The unity of the Church, also, is integral to her divine constitution. There is only one Church, and those not in communion with the Roman Pontiff do not belong to it. "Let there be no schisms among you" (1 Cor. 1:10). "Careful to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace; one body and one Spirit . . .one Lord, one faith, one baptism" (Eph. 4: 3­5). "We, being many, are one body in Christ" (Rom. 12: 5). "Upon this rock I will build My Church"(Mt. 16: 18). "There shall be one fold and one shepherd" (John 10: 16).

St. Augustine warned:

See what you must beware of­see what you must avoid, see what you must dread. It happens that, as in the human body, some member may be cut off, a hand, a finger, a foot. Does the soul follow the amputated member? As long as it was in the body it lived; separated, it forfeits its life. So the Christian is a Catholic as long as he lives in the body; cut off from it, he becomes an heretic, the life of the spirit follows not the amputated member.

© 1997 Michael Davies.

Last modified 27th October, 1997, by David Joyce.