According to the Apostolic Tradition, the Lord's Prayer is essentially rooted in liturgical prayer:

The Apostolic Constitution Sacram unctionem infirmorum, 126 following upon the Second Vatican Council, 127 established that henceforth, in the Roman Rite, the following be observed:

However, the Apostolic Church has its own rite for the sick, attested to by St. James: "Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders [presbyters] of the Church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the Prayer of Faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven." 122 Tradition has recognized in this rite one of the seven Sacraments. 123

The reception of this Sacrament ought to be prepared for by an examination of conscience made in the light of the Word of God. the passages best suited to this can be found in the moral catechesis of the Gospels and the Apostolic Letters, such as the Sermon on the Mount and the apostolic teachings. 53

Christ has willed that in her Prayer and life and action his whole Church should be the sign and instrument of the forgiveness and reconciliation that he acquired for us at the price of his blood. But he entrusted the exercise of the power of absolution to the Apostolic Ministry which he charged with the "ministry of reconciliation." 42 The apostle is sent out "on behalf of Christ" with "God making his appeal" through him and pleading: "Be reconciled to God." 43

The Eastern Churches that are not in full Communion with the Catholic Church celebrate the Eucharist with great love. "These Churches, although separated from us, yet possess true Sacraments, above all - by Apostolic succession - the priesthood and the Eucharist, whereby they are still joined to us in closest intimacy." A certain communion in sacris, and so in the Eucharist, "given suitable circumstances and the approval of Church authority, is not merely possible but is encouraged." 235

In the Latin Rite, the ordinary minister of Confirmation is the Bishop. 130 Although the bishop may for grave reaSons concede to priests the faculty of administering Confirmation, 131 it is appropriate from the very meaning of the Sacrament that he should confer it himself, mindful that the celebration of Confirmation has been temporally separated from Baptism for this reason. Bishops are the successors of the Apostles. They have received the Fullness of the sacrament of Holy Orders. the administration of this sacrament by them demonstrates clearly that its effect is to unite those who receive it more closely to the Church, to her Apostolic origins, and to her Mission of bearing witness to Christ.

The original minister of Confirmation is the Bishop. 128 In the East, ordinarily the priest who baptizes also immediately confers Confirmation in one and the same celebration. But he does so with sacred chrism consecrated by the patriarch or the bishop, thus expressing the Apostolic Unity of the Church whose bonds are strengthened by the Sacrament of Confirmation. In the Latin Church, the same discipline applies to the Baptism of adults or to the reception into full Communion with the Church of a perSon baptized in another Christian community that does not have valid Confirmation. 129

Preparation for Confirmation should aim at leading the Christian toward a more intimate union with Christ and a more lively familiarity with the Holy Spirit - his actions, his gifts, and his biddings - in order to be more capable of assuming the Apostolic responsibilities of Christian life. To this end catechesis for Confirmation should strive to awaken a sense of belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ, the universal Church as well as the parish commUnity. the latter bears special responsibility for the preparation of confirmands. 125

The practice of the Eastern Churches gives greater emphasis to the Unity of Christian initiation. That of the Latin Church more clearly expresses the Communion of the new Christian with the Bishop as guarantor and servant of the unity, Catholicity and Apostolicity of his Church, and hence the connection with the apostolic origins of Christ's Church.

This Fullness of the Spirit was not to remain uniquely the Messiah's, but was to be communicated to the whole messianic people. 93 On several occasions Christ promised this outpouring of the Spirit, 94 a promise which he fulfilled first on Easter Sunday and then more strikingly at Pentecost. 95 Filled with the Holy Spirit the Apostles began to proclaim "the mighty works of God," and Peter declared this outpouring of the Spirit to be the sign of the messianic age. 96 Those who believed in the Apostolic Preaching and were baptized received the gift of the Holy Spirit in their turn. 97

"Reborn as Sons of God, [the baptized] must profess before men the Faith they have received from God through the Church" and participate in the Apostolic and Missionary activity of the People of God. 79

The practice of infant Baptism is an immemorial Tradition of the Church. There is explicit testimony to this practice from the second century on, and it is quite possible that, from the beginning of the Apostolic Preaching, when whole "households" received baptism, infants may also have been baptized. 53

From the first commUnity of Jerusalem until the parousia, it is the same Paschal mystery that the Churches of God, Faithful to the Apostolic Faith, celebrate in every place. the mystery celebrated in the Liturgy is one, but the forms of its celebration are diverse.

