because her Founder is holy, and her object is to lead all men to holiness; 3. Catholic, or Universal, because she has been established for all nations and for all times (Matt, xxviii. 19), and is, according to the promise of Christ and of the Prophets, to be spread over the whole universe;[1] and 4. Apostolic, because her origin and her doctrine are Apostolic (Eph. ii, 20), and her rulers must be lawful Successors of the Apostles (p. 136, quest. 1821).
32. Which Church has all these four marks?
It is evident that no Church has these four marks except the Roman Catholic—namely, that Church which acknowledges the Pope of Rome as her Head.
33. Why is the Roman Catholic Church evidently 'One'?
Because she has at all times and in all places, 1. The same Faith; 2. The same Sacrifice and the same Sacraments; and 3. A common Head.
34. Why is the Roman Catholic Church evidently 'Holy'?
1. Because her Founder is holy, and she teaches a holy doctrine; 2. Because she faithfully preserves and dispenses all the means of sanctification instituted by Christ; and 3. Because there were in her at all times Saints, whose holiness God has also confirmed by miracles and extraordinary graces (Short Hist. of Revealed Religion, 37, 41, 46).
Abuses and failings of individual members, cannot be imputed to the Church herself, because they did not arise from her doctrine or organization, and were never approved of by her. If a Church were no longer to be the true Church on account of abuses and scandals met with in her, why, then, did Christ Himself compare His Church to a field in which wheat and cockle grow together, and to a net that contains both good and bad fishes? (Matt. xiii.). And where, then, was the true Church in the days of the Apostles? — for even then there were
- ↑ See Dage 109, quest. 17; and page 113, quest. 31.
