We should respect all men of good will because man was created for God in His image and likeness; as a human being he possesses a special dignity and value. Man, having a spiritual soul and being a more perfect image of God, has dominion over all other earthly creatures. He has a free will and is immortal. For these …

We firmly believe that Jesus Christ made His Catholic Church the ordinary means of Salvation. We should desire to share the Church’s fullness with all mankind. Catholics believe that Jesus Christ placed the work of Salvation in the care of His Church. Speaking to His disciples, Jesus said, “He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects …

As Christ sent His Apostles to teach and to be witnesses to Him in the world, so too, He wants the laity to share in this mission. The duty of proclaiming the Gospel and of making its power felt in the lives of men belongs not only to bishops, priests, deacons, and religious, but also to the laity in the …

There are four marks which point out the true Church founded by Jesus. They are four adjectives: one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. Having made His Church a means of our everlasting happiness, our Lord has stamped it plainly with the mark of its divine origin. In the Nicene Creed we say: “I believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic …

The Church is one because it is unified in belief. The truths which the members of the Catholic Church hold are the truths made known to us by Jesus Himself; they are truths which come to us directly from God. God is Truth. He knows all things and cannot be mistaken. He is infinitely truthful and cannot lie. Whatever God …

Jesus said, “And I have other sheep, that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd” (John 10:16). Jesus prayed to His Father: “That they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may …

All Catholics are united under the same spiritual leadership because Jesus Christ made Peter the chief shepherd of His flock, and provided that Peter’s successors, the Bishops of Rome, would be the heads of His Church and guardians of His truths until the end of time. Loyalty to the Bishop of Rome, the Pope, will ever be the binding center …

We are united in worship because we have but one altar, upon which Jesus Christ daily renews the offering of Himself upon the Cross. Everywhere we have the same Mass and everywhere the same Seven Sacraments. By means of the Eucharist, Christ re-offers Himself to the Father through the ministry of His priests in the Sacrifice of the Mass. At …

The Catholic Church is holy because it was founded by Jesus Christ, Who is all-holy, and because it teaches holy doctrines according to the will of Christ. It provides the means of leading a holy life, thereby giving holy members to every age. We can point to the saints as proof that the holiness of Christ is at work in …

The Catholic Church is missionary because every member shares the command from Christ to carry the Good News of His teaching to all mankind by word and example. The Church, as a community of believers and brotherly love, bears Christian witness by its preaching of the Gospel and its service to others. God has called to be witnesses all those …