(This article courtesy of the Arlington Catholic Herald.)
Napoleon flew into a rage, shouting, “If this document remains unsigned, I shall destroy the Roman Catholic Church.” The insightful cardinal calmly replied, “Your Majesty, if popes, cardinals, bishops and priests have not succeeded in destroying the Church in the course of 19 centuries, how do you expect to do so in your lifetime?”
Admittedly, Consalvi’s reply is somewhat pessimistic. Nonetheless, it reveals his faith in the Church’s divine foundation. Amid Napoleon’s threats, he remembered our Lord’s promise: And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. These words convey a tragically forgotten doctrine: Christ Himself founded the Church.
I will build my Church, He says. No mere man, therefore, but the God-man Jesus Christ founded the Church. The Church did not come from starry-eyed followers hoping to “preserve the memory” of Christ, or from power-hungry clerics imposing their will. God Himself gave us the Church as the sure, certain and only means of salvation. Among the many implications of this basic belief, two deserve special mention.
First, the Church teaches and rules with authority given to her directly by God. To be an effective teacher and guide to eternal life she must possess such authority. In matters of faith and morals, therefore, she proclaims the truth about God, requires the submission of our intellect and will and even speaks infallibly. In matters of discipline, she binds our consciences by laws and precepts. Her authority to do so comes not from the intelligence or virtues of her leaders, but from her Founder and His promise: Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Second, the Church is indefectible. The gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. This does not mean that the Church’s leaders are perfect or incapable of imprudent decisions that harm the Church. Rather, it means that despite the errors of her leaders and the assaults of the world, the Church remains unchangeable in the essentials — in her teachings, constitution and liturgy — as the necessary instrument of salvation.
Nations have come and gone, but the Church remains. Many have tolled the death knell for the Church. Nero tried to destroy her in the 1st century, and Julian the Apostate in the 4th. Napoleon wanted to give it a try in the 19th. The reformers of the 16th century, the intellectuals of the Enlightenment, and the radicals of the French revolution all predicted the end of the Church. Recent headlines hinted at her demise: “Can the Catholic Church Save Itself?” asked Time magazine; “Can the Church Save Its Soul?” worried U.S. News and World Report. They anticipated her death. But still she lives.
The Church’s endurance despite what seemed to be reasonable pronouncements of death indicates that she is more than just an extremely well-organized human institution. There must be something more — perhaps something divine — about her. Indeed, her survival reveals a certain likeness to her divine Founder. Just as they announced Christ’s death only to find Him gloriously alive, so also the world expects the Church’s end only to find her still — somehow — living. This kind of resurrection of the Church reveals that she is indeed Christ’s own — His Body, His Bride, His continuing presence in the world.
