An Apologetical Explanation of the

Marks of the Church

What are the “marks” of the Church?

“Now I am no more in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you.  Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one…. I do not pray that you should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil one…. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.”  (Jn 17:11-17)

The marks of the Church are four essential, indivisible characteristics of the Church (Cf. DS 2888), possessed by virtue of her having been founded by Christ and her divine mission; they are enumerated in the Nicene Creed.  “This is the one Church of Christ which in the Creed is professed as one, holy, catholic and apostolic” (LG 8).  (Cf. CCC 811-812)

The Church is One because she was founded by Christ.  St. Paul described the Church as the Mystical body of Christ, made up of diverse members, bonded in charity (cf. 1 Cor 12:27).  In her intrinsic unity, she is thus an image of the Blessed Trinity, which is her very source.  She also possesses visible signs of her unity: the one faith received from the Apostles; the Sacraments; and the bishops, who are the direct successors of the Apostles.  (Cf. CCC 813-815)

The Church is Holy because she is sanctified by Christ, who is the “Holy One of God” (Mk 1:24; Lk 4:34; Jn 6:69; cf. 1 Jn 2:20; Acts 2:27; 13:15) and loves her as his Bride; she in turn is empowered to sanctify people by the power of Christ and his Holy Spirit working through her, especially in her Sacraments.  (Cf. CCC 823-829)

The Church is Catholic for two reasons:  First, she is the one true Church founded by Christ and is intended for everybody throughout the world in every age; second, she in turn is commissioned with preaching the Gospel to all peoples, drawing every human person to the Church for the sake of his or her salvation.  Everyone is called to become part of the one Church in Christ.  (Cf. CCC 830-856)

The Church is Apostolic because she was founded upon the Apostles, whom Christ established as her leaders and first pastors, with St. Peter as their head.  The teachings of the Apostles were handed on to their successors from generation to generation.  Even today, the bishops in union with the Pope, who are the inheritors of this line of Apostolic Succession, guide the Church by a chain of authority that leads back to the very institution of the Church of Christ.  (Cf. CCC 857-864)

The Catechism addresses this question in paragraph 811.

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