CCC 857: 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," the witnesses chosen and sent on mission by Christ himself;
- with the help of the Spirit dwelling in her, the Church keeps and hands on the teaching, the "good deposit," the salutary words she has heard from the apostles;
- 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":
You are the eternal Shepherd who never leaves his flock untended. Through the apostles you watch over us and protect us always. You made them shepherds of the flock to share in the work of your Son. . . .
- Catechism: The Church is Apostolic
- Catechism: The Church is apostolic
- Catechism: The Church is Apostolic – The Apostolate
- Catechism: The Church is Apostolic – The Apostles’ Mission
- Catechism: The Church is One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic
- Catechism: Apostolic tradition continued in apostolic succession
- Catechism: Apostolic Tradition in the Apostolic Preaching
- Catechism: The Church preserving apostolic preaching in a continuous line of succession
- Catechism: Forms and meanings of Atheism
- Catechism: Celebration of the Eucharist and the meanings of the Altar
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Excerpts from the Catechism of the Catholic Church are provided courtesy of www.intratex.com
Catechism of the Catholic Church: text - IntraText CT. (2012). Retrieved January 7th, 2012, from: http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM
Catechism of the Catholic Church: text - IntraText CT. (2012). Retrieved January 7th, 2012, from: http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM