LESSON 16: THE CHURCH

Jesus founded the Catholic Church, the Pilgrim Church on earth, to lead us to Heaven. Mary leads us to the Church and to Christ.

1. Where is the Church?
The Church is in Heaven, in purgatory and in this world. The Church in this world is called the Pilgrim Church on earth. A pilgrim is one who travels. We are travelling toward heaven. WE pray for the souls in purgatory so that they can get to heaven. They are being cleaned of their sins. Those in heaven and in purgatory pray for us.

2. Why did Jesus found the Catholic Church, the Pilgrim Church on earth?
Jesus founded the Catholic Church, the Pilgrim Church on earth, to lead us to Heaven.

3. How does one enter the Church, that will lead us to heaven?
One enters the Church, that will lead us to heaven, through baptism.

4. How many Churches did Jesus found?
He founded only one Church, the Roman Catholic Church.

Other Christian groups broke away from the Catholic Church.They have some truths that have come from the Catholic Church, but not all. It is not the fault of the people born in these churches outside the Catholic Church that they are not Catholic. We love them as brothers and call them Christians. We are Christians also. We pray that one day we can all be united.

5. What is the name of the Church Jesus founded?
The name of the Church that Jesus founded is the “Roman Catholic Church.”

The word “Catholic” means universal. Jesus is inviting everyone to enter into the Church. He is inviting people of every skin color, nation, language, time, and place to enter the Church.

We call the Church “Roman” because the Pope, the visible head of the Church lives in Rome. St Peter, the first Pope lived the last part of his life in Rome. He was crucified upside down in Rome. Popes since then, have lived in Rome.

6. When did Jesus make St Peter the visible head of the Church?
Jesus made St Peter the visible head of the Church when Jesus told him: “You are Peter (a name which means rock) and upon this rock I shall build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it… I will give you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven.” (Matthew 16: 18-19)

7. How many Popes have there been in the history of the Church?
There have been 266 Popes in the history of the Church.

St Peter (died in 67 AD)
St Linus (67-76)
St Cletus (76-88)
St Clement (88-97)

…

Saint John Paul II (1978-2005)
Benedict XVI (2005-2013)
Pop Francis (2013 –

Pope Francis is the present Pope.

8. Who are the Bishops?
Just as the Pope has taken the place of St Peter after he died, so Bishops have taken the place of the other Apostles after they died. There is only one Pope, but there are hundreds of Bishops. The Bishop of Los Angeles is Jose Gomez.

9. Do the Pope and the Bishops make new teachings?
No, they do not make new teachings. They safeguard and explain without error truths of faith and morals that has always existed in the Church, and that has come down to us from the Apostles. A statement that we know with absolute certitude to be without error is called an infallible statement.

An infallible statement is able to be made in three ways:

By the Pope alone, when he has the intention of making an infallible statement. At those times we say he is speaking “ex cathedra” (from the chair);
By the Pope and the Bishops in union with him at an ecumenical council, when they have the intention of making an infallible statement; and
By the Pope and the Bishops scattered throughout het world, teaching that something concerning faith and morals is to be held definitively.

We are to believe the official teachings of the Holy Father and of Ecumenical Councils on faith and morals even when they do not speak “ex cathedra.”

10. What is an ecumenical council?
An ecumenical council is a meeting with the Pope and all the bishops of the church. It is called by the Pope to teach and guide the Church. There have been 21 ecumenical councils in the history of the Church. The first was the Council of Nicea in 325, which is most noted for having defined that Jesus is God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. The last ecumenical council (the 21^rst)was Vatican II, which took place between 1962 and 1965. It was an event of gret importance for the life of the Church. One of the most important documents made at Vatican II was the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium which speaks about the mystery of the Church.

11. What happens to people who through no fault of their own do not know that the Catholic Church is the true Church?
Those who through no fault of their own do not know that the Catholic Church is the true Church can still get to heaven if they try to be good and trust in God to forgive them of their sins.

12. Do we have to stay in the Catholic Church to get to heaven?
Yes, we have to stay in the Catholic Church in order to get to heaven, because we know that Jesus founded the Church.

St John Bosco’s Dream of the Church in May, 1862

St John Bosco had a dream. The Pope was on a ship that was being attacked by smaller boats and by a huge storm. Two pillars then rose from the sea. The larger one had a huge Host on it. This was Jesus in the Eucharist. The smaller one had a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary on it. As soon as the Pope tied the ship to those two large pillars the enemy ships fled and the sea calmed. We need devotion to Mary and to the Eucharist to bring calm to the Church and to our own hearts.