The mystery of Christ, his Incarnation and Passover, which we celebrate in the Eucharist especially at the Sunday assembly, permeates and transfigures the time of each day, through the celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours, "the divine office." 46 This celebration, Faithful to the Apostolic exhortations to "pray constantly," is "so devised that the whole course of the day and night is made holy by the praise of God." 47 In this "public Prayer of the Church," 48 The Faithful (clergy, religious, and lay people) exercise the royal priesthood of the baptized. Celebrated in "the form approved" by the Church, the Liturgy of the Hours "is truly the voice of the Bride herself addressed to her Bridegroom. It is the very prayer which Christ himself together with his Body addresses to the Father. 49

The Church celebrates the mystery of her Lord "until he comes," when God will be "everything to everyone." 53 Since the Apostolic age the Liturgy has been drawn toward its goal by the Spirit's groaning in the Church: Marana tha! 54 The liturgy thus shares in Jesus' desire: "I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you . . . until it is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God." 55 In the Sacraments of Christ the Church already receives the guarantee of her inheritance and even now shares in everlasting life, while "awaiting our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Christ Jesus." 56 The "Spirit and the Bride say, 'Come . . . Come, Lord Jesus!"' 57

Holy Orders is the Sacrament through which the Mission entrusted by Christ to his Apostles continues to be exercised in the Church until the end of time: thus it is the sacrament of Apostolic Ministry. It includes three degrees: episcopate, presbyterate, and diaconate.

This presence of Christ in the minister is not to be understood as if the latter were preserved from all human weaknesses, the spirit of domination, error, even sin. the power of the Holy Spirit does not guarantee all acts of ministers in the same way. While this guarantee extends to the Sacraments, so that even the minister's sin cannot impede the fruit of grace, in many other acts the minister leaves human traces that are not always signs of fidelity to the Gospel and consequently can harm the Apostolic fruitfulness of the Church.

Very early on, liturgical usage concluded the Lord's Prayer with a doxology. In the Didache, we find, "For yours are the power and the glory for ever." 4 The Apostolic Constitutions add to the beginning: "the Kingdom," and this is the formula retained to our day in ecumenical prayer. 5 The Byzantine Tradition adds after "the glory" the words "Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." the Roman Missal develops the last petition in the explicit perspective of "awaiting our blessed hope" and of the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 6 Then comes the assembly's acclamation or the repetition of the doxology from the Apostolic Constitutions.

In the living Tradition of Prayer, each Church proposes to its Faithful, according to its historic, social, and cultural context, a language for prayer: words, melodies, gestures, iconography. the Magisterium of the Church 15 has the task of discerning the fidelity of these ways of praying to the tradition of Apostolic Faith; it is for pastors and catechists to explain their meaning, always in relation to Jesus Christ.

Christian petition is centered on the desire and search for the Kingdom to come, in keeping with the teaching of Christ. 107 There is a hierarchy in these petitions: we pray first for the Kingdom, then for what is necessary to welcome it and cooperate with its coming. This collaboration with the Mission of Christ and the Holy Spirit, which is now that of the Church, is the object of the Prayer of the Apostolic commUnity. 108 It is the prayer of Paul, the apostle par excellence, which reveals to us how the divine solicitude for all the Churches ought to inspire Christian prayer. 109 By prayer every baptized perSon works for the coming of the Kingdom.

In the first place these are Prayers that the Faithful hear and read in the Scriptures, but also that they make their own - especially those of the Psalms, in view of their fulfillment in Christ. 96 The Holy Spirit, who thus keeps the memory of Christ alive in his Church at prayer, also leads her toward the Fullness of truth and inspires new formulations expressing the unfathomable mystery of Christ at work in his Church's life, Sacraments, and Mission. These formulations are developed in the great liturgical and spiritual Traditions. the forms of prayer revealed in the Apostolic and canonical Scriptures remain normative for Christian prayer.

In the first commUnity of Jerusalem, believers "devoted themselves to the Apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and the Prayers." 95 This sequence is characteristic of the Church's prayer: founded on the Apostolic Faith; authenticated by charity; nourished in the Eucharist.

