteristics
of the People of
God
God is the cause. He is Not by physical birth, Is Jesus Christ (the

Members

Head
Cause 

no the property of any but by being "born a anointed, the Messiah).

one people. But he new, "a birth "of water Because the same
acquired a people for and the Spirit, "that is, anointing, the Holy
himself from those who by faith in Christ, and Spirit, flows from the
previously were not a Baptism; are "those head into the body, this
people: "a chosen race, who believe in Christ." is "the messianic
a royal priesthood, a People"
holy nation.
Status Law Mission Destiny
• Is of the dignity and • Is the new • Is to be the salt of the • Is the final Kingdom of
freedom of the sons of commandment to love as earth and light of the God which has been
God, in whose hearts the Christ loved us. This is world. This people is "a begun by God himself on
Holy Spirit dwells as in a the "new" law of the most sure seed of unity, earth and which must be
temple. Holy Spirit. hope and salvation for further extended until it
the whole human race. has been brought to
perfection by him at the
end of time. (CCC 782)
A. Body of Christ
• "He who hears you, hears me.
He who rejects you, rejects me"
(Luke 10:16)
• " I assure you, whatever you did
for one of these least brothers
of mine, you did for me"
(Matthew 25:40)
• Thus, the Church is not just like
a body, but is the Body of Christ,
really made one in Him, in His
"mystical" Body.
• Christ's body can refer to:
• Physical body of the Historical
Jesus
• Eucharistic Body. Making
sacramentally present to us the
Person of the Risen Christ.
• Mystical Body, the Church
 B. Temple of
the Holy Spirit
• St. Paul wrote: "You are the temple,
and spirit of God dwells in you" (1
Corinthians 3:16; 1 Corinthians 6: 19-
20)
• Traditional Teaching of the Church
declares "As Christ is the Head of the
Church, so is the Holy Spirit its soul"
• It is the action of the Holy Spirit that
creates the church
• Communio sanctorum ...communion
peccatur" - community of saoints,
community of sinners
C. Kingdom of God
• The Church is the initial Budding forth of the Kingdom
• The Kingdom of God is the Present – future reality
• It is already here but not yet in full establishment
• The Kingdom of God is God's ultimate rule which demands new attitudes
and Change or relationship
Created by:
Judil T. Banastao
BSBA FM,2