THE TRUE CHURCH

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, Our Lord, Who was conceived of the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, was Crucified, and Resurrected. I believe in the Holy Spirit. I believe in the Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. I believe in the resurrection of the body. I believe in life everlasting, Amen.
CC3 …. The Apostolic structure of the Church.

‘On which foundations is the true Church based ?’
The true Church is founded by Jesus Christ *** and as described by St. John, has an essentially apostolic foundation.
***There are many churches founded by mere men, like you and me, in opposition to the one founded personally by Jesus Christ, true man but true God, the Son of God.
Let us refresh our memory with a Text taken from Revelations (21, 10 – 14): “In the Spirit, he (the Angel), carried me to a great high mountain and showed me the Holy City of Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God ….It has a high wall, with twelve gates…And the walls of the City had twelve foundations, and on them, the twelve names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb.”

An interesting Question would be:
‘Which is the basic identification mark of the true Church ?’
Bearing in mind that foundations are irreplaceable in any structure, it follows that the ‘function’ of the Apostles is essential for identification and stability of the true Church of Christ.
St. John could not have been more clear: ‘the true church founded by Christ MUST BE APOSTOLIC, that is, founded and based on the Apostles. Otherwise it would have been founded by mere men, and not by CHRIST.’

‘How does St.Paul describe the Church ?
St.Paul confirms the apostolic structure (foundation) of the Church by giving a concrete image. Appealing to believers in Christ, he says: “You are fellow citizens of the saints and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself, being the CORNERSTONE.” (Eph.2, 19 – 20)

‘Should not the Church be based on the Bible ?’
The true Church of Christ is NOT established on the Bible (= the New Testament). The Church precedes the New Testament. Indeed, the Birth, Life, Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ are NOT based on the New Testament. Rather, the New Testament, like a History Book, is a record of the Life of Christ.
In like manner the New Testament (like a history book) contains a report about the Foundation of the Church. The Church was founded personally by Jesus Christ, many years before the New Testament started to be written.
Indeed no event takes its origin from a book. A book relates, reports, comments on something that had already happened. /CC4
Extracts by kind permission of HG Mons. Sylvester Magro ofm,

Apostolic Nuncio of Benghazi.