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The Church Must Be One - Tommy - 07-29-2026
The Church Must Be One
Biblical-based Catholic Church Teachings
Scripture quotations are taken from either the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSV-CE) or the New American Bible Revised Edition (NAB-RE).
John 10:16 - "there will be one flock, one shepherd"
Ephesians 4:3-6 - "one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father"
Romans 16:17 - "I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who create dissensions and obstacles, in opposition to the teaching that you learned; avoid them."
1 Corinthians 1:10 - "I urge you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree in what you say, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and in the same purpose"
Philippians 2:2 - "be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind."
Romans 15:5 - "May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to think in harmony with one another, in keeping with Christ Jesus,"
John 17:17-23 - "for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one"
1 Corinthians 12:13 - "For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body - Jews or Greeks, slaves or free - and we were all made to drink of one Spirit."
Romans 12:5 - "so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another."
Colossians 3:15 - "you were called in the one body"
Why the Church is one:
The Church is one because God is one and because the Trinity is the source and exemplar of the Church’s unity. The Church is also one because Jesus Christ is the Builder and Head, and the Holy Spirit unites the faithful into communion.
What "one" concretely means:
The Church's unity is not just an idea; it has visible and concrete marks, including:
- one faith
- one sacramental life
- one apostolic succession / ministry
- one common hope
- one charity (love)
"The one Church subsists in the Catholic Church"
Catholic teaching holds that Christ's one Church is not merely an ideal that people chase; rather, as a society constituted and organized in the world, it "subsists" in the Catholic Church, governed by the Successor of Peter and the bishops in communion with him.
This is consistent with Vatican II's teaching that the one Church of Christ subsists in the Catholic Church, which is governed by the Pope and bishops in communion with him.