The Holy Spirit and the Church: sixteen questions

The third Person of the Holy Trinity, truly God, one in being with the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified. Whenever the Father sends his Word, he always sends his Breath, the Spirit.

No one can say "Jesus is Lord" except by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3). The Spirit is the first to awaken faith in us and give us new life. Yet he was the last of the three Persons to be fully revealed.

Jesus calls him the Paraclete, "the one called to our side", our Advocate and Consoler, and the Spirit of truth. Scripture shows him in signs: water, anointing, fire, cloud and light, the seal, the hand, the finger of God and the dove.

Fifty days after Easter, Christ poured out the Holy Spirit on the disciples. On that day the Holy Trinity was fully revealed and the time of the Church began: the Kingdom already given, though not yet complete.

It comes from the Greek "ekklesia", an assembly called together. It means the liturgical assembly, the local community and the whole community of believers in the world. These three belong together; the Church lives from the Word and the Body of Christ.

Yes. He began it by preaching the Kingdom, gathered a "little flock" around him, and gave it a structure, above all the Twelve with Peter at their head. The Church was born from his self-giving on the Cross, signified by the blood and water from his opened side.

As the People of God, which one joins by faith and Baptism, not by birth; as the Body of Christ, with Christ as its Head and many members with different gifts; and as the Temple of the Holy Spirit, who is to the Church what the soul is to the body.

Gifts of the Holy Spirit, extraordinary or simple, given to build up the Church and serve the world. They are received with gratitude, measured by charity, and always submitted to the discernment of the Church's pastors.

Because of her source, the one God in three Persons; her founder, Christ; and her soul, the Holy Spirit. She is held together by one faith, common worship and the sacraments, and apostolic succession. The one Church of Christ "subsists in" the Catholic Church, governed by the successor of Peter and the bishops in communion with him.

With respect and affection, as brothers and sisters. Those born today in communities separated from her cannot be blamed for the separation. All who are properly baptised are joined to Christ, and many elements of sanctification and truth are found outside her visible bounds. With the Orthodox Churches the communion is so deep that little is lacking for a common Eucharist.

From the beginning the one Church has had a great diversity of peoples, cultures and traditions, and this is not opposed to her unity. The Syro-Malankara, Latin and Syro-Malabar Churches, with many others, are each a Church in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, with its own liturgy and heritage. The Church holds all lawfully recognised rites to be of equal right and dignity. The Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches calls such a Church a Church sui iuris: a community of the faithful joined together by a hierarchy according to law and recognised, expressly or tacitly, by the supreme authority of the Church as sui iuris (CCEO canon 27, in substance).

She is holy because Christ loved her as his Bride and gave himself up to make her holy, and because she holds the fullness of the means of salvation. On earth her holiness is real but imperfect. She embraces sinners in her bosom and is always in need of purification and renewal.

"Catholic" means universal: Christ is wholly present in her, and she is sent to the whole human race. "Apostolic" means she is built on the Apostles, keeps and hands on their teaching, and is still taught, sanctified and guided by their successors, the bishops, with the successor of Peter.

Christ made Peter the rock and shepherd of the whole flock, and the Apostles one college with Peter at its head. In the same way the Pope, the Bishop of Rome, and the bishops form one college. The Pope is the visible source and foundation of unity. When he defines a doctrine of faith or morals by a definitive act, or the bishops do so together with him, the Church teaches infallibly.

Lay people share in Christ's priestly, prophetic and kingly office through Baptism. Their special call is to seek the Kingdom in the midst of family, work and society. Consecrated men and women profess chastity, poverty and obedience and so show the world the Kingdom to come.

It means communion in holy things, above all the Eucharist, and communion among holy persons. The Church on earth, those being purified after death, and the saints in heaven form one family. The saints pray for us, and we pray for the dead.