The-papacy-its-history-dogmas-genius-and-prospects-wylie

POPISH DEFINITION OF UNITY. 193all.The Church must resemble the sun, to use Bellarmine'sillustration, whose resplendent beams attest his presence toall. By these marks is the important question to be solved,— " Which is the true Church V Papists hold, and endeavourto prove, that in the Church of Rome alone are thesemarks to be found ; and therefore that she, to the exclusionof all other societies, is the holy Catholic Church.The first indispensable characteristic of the true Church,possessed by the Church of Rome alone, as Papists hold, isUnity.Bellarmine places the unity of the Church in threethings,—the same faith, the same sacraments, and the samehead, the Roman pontiff.* This unity is defined by Dens-ftoconsist " inhaving one head, one faith, in being of onemind, in partaking of the same sacraments, and in the communionof the saints." With regard to the first,—the unityof the head,—Dens holds that the Church of Rome is signallyfavoured ;for nowhere but in her do we find one visible head" under Christ," namely, the Roman pontiff, " to whom allbishops, and the whole body of the faithful, are subjected."In him, continues Dens, the Church has a " centre of union,"and a source of " authority and discipline, which extends inits exercise throughout the whole Church."" What is theChurch ?" it is asked in Dr Reilly's Catechism. It is answered," It is the congregation of the faithful, who professthe true faith, and are obedient to the Pope."J Romanistslay much stress likewise upon the fact, that the same creed,particularly that of Pope Pius IV., drawn up in conformitywith the definitions of the Council of Trent, is professed byRoman Catholics in all parts of the world ; that the samearticles of faith and morality are taught in all her catechisms;that she has one rule of faith, viz. " Scripture and tradition;"* Bellarm. Opera, torn. ii. lib. iv. cap. x.,—De Notis Ecclesioe ; Colon.1620.+ Theologia Mor. et Dog. Petri Dens, torn. ii. p. 120,—De Nota Ecclesise,qua dicitur una ; Dublin, 1832.J Reilly's Cat. lesson viii.