The Church is holy, not because all her members are supposedly holy, but rather because God is holy and is at work in her. All the members of the Church are sanctified by Baptism. [823-829]

Whenever we allow ourselves to be touched by the Triune God, we grow in love and become holy and whole. The saints are lovers—not because they are able to love so well, but because God has touched them. They pass on the love they have received from God to other people in their own, often original way. Once God takes them home, they also sanctify the Church, because they “spend their heaven” supporting us on our path to HOLINESS.

“Catholic” (Greek kat’ holon) means related to the whole. The CHURCH is catholic because Christ called her to profess the whole faith, to preserve all the SACRAMENTS, to administer them and proclaim the Good News to all; and he sent her to all nations.

Anyone who, in union with the POPE and the bishops, is united to Jesus Christ through profession of the Catholic faith and reception of the SACRAMENTS is in full communion with the Catholic Church.

God willed one CHURCH for all. Unfortunately we Christians have been unfaithful to this wish ofChrist. Nevertheless, even today we are still deeply united with one another by our faith and common Baptism.Just as there are  also uncatholic things in the Catholic Church, so too we can find something catholic even outside the Catholic Church. Many who seem to be outside are inside; many who seem to be inside are outside. ST. AUGUSTINE

The CHURCH is called apostolic because she was founded by the apostles, holds fast to their Tradition, and is governed by their successors. 

Jesus called the APOSTLES to be his closest collaborators. They were his eyewitnesses. After his Resurrection, he appeared to them repeatedly. He bestowed on them the Holy Spirit and sent them as his authoritative messengers to all the world. They assured unity in the early Church. They conferred their mission and authority upon their successors, the bishops, through the laying on of hands. This process is called APOSTOLIC SUCCESSION. 

In the Church there are the LAITY and clerics (CLERGY). As children of God, they are of equal dignity. They have equally important but different tasks. The mission of the laity is to direct the whole world toward the kingdom of God. In addition, there are the ordained ministers (clerics), who have the duties of ecclesiastical governance, teaching, and sanctification. In both states of life, there are Christians who place themselves at God’s disposal in a special way through celibacy, poverty, and obedience (for example, consecrated religious). 

Every Christian has the duty to bear witness to the Gospel by his own life. But God walks a special path with each person. Some he sends as laymen, so that they might build up the kingdom of God by their family and occupation in the midst of the world. For this purpose, he bestows on them in Baptism and CONFIRMATION all the necessary gifts of the Holy Spirit. Others he entrusts with the pastoral ministry; they are to govern, teach, and sanctify his people. No one can take this duty upon himself; the Lord himself must send him on his way with h is divine power through Holy Orders, sothat he can act in the place of Christ and administer the SACRAMENTS.

The  LAITY are sent to engage in society so that the kingdom of God can grow among men.

A lay person is not a second-class Christian, for he shares in the priestly ministry of Christ (the universal priesthood). He sees to it that the people in his walk of life (in school, family and work) come to know the Gospel and learn to love Christ. Through his faith he leaves a mark on society, business, and politics. He supports the life of the Church, for instance, by becoming a lector or an extraordinary minister, by volunteering as a group leader, or by serving on church committees and councils (for example, the parish council or the board of directors of an institution). Young people especially should give serious thought to the question of what place God might want them to have in the Church.

Democracy operates on the principle that all power comes from the people. In the CHURCH, however, all power comes from Christ. That is why the Church has a hierarchical structure. At the same time, however, Christ gave her a collegial structure as well.

The hierarchical element in the CHURCH consists in the fact that Christ himself is the one who acts in the Church when ordained ministers, by God’s grace, do or give something that they could not do or give by themselves, in other words, when they administer the SACRAMENTS in Christ’s place and teach with his authority. The collegial element in the Church consists in the fact that Christ entrusted the entire faith to a group of twelve apostles, whose successors govern the Church, with the Pope, the Petrine ministry presiding. Given this collegial approach, councils are an indispensable part of the Church. Yet even in other administrative bodies of the Church, in synods and councils, the manifold gifts of the Spirit and the universality of the Church throughout the world can be fruitful.