This practice of the Christian assembly dates from the beginnings of the Apostolic age. 112 The Letter to the Hebrews reminds the Faithful "not to neglect to meet together, as is the habit of some, but to encourage one another." 113

The Sunday celebration of the Lord's Day and his Eucharist is at the heart of the Church's life. "Sunday is the day on which the paschal mystery is celebrated in light of the Apostolic Tradition and is to be observed as the foremost holy day of obligation in the universal Church." 110

The duty of offering God genuine worship concerns man both individually and socially. This is "the Traditional Catholic teaching on the moral duty of individuals and societies toward the true religion and the one Church of Christ." 30 By constantly evangelizing men, the Church works toward enabling them "to infuse the Christian spirit into the mentality and mores, laws and structures of the communities in which [they] live." 31 The social duty of Christians is to respect and awaken in each man the love of the true and the good. It requires them to make known the worship of the one true religion which subsists in the Catholic and Apostolic Church. 32 Christians are called to be the light of the world. Thus, the Church shows forth the kingship of Christ over all creation and in particular over human societies. 33

To the Lord's Sermon on the Mount it is fitting to add the moral catechesis of the Apostolic teachings, such as Romans 12-15, 1 Corinthians 12-13, Colossians 3-4, Ephesians 4-5, etc. This doctrine hands on the Lord's teaching with the authority of the Apostles, particularly in the presentation of the virtues that flow from Faith in Christ and are animated by charity, the principal gift of the Holy Spirit. "Let charity be genuine.... Love one another with brotherly affection.... Rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in Prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints, practice hospitality." 29 This catechesis also teaches us to deal with cases of conscience in the light of our relationship to Christ and to the Church. 30

The Decalogue, the Sermon on the Mount, and the Apostolic catechesis describe for us the paths that lead to the Kingdom of heaven. Sustained by the grace of the Holy Spirit, we tread them, step by step, by everyday acts. By the working of the Word of Christ, we slowly bear fruit in the Church to the glory of God. 25

Since the Sacrament of Holy Orders is the sacrament of the Apostolic Ministry, it is for the Bishops as the successors of the Apostles to hand on the "gift of the Spirit," 63 The "apostolic line." 64 Validly ordained Bishops, i.e., those who are in the line of apostolic succession, validly confer the three degrees of the sacrament of Holy Orders. 65

As in all the Sacraments additional rites surround the celebration. Varying greatly among the different liturgical Traditions, these rites have in common the expression of the multiple aspects of Sacramental grace. Thus in the Latin Church, the initial rites - presentation and election of the ordinand, instruction by the Bishop, examination of the candidate, litany of the saints - attest that the choice of the candidate is made in keeping with the practice of the Church and prepare for the solemn act of consecration, after which several rites syrnbolically express and complete the mystery accomplished: for bishop and priest, an anointing with holy chrism, a sign of the special anointing of the Holy Spirit who makes their Ministry fruitful; giving the book of the Gospels, the ring, the miter, and the crosier to the bishop as the sign of his Apostolic Mission to proclaim the Word of God, of his fidelity to the Church, the bride of Christ, and his office as shepherd of the Lord's flock; presentation to the priest of the paten and chalice, "the offering of the holy people" which he is called to present to God; giving the book of the Gospels to the deacon who has just received the mission to proclaim the Gospel of Christ.

"Christ, whom the Father hallowed and sent into the world, has, through his Apostles, made their successors, the Bishops namely, sharers in his consecration and Mission; and these, in their turn, duly entrusted in varying degrees various members of the Church with the office of their Ministry." 43 "The function of the Bishops' ministry was handed over in a subordinate degree to priests so that they might be appointed in the order of the priesthood and be co-workers of the episcapal order for the proper fulfillment of the Apostolic mission that had been entrusted to it by Christ." 44

As Christ's vicar, each Bishop has the pastoral care of the particular Church entrusted to him, but at the same time he bears collegially with all his brothers in the episcopacy the solicitude for all the Churches: "Though each bishop is the lawful pastor only of the portion of the flock entrusted to his care, as a legitimate successor of the Apostles he is, by divine institution and precept, responsible with the other Bishops for the Apostolic Mission of the Church." 41

"Amongst those various offices which have been exercised in the Church from the earliest times the chief place, according to the witness of Tradition, is held by the function of those who, through their appointment to the dignity and responsibility of Bishop, and in virtue consequently of the unbroken succession going back to the beginning, are regarded as transmitters of the Apostolic line." 34

"Adhering to the teaching of the Holy Scriptures, to the Apostolic Traditions, and to the consensus . . . of the Fathers," we profess that "the Sacraments of the new law were . . . all instituted by Jesus Christ our Lord." 31

