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1. |
The Church's Name, Catholic,
universal, and worldwide, and not confined to any
particular nation or people.
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2. |
Antiquity, in tracing her ancestry
directly to Jesus Christ.
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3. |
Constant Duration, in lasting
substantially unchanged for so many centuries.
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4. |
Extensiveness, in the number of her
loyal members.
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5. |
Episcopal Succession, of her Bishops
from the first Apostles at the Last Supper to the
present hierarchy.
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6. |
Doctrinal Agreement, of her doctrine
with the teaching of the ancient Church.
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7. |
Union, of her members among
themselves, and with their visible head, the Roman
Pontiff.
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8. |
Holiness, of doctrine in reflecting
the sanctity of God.
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9. |
Efficacy, of doctrine in its power to
sanctify believers, and inspire them to great moral
achievement.
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10. |
Holiness of Life, of the Church's
representative writers and defenders.
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11. |
The glory of Miracles, worked in the
Church and under the Church's auspices.
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12. |
The gift of Prophecy found among the
Church's saints and spokesmen.
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13. |
The Opposition that the Church arouses
among those who attack her on the very grounds
that Christ was opposed by His enemies.
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14. |
The Unhappy End, of those who fight
against her.
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15. |
The Temporal Peace and Earthly
Happiness of those who live by the Church's
teaching and defend her interests.
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