The Third Mark: The Church is Catholic

By The Catholic Evidence Guild of Guam

In our first article of this series The Four Marks of the Church, we introduced the fact that the Church Jesus established was known by its most common title, "the Catholic Church (katholikos ekklesia )", at least as early as the year 107. Further, we introduced a fellow by the name of Saint Ignatius of Antioch who first used that term in writing. Well, who is this Ignatius guy and who cares what he wrote? After all, whatever he wrote isn't in the Bible, right?

Well, getting to know who he was will help explain why what he wrote is important, even though it isn't in the Bible. After all, the folks who learned the faith directly from the Apostles probably had a pretty good understanding of what the apostles believed and taught. The term we use for . these folks is "Apostolic Fathers" and Saint Ignatius of Antioch is one of them.

Saint Ignatius of Antioch was the third bishop of Antioch, having succeeded Saint Evodius who was immediately preceded by Saint Rock, or as many may know him, Saint Peter. He is considered an Apostolic Father because he received instruction from the Apostle John. Seven letters were written by him on his way to martyrdom under the Roman Emperor Trajan around 110 AD. The letter considered to be the most important one by scholars is his Letter to the Romans, but the one most relevant to our discussion is his Letter to the Smyrnaeans.

Smyrnaeans? Is that like jabjab? No, these are folks who lived in Smyrna. Scripture scholars may recall that the Apostle John was commanded to write to the angel of the Church of Smyrna as recorded in the Book of Revelation (Rev 2:8-11). So what is the difference between the Church of Smyrna and the Catholic Church? In his letter, Saint Ignatius writes: "Wherever the bishop appears, let the people be there; just as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church" (Ad Smyrna 8,2).

The two terms used in the Catechism of the Catholic Church that explain the difference are particular church and universal church (CCC 832-835). The particular church is a church in a place in union with the universal church through a bishop in union with the pope. The Church of Guam is an example of a particular church in union with Pope John Paul ll through Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron. Similarly, the Church of Smyrna was an example of a particular church in union with Pope Alexander I through Bishop Polycarp. And Antioch? They were in union with Pope Alexander I through Bishop Ignatius, at least until the Romans got him and Antioch had to get a new bishop! Bottom line, the particular church is not just a "branch office" of some multinational conglomerate, but rather an expression of the universal church brought into time and space (CCC 835).

What about the Universal Church? No, not Universalist, UNIVERSAL (in Greek it would be katholikos, or Catholic). This bold claim comes from the Great Commission given the Apostles by Jesus. "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always until the end of the age" (Matthew 28:19-20). Which nations? ALL nations. The entire universe needs to hear the Good News even if they don't know it yet!

We said a whole lot about the Church of Antioch and terms that came out of there. Does Scripture record anything about the folks coming up with important terms used throughout the Universal Church? Indeed, looking at Acts of the Apostles would find an interesting term pop up: "For a whole year they met with the church and taught a large number of people, and it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians" (Acts 11:26).