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To: markomalley; Alex Murphy; Salvation; narses; SMEDLEYBUTLER; redhead; Notwithstanding; ...
Very interesting article and, regardless of whether one agrees with the definition of 'denomination', well worth the read. Missing, however, is the fact that our Lord founded one Church, not many. According to Scripture, Christ wanted us to be one (John 17:22-23).  We are all as a Church to be of one mind and to think the same (Philippians 2:2; Romans 15:5).  There is only to be one "faith" (Ephesians 4:3-6), not many.  For the Church is Christ's Body and Christ only had one Body, not many.  Also, since the Church is Christ's Bride (Ephesians 5:29), can Christ be married to more than one wife (essentially a spiritual form of the the sin of polygamy)?  No, Christ can only have one wife (i.e., one Church, not many).

Pope Paul VI addressed this quite succintly in his encyclical Ut unum sint

The unity of all divided humanity is the will of God. For this reason he sent his Son, so that by dying and rising for us he might bestow on us the Spirit of love. On the eve of his sacrifice on the Cross, Jesus himself prayed to the Father for his disciples and for all those who believe in him, that they might be one, a living communion. This is the basis not only of the duty, but also of the responsibility before God and his plan, which falls to those who through Baptism become members of the Body of Christ, a Body in which the fullness of reconciliation and communion must be made present. How is it possible to remain divided, if we have been "buried" through Baptism in the Lord's death, in the very act by which God, through the death of his Son, has broken down the walls of division? Division "openly contradicts the will of Christ, provides a stumbling block to the world, and inflicts damage on the most holy cause of proclaiming the Good News to every creature".

11 posted on 01/20/2008 4:13:19 PM PST by NYer ("Where the bishop is present, there is the Catholic Church" - Ignatius of Antioch)
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To: NYer
Questions on the Catholic side:

(1) Am I right in thinking that all the Catholic Churches who are in communion with the Bishop of Rome (and this would include Melchites, Maronites, Byzantine Catholics, etc.) are under one "jurisdiction"?

(2)If the above is true, are they all under the same Canon Law?

(I vaguely remember hearing that this was somewhat controversial.)

(3)Do we all use the same Catechism?

(Again, I vaguely recall that, while nobody in the Eastern Catholic Churches would reject anything in the Catechism as an error, nevertheless there are some difficulties because of terminology, style, emphasis.)

23 posted on 01/21/2008 6:41:28 AM PST by Mrs. Don-o (Enlighten me.)
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