Page:The Great Encyclical Letters of Pope Leo XIII.djvu/361



THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH. 355

but its whole constitution, belongs to the class of things effected by Christ's free choice. For this reason the entire case must be judged by what was actually done. We must consequently investigate not how the Church may possibly be one, but how He, who founded it, willed that it should be one.

But when we consider what was actually done we find that Jesus Christ did not, in point of fact, institute a Church to embrace several communities similar in nature, but in themselves distinct, and lacking those bonds which render the Church unique and indivisible after that manner in which in the symbol of our faith we profess: "I believe in one Church."

"The Church in respect^f its unity belongs to the category of things Jndixisible by nature, though heretics try to divide it into many parts. . . . We say, therefore, that the Catholic Church is unique in its essence, in its ^^ctrine, in its origin, and in its excellence. . . . Further- more, the eminence of the Church arises from its unity, as the principle of its constitution â€” a unity surpassing all else, and haymg_nothing hke unto it or equal to it.^ For this reason Christ, speaking of this mystical edifice, men- tions only one Church, which He calls His own â€” "I will build My Church "; any other Church except this one, rtf since it has not been founded by Christ, cannot be the true Church. This becomes even more evident when the purpose of the di\'ine Founder is considered. For what did Christ the Lord ask? What did He wish in regard to the Church founded, or about to be founded? This: to transmit to it the same mission and the same mandate which He had received from the Father, that they should be^perpetuated.. This He clearly resolved to do: this He actually did. As the Father hath sent Me, I also send you.^ As thou hast sent Me into the world I also have sent thxm into the world.^

^John XX. 21. 'John x\1i. 18.
 * S. Clemens Alexandrinus, Stromatum lib. \'iii., c. 17