In many ways, the Church, the Bride and Body of Christ, defies description even as our Lord, perfect God and perfect man, defies description. Even as the perfections of God are beyond number and comprehension, so the attributes of the Church are as innumerable as the depths of Christ’s divinity are unfathomable. With a divinely keen eye, the holy fathers of the second Ecumenical Council (Constantinople 381) have identified four attributes that are essential for us and for our salvation: unity, holiness, catholicity, and apostolicity. Even as the unity and holiness of the Church that we examined last week are intimately related to Christ, so are her catholicity and apostolicity.

Christ embraces all of humanity, encompasses all of humanity, and unites all of humanity in Himself. And so does His Church. Being catholic, καθολική, can be defined in terms of conciliarity, that which has been believed everywhere, always, and by…