About our Faith
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For this reason, at every time and in every place, God draws close to man. He calls man to seek him, to know him, to love him with all his strength. He calls together all men, scattered and divided by sin, into the unity of his family, the Church. To accomplish this, when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son as Redeemer and Saviour. In his Son and through him, he invites men to become, in the Holy Spirit, his adopted children and thus heirs of his blessed life.”
A People for His Own
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The Church is comprised of all believers or the People of God. Ordained clergy have a distinct role and function in the Church; all of the baptized are a part of the whole of the Body of Christ. Together with ordained ministers, the lay faithful are called to live out their baptism through spreading the gospel message and ministering to people in need.
“The entire body of the faithful, anointed as they are by the Holy One, cannot err in matters of belief. They manifest this special property by means of the whole peoples' supernatural discernment in matters of faith when ‘from the Bishops down to the last of the lay faithful,’ they show universal agreement in matters of faith and morals. That discernment in matters of faith is aroused and sustained by the Spirit of truth.”
The Church’s Roots
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The Catholic Church was founded by the person and mission of Jesus Christ. The word “Catholic” means universal. Today’s Church is truly universal – it is the largest in the world with more than 1 billion members around the globe.
The mission of the Church is to spread the gospel message, administer sacraments and reach out with charity and justice to people in need. The Church is led by the Pope, who is the successor of the Apostle Peter, and the Bishops, who are also in the line of apostolic succession.
The beliefs of the Church, handed down through the Apostles, are practiced in the Eucharistic Liturgy; summarized in the Nicene Creed; and detailed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
One Liturgy
The Catholic Mass is celebrated on innumerable altars throughout the world, in countless tongues, various places, and numerous rites. Yet, it remains the same: the representation of Christ’s paschal mystery.
One Mission
United by the Sacraments, and strengthened by God’s grace, Catholics live out the call of Christ: to preach His Gospel to all peoples, and to share with them the love we have been shown.
One Faith
Grounded in 2,000 years of Apostolic Tradition; the college of Bishops and the whole Magisterium; the Papacy, and the Holy Spirit, the Church remains firm in her preaching and teaching of the faith of Christ.