Alongside the different forms of consecrated life are "societies of Apostolic life whose members without religious vows pursue the particular apostolic purpose of their society, and lead a life as brothers or sisters in common according to a particular manner of life, strive for the perfection of charity through the observance of the constitutions. Among these there are societies in which the members embrace the evangelical counsels" according to their constitutions. 473

To believe that the Church is "holy" and "Catholic," and that she is "one" and "Apostolic" (as the Nicene Creed adds), is inseparable from belief in God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In the Apostles' Creed we profess "one Holy Church" (Credo . . . Ecclesiam), and not to believe in the Church, so as not to confuse God with his works and to attribute clearly to God's goodness all the gifts he has bestowed on his Church. 138

The Church, a Communion living in the Faith of the Apostles which she transmits, is the place where we know the Holy Spirit: - in the Scriptures he inspired; - in the Tradition, to which the Church Fathers are always timely witnesses; - in the Church's Magisterium, which he assists; - in the Sacramental Liturgy, through its words and symbols, in which the Holy Spirit puts us into communion with Christ; - in Prayer, wherein he intercedes for us; - in the charisms and ministries by which the Church is built up; - in the signs of Apostolic and Missionary life; - in the witness of saints through whom he manifests his holiness and continues the work of salvation.

The frequent New Testament affirmations that Jesus was "raised from the dead" presuppose that the crucified one sojourned in the realm of the dead prior to his resurrection. 477 This was the first meaning given in the Apostolic Preaching to Christ's descent into hell: that Jesus, like all men, experienced death and in his soul joined the others in the realm of the dead. But he descended there as Saviour, proclaiming the Good News to the spirits impriSoned there. 478

Consequently, St. Peter can formulate the Apostolic Faith in the divine plan of salvation in this way: "You were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your Fathers... with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was destined before the foundation of the world but was made manifest at the end of the times for your sake." 402 Man's sins, following on original sin, are punishable by death. 403 By sending his own Son in the form of a slave, in the form of a fallen humanity, on account of sin, God "made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." 404

The first heresies denied not so much Christ's divinity as his true humanity (Gnostic Docetism). From Apostolic times the Christian Faith has insisted on the true incarnation of God's Son "come in the flesh". 87 But already in the third century, the Church in a council at Antioch had to affirm against Paul of Samosata that Jesus Christ is Son of God by nature and not by adoption. the first ecumenical council of Nicaea in 325 confessed in its Creed that the Son of God is "begotten, not made, of the same substance (homoousios) as the Father", and condemned Arius, who had affirmed that the Son of God "came to be from things that were not" and that he was "from another substance" than that of the Father. 88

Such is not the case for Simon Peter when he confesses Jesus as "the Christ, the Son of the living God", for Jesus responds solemnly: "Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven." 46 Similarly Paul will write, regarding his conversion on the road to Damascus, "When he who had set me apart before I was born, and had called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles..." 47 "and in the synagogues immediately [Paul] proclaimed Jesus, saying, 'He is the Son of God.'" 48 From the beginning this acknowledgment of Christ's divine sonship will be the centre of the Apostolic Faith, first professed by Peter as the Church's foundation. 49

From the beginning, the revealed truth of the Holy Trinity has been at the very root of the Church's living Faith, principally by means of Baptism. It finds its expression in the rule of baptismal faith, formulated in the Preaching, catechesis and Prayer of the Church. Such formulations are already found in the Apostolic writings, such as this salutation taken up in the Eucharistic Liturgy: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." 81

The Apostolic Faith concerning the Spirit was confessed by the second ecumenical council at Constantinople (381): "We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father." 71 By this confession, the Church recognizes the Father as "the source and origin of the whole divinity". 72 But the eternal origin of the Spirit is not unconnected with the Son's origin: "The Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, is God, one and equal with the Father and the Son, of the same substance and also of the same nature. . . Yet he is not called the Spirit of the Father alone,. . . but the Spirit of both the Father and the Son." 73 The Creed of the Church from the Council of Constantinople confesses: "With the Father and the Son, he is worshipped and glorified." 74

Following this Apostolic Tradition, the Church confessed at the first ecumenical council at Nicaea (325) that the Son is "consubstantial" with the Father, that is, one only God with him. 66 The second ecumenical council, held at Constantinople in 381, kept this expression in its formulation of the Nicene Creed and confessed "the only-begotten Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, light from light, true God from true God, begotten not made, consubstantial with the Father". 67

