Supplement: The Church
“Church” is a rendering of the Greek ekklesia, which means “assembly.” The early Christians met secretly in homes or underground locations for fear of persecution. Though many of the first disciples continued to identify as Jewish—they were a particular iteration of Judaism that lived according to the moral teachings of Jesus—they were not welcome in the synagogues. Nor could they practice their faith openly throughout the Roman Empire, where the official state religion required them to participate in sacrifices and public displays of devotion to the Roman gods. Moreover, the early disciples refused to acknowledge the supposed divine nature of the emperor, and they clung to an absolute pacifism that contravened the practice of Roman military conscription.
Because of this inhospitable socio-political environment, the first communities of Christians gathered in small groups, reading the Scriptures and celebrating the Lord’s Supper together. When a missionary, e.g. Peter or Paul, would come to a new city, he would preach in the home of a friendly local—usually the wife of a relatively economically/politically powerful individual. The missionary would stay for a period of time, explaining the teachings of Jesus and baptizing new followers, before leaving for another city. Upon departure, the missionary would place a local individual in charge of that city’s ekklesia. It was this person who came to take on the role of what we now refer to as a bishop, and the entire community of followers in a given city would become the ekklesia, the Church, of Corinth, or Tarsus, or Philippi. This is what we mean when we say that the Church is “apostolic”—we can trace the succession of leadership directly back to those first apostles who then ordained others to oversee the growth and governance of a local Church.
As the Church expanded, these local leaders, known as presbyters, the Greek word for “elder,” or “old man,” would appoint additional ministers (diakonos) to assist in the administration of the local community and celebration of the sacraments. Before long, there were local ekklesia, led by presbyters who were assisted by diakonos, all over the Roman Empire, and these local Churches came to be organized in much the same manner as Roman municipalities, i.e. as Diocese. Thus, an individual living in Damascus would be said to belong to the “[Christian] Church of Damascus,” and to this day, our canonical status is as members of the “Church of Philadelphia” or Detroit or San Francisco. But because each of these local Churches inevitably would grow in unique ways, according to regional custom and the distinctive personas of their local leadership, the early Christians recognized the importance of unifying all of these various city Churches into a single, larger, more universal community. Since Peter, the first leader of the disciples had gone to Rome, and Rome was, at the time, the capital of the Empire, it made sense for the leader of the Church of Rome, the direct successor of Peter, to serve as this unifying figure. Therefore, the leader of the Church of Rome would call his brother bishops together from time to time in order to resolve disputes, share ideas, and ensure a uniformity of doctrine across the multitudinous communities. These gatherings, known as Councils, resulted in explicit, dogmatic statements articulating the divinity of Christ, the real presence in the Eucharist, and other foundational tenets of the faith. Two such Councils, at Nicea and Constantinople, saw the composition of the Creed that we still say at Mass each Sunday.
It is thus that we say the Church is “apostolic,” inasmuch as those called personally by Jesus to carry on his mission of spreading the Good News appointed successors in each local region and commissioned them to do the same. And “one” insofar as these many local Churches are unified by a common creed under the service leadership of the Bishop of Rome. Too, the Church is “catholic,” a word meaning “universal,” because the Church is not restricted by race, age, sex, or any other demarcation, but rather is open to all. So what does it mean to say that the Church is “holy?”
When we say that the Church is “holy,” we indicate that, although it is composed of humans, it has a distinctively divine dimension. It was founded by God himself, in the Person of Jesus, so it has a holy origin. Moreover, it continues to be imbued by the grace and guidance of the Spirit of God, left to the first disciples at Pentecost. Thus in describing the Church as holy, we assert that, when the Pope issues a statement, it is not simply the individual human being who occupies the chair of Peter releasing his personal thoughts on a subject, but rather that he is speaking in unity with his brother bishops, on behalf of all the faithful, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
At the most recent gathering of all bishops, the Second Vatican Council, which took place 1962-1965, the leadership of the Church released, among numerous groundbreaking documents, two Constitutions—one, Gaudium et Spes, sets forth how the Church is to engage the wider world, while the other, Lumen Gentium, elucidates the internal structure of the Church itself. Lumen Gentium attests unambiguously that “the Church” is all of us—the entire community of believers, the “people of God.” All too often, whether in newspaper articles or casual conversation, people use the term, “the Church” to refer to the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church. But this is inaccurate. It can be put no more plainly than in our own Constitution—WE ARE THE CHURCH!
Pentecost, a celebration of the birthday of the Church, is therefore a celebration for all of us! And Jesus’ words, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you,” are not addressed only to the disciples present in the upper room with Jesus, but are meant for each and every one of us who continue the mission of bringing the Gospel to the wider world.
