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Reflection
 20:  Article 8 of  THE DOGMATIC CONSTITUTION ON THE CHURCH
 


                                       LUMEN GENTIUM
, 1964 

 

The one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church
which Jesus established
"subsists in the Catholic Church,
which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the bishops in communion with him,
although many elements of sanctification and of truth are found outside of its visible structure.
These elements, as gifts belonging to the Church of Christ, are forces impelling toward catholic unity"

The above statement
- honestly admits that there's more to the Church of Jesus than just the Catholic Church 
(in fact, the number of "non-Catholic" Christians will soon be greater than the number of Catholic Christians!)
- humbly teaches that the Catholic Church is the root and main stem of the tree that is Jesus' Church
- commits the Catholic Church to work for unity with other branches of Christianity

Jesus, you established one Church.
You prayed that all your followers "would be one".
Please help us give more than lip-service to the goal of Christian Unity

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