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Chapter 11. The Four Marks of the Church • 129
to those bodies of Christians who have a valid episcopal leadership or
hierarchy, while the phrase
ecclesial communities
refers to those bodies
of Christians that do not have an apostolic hierarchy.)
THE CHURCH IS HOLY
The Church has her origin in the Holy Trinity, and that is the source of
her holiness. In his plan for the salvation of humanity, God the Father
willed the existence of the Church. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, estab-
lished a community of disciples and died on the Cross for the forgiveness
of sins. The Holy Spirit, sent by the Father and the Son, works within the
Church to keep her members faithful to the Gospel. The Church is holy
in her Founder, in her saints, and in her means of salvation.
Through Baptism and Confirmation, Catholics have become a
people consecrated by the Holy Spirit to the praise of God through Jesus
Christ. Christians grow in holiness by working to live in conformity to
the Gospel of Jesus and thus to become more like him, especially in the
totality of his love for others shown by his sacrifice of himself on the
Cross. But Christians also remain subject to temptation and sin, thus
needing God’s mercy and forgiveness. In teaching his disciples how to
pray, Jesus included the following petition to the Father: “Forgive us our
trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”
In the following parts of this catechism, the Sacraments, the Ten
Commandments, the virtue of charity, and prayer will be presented as
sources of holiness for the Church.
THE CHURCH IS CATHOLIC
The word
catholic
means “universal.” The Catholic Church has lived
and continues to live in a diversity of cultures and languages because she
is led by the Spirit of Christ to bring the Gospel to all peoples. She has
known how to accept what is true and good in all cultures and, at the
same time, to infuse the truth and goodness of her tradition and life into
them. The process of inculturation includes this dynamic.