The three signs of the true Church of Christ are devotion to the Eucharist, devotion to Mary, and obedience to the Pope.

St Ignatius of Antioch (about 35-109 AD)

The Romans put many early Christians to death. One of these was the holy Bishop, St Ignatius of Antioch, who received the faith from the Apostles. He was captured and taken to Rome. There he received the grace to die as a martyr for Christ in the year 109 AD. He was killed by lions. While traveling from Antioch to Rome he wrote 7 letters. Throughout the whole history of the Church these letters have been greatly esteemed. They show that the early Church had the same beliefs as we do today.

He spoke about the importance of being obedient to our bishops: “He that honors the bishop is honored by God; he that does anything without consulting the Bishop, serves the devil.”

-He wrote that the Church in Rome, and thus the Pope, the Bishop of Rome, had authority over the whole church. It is the “overseer of love.”
-He is the first writer to call the Church “Catholic.” He wrote, “Where Jesus Christ is there is the Catholic Church.”
-He spoke of the real presence of Christ’s Body and Blood in the Eucharist: “the Eucharist is the flesh of Our Redeemer Jesus Christ, who suffered from our sins, and whom the Father in hhis goodness raised from the dead.”
-He spoke of the virginity of Mary.-He revealed his great love for Christ and his desire to die for Him as a martyr, hoping that the lions would not be afraid to devour him: “Let me follow the example of the suffering of my God.”

Holy Popes

From the time that St. Peter was appointed Chief Shepherd of the first little flock of Christians in Palestine, down to the reign of our own glorious Pope, John Paul II, the Church has had many great leaders at its head. If we look over the list of popes that have guided the Church through the ages, we shall find that all of them up to the year 309 with the exception of St Dionysius (+268) were martyrs. And all except two of them up to the year 530 have been venerated as saints.

There were some popes who were noted for immoral lives, but even in them the prayer of Christ sustained their faith (Luke 22:31), so that they never taught in solemn manner any error in faith and morals.

Recently divine providence has given us popes that are not only very learned and very gifted leaders, but men whoare deeply holy, having been either canonized or in the process of being canonized: blessed Pius IX (1846-1878); St Pius X (1903-1914); the Servant of God Pius XII (1939-1958); and Saint John XXIII (1958-1963). From heaven they continue to serve and assist the Church through their prayers as the following two examples demonstrate.

St Pius X (Pope from 1904-1914)

Pope Saint Pius X is called the Pope of frequent Communion. HE promoted effectively the increased practice of daily Holy Communion and allowed children to begin receiving Holy Communion at an early age. He was known for his great holiness during his years as Pope.

In 1951, attorney Francesco Belsani of Naples had a cancerous growth near the right lung. He was too weak to withstand an operation. During the night of August 23 he entered into a crisis. He had a fever and was coughing. All believed that he was at the point of death. Belsani in this time of need turned to Pope Pius X, to whom he had long been devoted. To his surprise, Pius X, coming from heaven, appeared at his bedside. The Saint clapped his hands, as if giving an order, and told the suffering man that the next day he would be well. During the early ours of the morning, without any medical intervention, the man was completely cured, and the tumor was gone. The cure was accepted by the Congregation for the Cause of Saints as one of the miracles used for Pius X’s canonization.

Saint John XXIII (Pope from 1958-1963)

Pope John XXIII on January 25, 1959 called all the Bishops of the world to meet for the Second Vatican Council, which met from 1962 to 1965. He called the Council because of an inspiration of the Holy Spirit. He was noted for his sense of humor and his kindly and. Charitable heart. He fell ll after the first session of the Second Vatican Council and was succeeded by Paul VI.

In 1966, three years after John XXIII’s peaceful death, Sister Caterina Capitani was dying because of a diseased stomach. She had received anointing of the sick and Holy Communion, and at her request was left alone in the hospital room to pray. Saying her rosary, she suddenly felt a hand on her diseased stomach while a man’s gentle voice called her name. The sudden touch and voice startled her, as she had heard no one enter. She turned around and saw Pope John, “smiling and indescribably beautiful” at her side.

“Don’t be afraid,” he told her. “It’s all over. You’re well.”
They spoke together for about 10 minutes. He told he that she would be cured.

She was completely cured and within a short time went back to work. Her cure was proclaimed the official miracle at John XXIII’s beatification in September of 2000.