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Antonia
Nowers-Kessler
wrote:
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Hi, guys —
I'm gonna ask one question at a time I think.
I searched the knowledge base base but couldn't find an
answer.
- What proof is there that Jesus founded
the Catholic Church and not just, say,
any church that claims faith in Him?
- How do we know that the Catholic Church
just isn't the oldest of all the man-oriented
denominations?
Thanks so much,
Antonia
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How
do we know that the Catholic Church just isn't
the oldest man-oriented of denominations? }
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Mary
Ann replied:
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Antonia,
In Scripture, He said Peter was the
foundation rock of His Church. (Matthew 16:13-19)
The
Catholic Church is the only Church
with succession from Peter. It is
the only Christian Church that has
existed since the time of Christ.
- The Church of the Apostles
- the Church of the Scriptures
- the Church of the post-Apostolic
Fathers and the martyrs
- the Church of St. Augustine
was the Catholic Church.
Mary Ann
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Paul
replied:
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Antonia,
We know not only from faith but also
from historical records that Jesus
established His New Community on
the Twelve Apostles, Peter being
its head (Matthew 16:16-19; Luke
22:32).
We know that Jesus won for His New
Covenant people, the Holy Spirit,
who was sent nine days after His
Resurrection to Peter and the apostles
(Acts 2:1-4, 2:14-41), which was promised
to them by Christ a number of times
before Jesus died. This union of
the Holy Spirit through the Apostles
gave birth to the Catholic or universal Church. Before this occurred on Pentecost
Sunday, Jesus established the seven
sacraments with them as well as Church
authority and infallibility
(Matthew 16:19; Luke 10:16), all
of which remain in His Catholic Church.
It is through the historical succession
of this authority, a power of the
Holy Spirit given to the Apostles
or original Magisterium, that we
see the growth of Christ's Church
through time and space. In an unbroken
line of succession, the Holy Spirit
continues the Church Christ promised
and established on the hierarchy
of Peter and the Apostles up to
today's pope and bishops.
That Church, that Christ established
and the Holy Spirit continues to
animate and lead, is fully present
in the Catholic Church. Any other
Christian denomination that has broken
off from Christ's Church in the past
2,000 years is objectively in schism. It (that denomination) contains a portion of the Truth
and Life Christ has given, to the
degree that it has maintained union with the Catholic Church, of whose fullness still subsists to this day.
Paul
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Mike
replied:
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Hi, Antonia —
It's just a matter of looking at
Church history. Also, check out my
home page and what St. Pacian of Barcelona said before 375 A.D.
Interesting factoid: The
first use of the term Catholic is
in 110 A.D., where St. Ignatius of
Antioch, a martyr, later thrown to
the lions, wrote to a church in Asia
Minor. There he said:
Where the bishop is, there
let the people gather; just as
where ever Jesus Christ is, there
is the Catholic Church.
Antioch was also where the term Christian
was first used.
Mike
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