Marks of the Church: Apostolic

JMJ

The Fourth Mark of the Church!

Apostolic
Catechism of the Council of Trent (aka The Roman Catechism)
The true Church is also to be recognised from her origin, which can be traced back under the law of grace to the Apostles; for her doctrine is the truth not recently given, nor now first heard of, but delivered of old by the Apostles, and disseminated throughout the entire world. Hence no one can doubt that the impious opinions which heresy invents, opposed as they are to the doctrines taught by the Church from the days of the Apostles to the present time, are very different from the faith of the true Church.

That all, therefore, might know which was the Catholic Church, the Fathers, guided by the Spirit of God, added to the Creed the word Apostolic. For the Holy Ghost, who presides over the Church, governs her by no other ministers than those of Apostolic succession. This Spirit, first imparted to the Apostles, has by the infinite goodness of God always continued in the Church. And just as this one Church cannot err in faith or morals, since it is guided by the Holy Ghost; so, on the contrary, all other societies arrogating to themselves the name of church, must necessarily, because guided by the spirit of the devil, be sunk in the most pernicious errors, both doctrinal and moral.

The Apostolicity of the Church
Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma - Ott
Apostolic signifies derived from the Apostles. We distinguish a threefold apostolicity: of origin (apostolicitas originis), of teaching (ap. doctrinae), and of succession in office (ap. succcssionis.)

The Church founded by Christ is apostolic. (De /ide.)

The Niceue Creed confesses: Credo in ... apostolicanl Ecclesiam (D 86). cf. 0 14, 1686.
The dogma asserts: In its origin the Church goes back to the Apostles. She has ahvays adhered to the teaching which she received from the Apostles. The Pastors of the Church, the Pope and the Bishops are connected \vith the Apostles by the succession of office. The apostolicity of the succession guarantees
the unfalsified transnlission of doctrine and makes manifest the organic cotUlection between the Church of the present day and the Church of the Apostles.

Proof: Christ founded His Church on the Apostles, by transferring to them His threefold office, teaching,
pastoral and sacerdotal; and by appointing Peter the supreme pastor and the teacher of the Church (see supra Pars. 4 and s). Christ willed that these offices, and the powers corresponding to them) should be transmitted to their successors, since the purpose of the Church makes it necessary that these be perpetuated. In the wtbroken succession of the Bishops from the Apostles the apostolic character of the Church most clearly appears. It is sufficient to point to the apostolic succession of the Roman Church, because the R~oman bishop is the head of the whole Church and vehicle of the infallible doctrinal power. Consequently the apostolic Church and the unfa~sifi.(".d apostolic teaching are whert~ Peter or his successor is.

Among the Fathers, St. Irenaeus and Tertullian especially, stressed and verified the baqr. principle of Apostolicity against the Gnostic error. They appealed to the tact that the Catholic Church received her teaching from the Apostles, and by the uninterrupted succession of the bishops preserved it in its purity_ The heresies, on the other hand are post-apostolic, or in individual cases where errors may be traced back to apostolic times, of extra-apostolic origin. St. Ircnaeus offers the oldest list of Roman bishops (Adv. haer. III 3, 3; c£ IV 26, 2). Cf. fertullian.. De pracscr. 20-21; 32; 36-37; Adv. Marc. IV s; St. Cyprian,

Ep. 69. 3 ; St. Augustine, Contra ep. Manich3ei. 4. S; Ep. $3, r. 2 (List of Roman Bishops).
St. Thomas teaches that the Apostles and their tcadungs are the secondary foundation of the Church, the prilnary foundation being Christ Himself. Expos. symb. a. 9. Characteristics of the Church The fouf properties of Unity, Sanctity, Catholicity and Apostolicity, sin(:cthey appear externally and are easily recognisable, are not merely properties of being, but at the same time, outer marks of the true Church of Christ. fhe Holy Office, under Pius IX (1864), declared: "The true Church of Christ, by virtue of Divine authority, is constituted and is knowable by the four characteristics, which we confess in the Creed as an object of the Faith n(D 1686; cf. 1793). In Apologetics we show that ofall the Christian confessions the Roman Catholic Church atone possesses at least pre-eminontly these four characteristics.