Through the centuries many professions or symbols of Faith have been articulated in response to the needs of the different eras: the Creeds of the different Apostolic and ancient Churches, 8 e.g., the Quicumque, also called the Athanasian Creed; 9 The professions of faith of certain Councils, such as Toledo, Lateran, Lyons, Trent; 10 or the symbols of certain popes, e.g., the Fides Damasi 11 or the Credo of the People of God of Paul VI. 12

"These three parts are distinct although connected with one another. According to a compariSon often used by the Fathers, we call them articles. Indeed, just as in our bodily members there are certain articulations which distinguish and separate them, so too in this profession of Faith, the name "articles" has justly and rightly been given to the truths we must believe particularly and distinctly." 6 In accordance with an ancient Tradition, already attested to by St. Ambrose, it is also customary to reckon the articles of the Creed as twelve, thus symbolizing the Fullness of the Apostolic faith by the number of the Apostles. 7

From the beginning, the Apostolic Church expressed and handed on her Faith in brief formulae normative for all. 1 But already very early on, the Church also wanted to gather the essential elements of her faith into organic and articulated summaries, intended especially for candidates for Baptism:

The Church, as early as Apostolic times, 104 and then constantly in her Tradition, has illuminated the Unity of the divine plan in the two Testaments through typology, which discerns in God's works of the Old Covenant prefigurations of what he accomplished in the Fullness of time in the perSon of his incarnate Son.

It was by the Apostolic Tradition that the Church discerned which writings are to be included in the list of the sacred books. 90

"In order that the full and living Gospel might always be preserved in the Church the Apostles left Bishops as their successors. They gave them their own position of teaching authority." 35 Indeed, "the Apostolic Preaching, which is expressed in a special way in the inspired books, was to be preserved in a continuous line of succession until the end of time." 36

It is therefore no surprise that catechesis in the Church has again attracted attention in the wake of the Second Vatican Council, which Pope Paul Vl considered the great catechism of modern times. the General Catechetical Directory (1971) the sessions of the Synod of Bishops devoted to evangelization (1974) and catechesis (1977), the Apostolic exhortations Evangelii nuntiandi (1975) and Catechesi tradendae (1979), attest to this. the Extraordinary Synod of Bishops in 1985 asked "that a catechism or compendium of all Catholic doctrine regarding both Faith and morals be composed" 13 The Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, made the Synod's wish his own, acknowledging that "this desire wholly corresponds to a real need of the universal Church and of the particular Churches." 14 He set in motion everything needed to carry out the Synod Fathers' wish.

Charisms are to be accepted with gratitude by the perSon who receives them and by all members of the Church as well. They are a wonderfully rich grace for the Apostolic vitality and for the holiness of the entire Body of Christ, provided they really are genuine gifts of the Holy Spirit and are used in full conformity with authentic promptings of this same Spirit, that is, in keeping with charity, the true measure of all charisms. 253

"This is the sole Church of Christ, which in the Creed we profess to be one, holy, Catholic and Apostolic." 256 These four characteristics, inseparably linked with each other, 257 indicate essential features of the Church and her Mission. the Church does not possess them of herself; it is Christ who, through the Holy Spirit, makes his Church one, holy, catholic, and apostolic, and it is he who calls her to realize each of these qualities.

"As with other forms of consecrated life," the order of virgins establishes the woman living in the world (or the nun) in Prayer, penance, service of her brethren, and Apostolic activity, according to the state of life and spiritual gifts given to her. 464 Consecrated virgins can form themselves into associations to observe their commitment more Faithfully. 465

From Apostolic times Christian virgins, called by the Lord to cling only to him with greater freedom of heart, body, and spirit, have decided with the Church's approval to live in a state of virginity "for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven." 461

Bishops will always strive to discern new gifts of consecrated life granted to the Church by the Holy Spirit; the approval of new forms of consecrated life is reserved to the Apostolic See. 459

"Hence the laity, dedicated as they are to Christ and anointed by the Holy Spirit, are marvellously called and prepared so that even richer fruits of the Spirit maybe produced in them. For all their works, Prayers, and Apostolic undertakings, family and married life, daily work, relaxation of mind and body, if they are accomplished in the Spirit - indeed even the hardships of life if patiently born - all these become spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. In the celebration of the Eucharist these may most fittingly be offered to the Father along with the body of the Lord. and so, worshipping everywhere by their holy actions, the laity consecrate the world itself to God, everywhere offering worship by the holiness of their lives." 434

Bishops, with priests as co-workers, have as their first task "to preach the Gospel of God to all men," in keeping with the Lord's command. 415 They are "heralds of Faith, who draw new disciples to Christ; they are authentic teachers" of the Apostolic faith "endowed with the authority of Christ." 416

