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Chapter 16GenevaCat.1.16

I. Des articles de la foi — Le 15e dimanche

The Nature of the Catholic Church

The Church is defined as the company of the elect, a necessary article of faith linked to the fruit of Christ's death.

The fourth part, which concerns the Church. Minister: What follows from that? C: The fourth part, where it is said that we believe the catholic Church.1 What the Church is 93. Minister: What is the Catholic Church? E: It is the company of the faithful whom God has appointed and elected to eternal life.2 94. Minister: Is it necessary to believe this article? E: Yes indeed—if we don't want to make the death of Jesus Christ idle, and everything that has already been recited, for the fruit that proceeds from it is the Church.3

The Certainty of Grace and the Holiness of the Church

The Church serves as the visible fulfillment of God's grace, sanctified and purified by Christ.

The fruit of Christ's death M: So you're saying that up to this point, we've been discussing the cause and foundation of salvation—that God has received us in love through Jesus Christ and confirmed this grace in us by his Holy Spirit—but that now the effect and fulfillment of all this is shown, to give us even greater certainty of it.4 E: That's right.5 96. Minister: In what sense do you call the Church "holy"? Student: Because those whom God has chosen, He justifies and purifies to holiness and innocence, so that His glory may shine in them (Romans 8:30). And so Jesus Christ, having redeemed His Church, has sanctified her so that she might be glorious and without spot (Ephesians 5:25–27).

Unity and the Communion of Saints

The Church is universal and united, with all members sharing in the benefits of Christ through the communion of saints.

Catholic 97. Minister: What does the word “catholic,” or “universal,” mean? Student: It means that, just as there is only one Head of the faithful (Ephesians 4:15), so also all must be united in one body (1 Corinthians 12:12, 27), so that there aren't many Churches, but only one, which is spread throughout the whole world. The Communion of the Faithful 98. M: And what about the words that follow, "the communion of saints"—what do they mean?6 S: This is added to explain more clearly the unity that exists among the members of the Church.✦7 And by this we are also meant to understand that everything good our Lord does for his Church is for the benefit and salvation of each believer, because all share communion together.

Read the original Latin

La quatrième partie qui est de l'Église 92. M : Que s'ensuit-il? E : La quatrième partie où il est dit que nous croyons l'Église catholique.

Que c'est que l'Église? 93. M : Qu'est-ce que l'Église catholique? E : C'est la compagnie des fidèles que Dieu a ordonnés et élus à la vie éternelle.

94. M : Est-il nécessaire de croire cet article? E : Oui bien, si nous ne voulons faire la mort de Jésus-Christ oisive et tout ce qui a déjà été récité, car le fruit qui en procède est l'Église.

Fruit de la mort de Christ 95. M : Tu dis donc que, jusqu'à cette heure, il a été parlé de la cause et du fondement de salut, en tant que Dieu nous a reçus en dilection par le moyen de Jésus-Christ, et confirmé en nous cette grâce par son Saint-Esprit ; mais que maintenant est démontré l'effet et l'accomplissement de tout cela pour en donner meilleure certitude. E : II est ainsi.

96. M : En quel sens nommes-tu l'Église « sainte »? E : Pour ce que ceux que Dieu a élus, il les justifie et purifie à sainteté et innocence, pour faire en eux reluire sa gloire (Romains 8:30). Et ainsi Jésus- Christ, ayant racheté son Église, l'a sanctifiée, afin qu'elle fût glorieuse et sans macule (Éphésiens 5:25-27).

Catholique 97. M : Que veut dire ce mot « catholique », ou « universelle »? E : C'est pour signifier que, comme il n'y a qu'un Chef des fidèles (Éphésiens 4:15), aussi tous doivent être unis en un corps (1 Corinthiens 12:12, 27), tellement qu'il n'y a pas plusieurs Églises, mais une seule, laquelle est épandue par tout le monde.

La communion des fidèles 98. M : Et ce qui s'ensuit de la « communion des saints », qu'emporte-t-il? E : Cela est ajouté pour mieux exprimer l'unité qui est entre les membres de l'Église. Et aussi par cela nous est donné à entendre que tout ce que notre Seigneur fait de bien à son Église, est pour le profit et salut de chacun fidèle, pour ce que tous ont communion ensemble.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩1Cor.12.12;Eph.4.15-Eph.4.16 — For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so also is Christ. Eph.4.15 — But speaking the truth in love, let us grow up in every way into him who is the head, Christ, Eph.4.16 — from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each individual part is working properly, causes the growth of the body for building itself up in love.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩French « Église catholique » here means the universal Church of the Creed, not the Roman Catholic communion as such; « catholique » is kept in the traditional creedal sense.
  2. 2 ↩French ordonnés is rendered “appointed,” not clerical “ordained”: God has ordered/designated these faithful, and elected them, to eternal life.
  3. 3 ↩French faire … oisive means to leave idle or of no effect; the sense is that denying this article would render Christ’s death and the prior articles fruitless.
  4. 4 ↩French 'dilection' (theological love) rendered as 'love' per lexeme policy for dilectio/dilectio-cognates; not softened to mere affection.
  5. 5 ↩Source reads 'E : II est ainsi.' — almost certainly a typesetting/OCR error for 'Il est ainsi' ('It is so'); translated on that reading.
  6. 6 ↩"qu'emporte-t-il?" is older French for "what does it amount to / imply / mean"; rendered as natural modern English for sense rather than a stiff calque.
  7. 7 ↩Dialogue speaker "E" (Écolier/Enfant) rendered as "S" (Student) for a clear modern catechetical voice pairing with "M" (Master/Minister).

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