The Church and the churches

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The Catholic view

"The Church is realized in the Catholic Church which is being led by the successor of Peter and the bishops in communion with him. This does not exclude that outside of her structure various elements of sanctification and truth can also be found." It is said here  that the Church of Christ exists, that she can be recognized. At this point your objection may begin.

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This conviction may seem to be presumptuous to you. It is therefore important  to  add what the  Council says about the other churches, namely that "many elements of sanctification and truth" can be found there too. The  Council  emphasizes  positively  the  richness of  Christian  values  realized outside of  the  Catholic  Church,  mentioned above  as  common   to   all   Christians.  It  is  definitely  possible to  find  certain Christian qualities better accomplished outside than within the Catholic Church.

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Connection with other churches

Furthermore,  the Council states that the Church,  for many reasons, feels attached  to  all  those  "who are  baptized and  partake in the honor of being Christians without professing the entire faith or  recognizing  the  sacramental  unity of Holy Communion under the successor of Peter." The Council's decree on ecumenism pursues this thought further: "The Catholic Church looks at her separated brothers with reverence and love, for if they believe in Christ  and received a valid baptism, they are in a certain, even if not perfect way united with the community of the Catholic Church.

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Accordingly, there are different levels of realization of the Church. Contact with her can be more or less intensive. Separated Christians are "justified through faith and baptism, and incorporated into the body of Christ", according to the above mentioned document, "and therefore they deserve to be honored with the name 'Christian'. They are recognized by the Catholic Church as brothers in Christ, and rightly so."

The Catholic Church knows that the  "Spirit of Christ"  and His grace are also with them. Consequently, the Church is also  realized  outside of her structure,  even if not perfectly, as important  qualities  are  missing  which Christ  bestowed to  His Church; for instance the office of Saint Peter, which is to guarantee the unity of the Church, and in some cases,  the apostolic succession, which means the historic office of bishop.

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On the other hand, the Catholic Church in no way considers herself as having reached  perfection. As mentioned before, she is "still on the way".

Some may be surprised by what we say here, since they imagined the Catholic Church to be  more  intolerant and  high-handed. For others, even this viewpoint is presumptuous. But we should keep in mind that even the members  of the  "Ecumenical Council of Churches"  have  reserved  the right not to recognize each other as churches in the full sense of the word.

The Church and the churches
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Fortunately, 

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what  Christians  have  in common

is far greater and more comprehensive  than  what  separates them: determination to bring about unity, common Baptism,  common  Scriptures,  real  faith,  love of God the Father and  Jesus Christ;  furthermore, there  is  the office of the Bishop which, in some churches, goes back to the Apostles.

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And there are other aspects where unity is not  even necessary,  where  pluralism is desirable: the rite of worship,  aspects of ecclesiastical laws, etc.

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And something else: Without any doubt, unity among Christians of different denominations is greater than that between believers and the religiously indifferent  of  the  same  church. The religious demarcation line today runs  between faith and unbelief.

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In  spite  of  all  this,  there  is  separation  with respect to  central dogmatic truth. For this reason, there is no visible unity either in the leadership of the Church or in Holy Communion.

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This split is not found in what is usually considered divisive, i.e., the veneration of Mary in the Catholic Church. We shall see later that no Catholic is obliged to venerate the Saints. The cause of disunion is no longer wrongs and injustices in the Church or misunderstandings regarding the question of man's  justification  by  God,  which led to the separation some 400 years ago.

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Today,  the  significance and comprehension of the Church, her Sacraments, her authority,  ministries  and  services  are  considered  to  be the dividing causes. But  even  more so, perhaps, the mentality and traditions over a period of four centuries.

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The many churches

The decisive question asked today is: Where is the Church of Christ to be found? Many Christians state honestly: If my parents were Lutheran, Catholic or Orthodox... I would be Lutheran, Catholic or Orthodox and I would be convinced that I belong to "the right church". So, what is the relationship between the one Church founded by Christ and the present church communities?

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According to the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), as stipulated in the "Constitution of the Church", the different faith communities cannot be equally  characterized  as churches.