CONGREGATION
FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH
DECLARATION
"DOMINUS IESUS"
ON THE UNICITY AND SALVIFIC UNIVERSALITY
OF JESUS CHRIST AND THE CHURCH
IV. UNICITY AND UNITY OF THE CHURCH
16. The Lord Jesus, the only Saviour,
did not only establish a simple community of disciples,
but constituted the Church as a salvific mystery:
he himself is in the Church and the Church is in him
(cf. Jn 15:1ff.; Gal 3:28; Eph
4:15-16; Acts 9:5). Therefore, the fullness
of Christ's salvific mystery belongs also to the Church,
inseparably united to her Lord. Indeed, Jesus Christ
continues his presence and his work of salvation in
the Church and by means of the Church (cf. Col
1:24-27),47 which is his body (cf. 1 Cor
12:12-13, 27; Col 1:18). 48
And thus, just as the head and members of a living
body, though not identical, are inseparable, so too
Christ and the Church can neither be confused nor
separated, and constitute a single “whole Christ”.
49 This same inseparability
is also expressed in the New Testament by the analogy
of the Church as the Bride of Christ (cf.
2 Cor 11:2; Eph 5:25-29; Rev
21:2,9). 50
Therefore, in connection with the
unicity and universality of the salvific mediation
of Jesus Christ, the unicity of the Church founded
by him must be firmly believed as a truth
of Catholic faith. Just as there is one Christ, so
there exists a single body of Christ, a single Bride
of Christ: “a single Catholic and apostolic
Church”. 51 Furthermore,
the promises of the Lord that he would not abandon
his Church (cf. Mt 16:18; 28:20) and that
he would guide her by his Spirit (cf. Jn
16:13) mean, according to Catholic faith, that the
unicity and the unity of the Church — like everything
that belongs to the Church's integrity — will
never be lacking. 52
The Catholic faithful are required
to profess that there is an historical continuity
— rooted in the apostolic succession 53
— between the Church founded by Christ and the
Catholic Church: “This is the single Church
of Christ... which our Saviour, after his resurrection,
entrusted to Peter's pastoral care (cf. Jn
21:17), commissioning him and the other Apostles to
extend and rule her (cf. Mt 28:18ff.), erected
for all ages as ‘the pillar and mainstay of
the truth' (1 Tim 3:15). This Church, constituted
and organized as a society in the present world, subsists
in [subsistit in] the Catholic Church, governed
by the Successor of Peter and by the Bishops in communion
with him”. 54 With the
expression subsistit in, the Second Vatican
Council sought to harmonize two doctrinal statements:
on the one hand, that the Church of Christ, despite
the divisions which exist among Christians, continues
to exist fully only in the Catholic Church, and on
the other hand, that “outside of her structure,
many elements can be found of sanctification and truth”,
55 that is, in those Churches
and ecclesial communities which are not yet in full
communion with the Catholic Church. 56
But with respect to these, it needs to be stated that
“they derive their efficacy from the very fullness
of grace and truth entrusted to the Catholic Church”.
57
17. Therefore, there exists a single
Church of Christ, which subsists in the Catholic Church,
governed by the Successor of Peter and by the Bishops
in communion with him. 58 The
Churches which, while not existing in perfect communion
with the Catholic Church, remain united to her by
means of the closest bonds, that is, by apostolic
succession and a valid Eucharist, are true particular
Churches. 59 Therefore, the
Church of Christ is present and operative also in
these Churches, even though they lack full communion
with the Catholic Church, since they do not accept
the Catholic doctrine of the Primacy, which, according
to the will of God, the Bishop of Rome objectively
has and exercises over the entire Church. 60
On the other hand, the ecclesial
communities which have not preserved the valid Episcopate
and the genuine and integral substance of the Eucharistic
mystery, 61 are not Churches
in the proper sense; however, those who are baptized
in these communities are, by Baptism, incorporated
in Christ and thus are in a certain communion, albeit
imperfect, with the Church. 62
Baptism in fact tends per se toward the full development
of life in Christ, through the integral profession
of faith, the Eucharist, and full communion in the
Church. 63
“The Christian faithful are
therefore not permitted to imagine that the Church
of Christ is nothing more than a collection —
divided, yet in some way one — of Churches and
ecclesial communities; nor are they free to hold that
today the Church of Christ nowhere really exists,
and must be considered only as a goal which all Churches
and ecclesial communities must strive to reach”.
64 In fact, “the elements
of this already-given Church exist, joined together
in their fullness in the Catholic Church and, without
this fullness, in the other communities”. 65
“Therefore, these separated Churches and communities
as such, though we believe they suffer from defects,
have by no means been deprived of significance and
importance in the mystery of salvation. For the spirit
of Christ has not refrained from using them as means
of salvation which derive their efficacy from the
very fullness of grace and truth entrusted to the
Catholic Church”. 66
The lack of unity among Christians
is certainly a wound for the Church; not in the sense
that she is deprived of her unity, but “in that
it hinders the complete fulfilment of her universality
in history”. 67
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