When Christ instituted the Twelve, "he constituted [them] in the form of a college or permanent assembly, at the head of which he placed Peter, chosen from among them." 398 Just as "by the Lord's institution, St. Peter and the rest of the Apostles constitute a single Apostolic college, so in like fashion the Roman Pontiff, Peter's successor, and the Bishops, the successors of the apostles, are related with and united to one another." 399

The Church is ultimately one, holy, Catholic, and Apostolic in her deepest and ultimate identity, because it is in her that "the Kingdom of heaven," the "Reign of God," 380 already exists and will be fulfilled at the end of time. the kingdom has come in the perSon of Christ and grows mysteriously in the hearts of those incorporated into him, until its full eschatological manifestation. Then all those he has redeemed and made "holy and blameless before him in love," 381 will be gathered together as the one People of God, the "Bride of the Lamb," 382 "the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God." 383 For "the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them the twelve names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb." 384

The whole Church is Apostolic, in that she remains, through the successors of St. Peter and the other Apostles, in Communion of Faith and life with her origin: and in that she is "sent out" into the whole world. All members of the Church share in this Mission, though in various ways. "The Christian vocation is, of its nature, a vocation to the apostolate as well." Indeed, we call an apostolate "every activity of the Mystical Body" that aims "to spread the Kingdom of Christ over all the earth." 377

The Church is Apostolic because she is founded on the Apostles, in three ways: - she was and remains built on "the foundation of the Apostles," 362 The witnesses chosen and sent on Mission by Christ himself; 363 - with the help of the Spirit dwelling in her, the Church keeps and hands on the teaching, 364 The "good deposit," the salutary words she has heard from the apostles; 365 - she continues to be taught, sanctified, and guided by the apostles until Christ's return, through their successors in pastoral office: the college of Bishops, "assisted by priests, in union with the successor of Peter, the Church's supreme pastor": 366

The phrase "particular Church," which is the diocese (or eparchy), refers to a commUnity of the Christian Faithful in Communion of Faith and Sacraments with their Bishop ordained in Apostolic succession. 313 These particular Churches "are constituted after the model of the universal Church; it is in these and formed out of them that the one and unique Catholic Church exists." 314

"The Church of Christ is really present in all legitimately organized local groups of the Faithful, which, in so far as they are united to their pastors, are also quite appropriately called Churches in the New Testament.... In them the Faithful are gathered together through the Preaching of the Gospel of Christ, and the mystery of the Lord's Supper is celebrated.... In these communities, though they may often be small and poor, or existing in the diaspora, Christ is present, through whose power and influence the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church is constituted." 312

The word "Catholic" means "universal," in the sense of "according to the totality" or "in keeping with the whole." the Church is catholic in a double sense: First, the Church is catholic because Christ is present in her. "Where there is Christ Jesus, there is the Catholic Church." 307 In her subsists the Fullness of Christ's body united with its head; this implies that she receives from him "the fullness of the means of salvation" 308 which he has willed: correct and complete confession of Faith, full Sacramental life, and ordained Ministry in Apostolic succession. the Church was, in this fundamental sense, catholic on the day of Pentecost 309 and will always be so until the day of the Parousia.

By canonizing some of the Faithful, i.e., by solemnly pro claiming that they practiced heroic virtue and lived in fidelity to God's grace, the Church recognizes the power of the Spirit of holiness within her and sustains the hope of believers by proposing the saints to them as models and intercessors. 303 "The saints have always been the source and origin of renewal in the most difficult moments in the Church's history." 304 Indeed, "holiness is the hidden source and infallible measure of her Apostolic activity and Missionary zeal." 305

What are these bonds of Unity? Above all, charity "binds everything together in perfect harmony." 265 But the unity of the pilgrim Church is also assured by visible bonds of Communion: - profession of one Faith received from the Apostles; -common celebration of divine worship, especially of the Sacraments; - Apostolic succession through the Sacrament of Holy Orders, maintaining the fraternal concord of God's family. 266

While not being formally identified with them, catechesis is built on a certain number of elements of the Church's pastoral Mission which have a catechetical aspect, that prepare for catechesis, or spring from it. They are: the initial proclamation of the Gospel or missionary Preaching to arouse Faith; examination of the reaSons for belief; experience of Christian living; celebration of the Sacraments; integration into the ecclesial commUnity; and Apostolic and missionary witness. 9