The profession of the truth in the Creed has a specific character,
inasmuch as the Church is not only an object of faith, but also its
subject: we ourselves are the Church in which we profess our faith; we
believe in the Church, while at the same time being the Church which
believes and prays. We are the Church in her visible dimension, which
expresses her faith in her own reality as Church, a reality which is divine
and human: two dimensions that are so inseparable that, if one is missing,
the entire reality of the Church, as willed and founded by Christ, is
canceled.
This divine and human reality of the Church is organically joined to the
divine and human reality of Christ Himself. The Church is in a certain
sense the continuation of the mystery of the Incarnation. The Apostle Paul
actually spoke of the Church as the Body of Christ, (Cor 12:27; Eph 1:23;
Col 1:24), just as Jesus compared the Christic-ecclesial "whole" to the
unity of a vine with its branches (John 15: 1-5).
From this premise it follows that believing in the Church, stating in
regard to her the "yes" of acceptance in faith, is a logical consequence of
the entire Creed, and particularly of our profession of faith in Christ,
the God-man. It is a demand resulting from the internal logic of the Creed
and should be kept in mind, especially in our time, when we feel that many
are separating, and even opposing the Church and Christ, when they say, for
example, "Christ - yes, the Church- no!" This opposition is not entirely
new, but has been proposed again in certain parts of the contemporary
world. And so it is good to devote today's catechesis to a calm and
accurate examination of the meaning of our yes to the Church even in
reference to the opposition just mentioned.
We can admit that this opposition to the Church originates within the
particular complexity belonging to our act of faith, by which we say: "I
believe in the Church." One could ask whether it is legitimate to include
among the divine truths to be believed a human, historical, visible reality
such as the Church; a reality which like any human thing, has limitations,
imperfections, sinfulness on the part of the persons who belong to every
level of her institutional structure: lay people as well as ecclesiastics,
even among us Pastors of the Church, without anyone being excluded from
this sad inheritance of Adam.
We must note, however, that Jesus Christ Himself wanted our faith in the
Church to face and overcome this difficulty, when he chose Peter as "the
rock upon which I will build My Church" (Mt. 16:18). We know from the
Gospel, which reports the very words of Jesus, how humanly imperfect and
weak the chosen rock was, as Peter demonstrated at the time of his great
test. The Gospel itself, nevertheless, testifies that Peter's triple
denial, shortly after he had assured the Master of his fidelity, did not
cancel his selection by Christ (Luke 22:23; John 21: 15-17). Rather, one
notices that peter acquires a new maturity through contrition for his sin,
so that after Christ's resurrection he can balance his triple denial with a
triple confession: "Yes, Lord, you know that I love You" (John 21: 15), and
he is able to receive from the risen Christ the triple confirmation of his
mandate as pastor of the Church: "Feed my lambs" (John 21: 15-17). Peter
then proved that he loved Christ "more than these" (John 21: 15), by
serving in the Church, according to his mandate of apostleship and
governance, until his death by martyrdom, his definitive witness for
building the Church.
Next installment: part two.