The Curious Case of Steve Skojec and the Dangers of Deep Diving into the Crisis Sub-Titled: The Failings of Others

+ JMJ It's been a while now since Steve Skojec sold 1P5 and abandoned the Catholic Faith. I've been a 'Trad' since 1982 and in those 40+ years I seen this death-spiral before with a similar end point. It seems that anyone who jumps into the fray unprepared for the enormous task of righting wrongs will, eventually, become discouraged by not the task but the people who surround them. I remember when Skojec complained of the treatment his family received from a traditional priest. This seems to have been the start of the end for him. So what can we learn from the likes of Steve Skojec, Michael Voris (maybe?), Louie Verrecchio, Gerry Matatix and other celebrity Catholics? Probably quite a lot about what not to do. First, don't burn out on the crisis? When you burn out, on work or anything else, little things assume a more greater importance than they are due. This is one of my 'canary in the coal mine' signals that I've been stretching myself too thin

What the heck is a congregation of "Pontifical Right"

+ JMJ In a discussion with a friend the question occurred to me that I didn't actually know was is involved in being a religious order of 'pontifical right'. I had a vague notion that this meant they reported to Rome as opposed to the local diocese. I'm also aware that, according to the accounts I have heard, the Archbishop received 'praise' and the written direction to incardinate priests directly into the SSPX. This is interesting because it implies that the SSPX priests were no longer required to incardinate in the local diocese but in the SSPX. This is something that belongs to an order of 'pontifical right'. Anyway here's some definitions: Di diritto pontificio is the Italian term for “of pontifical right” . It is given to the ecclesiastical institutions (the religious and secular institutes, societies of apostolic life) either created by the Holy See or approved by it with the formal decree, known by its Latin name, Decretu

De Veritate - St. Thomas Aquinas - What is necessary to believe explicitly?

I was recently introduced to a work of St. Thomas De Veritate ( Source ) in the course of an argument concerning the minimum content of explicit faith. When I submitted the following quote as proof: Theological faith, that is, a supernatural faith in Revelation, is necessary, and this is an effect of grace (D 1789); nemini unquam sine ilIa contigit iustificatio (D 1793). As far as the content of this faith is concerned, according to Hebr. 11, 6, at least the existence of God and retribution in the other world must be firmly held, necessitate medii (by the necessity of means) with explicit faith. In regard to the Trinity and the Incarnation, implicit faith suffices. The supernatural faith necessary for justification is attained when God grants to the unbeliever by internal inspiration or external teaching a knowledge of the truths of Revelation, and actual grace to make the supernatural act of faith. Cf. De verite 14, I I.Ott - Fundamentals of Dogma p241 In response my opponent wrot

Morning and Evening and other sundry Prayers

+ JMJ Along the theme of P^3 (Prayer, Penance, Patience), and for my own reference ... here is a collection of Morning and Evening prayers from the Ideal Daily Missal along with some additional prayers. In this crisis of the Church, I do not think it is possible to do too much prayer, penance and have patience. P^3

Gary Campbell - Former SSPX Priest

+ JMJ I've come across Gary Campbell's articles on Where Peter Is and noticed that he seems to have very strong biases, assumptions and reactions to anything that runs against these. Driven by curiosity I have found a copy of his letter to Bishop Fellay explaining his reasons for leaving the SSPX only five years after his ordination in Winona. I was surprised to learn that I was present for his ordination. Given this, I was interested in reviewing his letter to Bishop Fellay. There will be two versions in this post. The unblocked and blocked letter. The unblocked is, obviously the full letter. The block, meaning unnecessary text will be blocked out, is a technique I use to remove ancillary text while focusing on key phrases. After completing my read, I believe that the root of much of what caused the issues with Fr. Campbell could be the seeds of the 'resistance' that, when the same perceptions were challenged by continued negotiations with Rome resulted in the necessa

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