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Defender of Catholic Faith
Defender of Catholic Faith
The Church
• Jesus Christ Founded the Catholic Church on AD 33 Mt. 16:18: And
I say also unto thee, That thou are Peter, and upon this rock I will
build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
• (Mt. 28-19) Jesus states - Go ye therefore, and TEACH all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of
the Holy Ghost.
• (Mk. 16-15) Jesus states - And he said unto them, Go ye into all
the world, and PREACH the gospel to every creature.
• (Mk 16-20) -And they went forth, and PREACHED everywhere, the
Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs
following. Amen
• The church is "the light of the world." He then noted that
"a city set on a hill cannot be hidden" (Matt. 5:14). This
means his Church is a visible organization. It must have
characteristics that clearly identify it and that distinguish it
from other churches. Jesus promised, "I will build my Church
and the gates of hell will not prevail against it" (Matt.
16:18). This means that his Church will never be destroyed
and will never fall away from him. His Church will survive
until his return.
•Where does the Baptist take his Pentecostal brother? Where does the
Lutheran take his Methodist sister? Jesus' words demand that there be
one, authoritative institution to resolve the doctrinal or disciplinary
issue. If not, then Jesus' words would mean little. We would never have
any consistency on doctrine and morals, the very ingredients that are
necessary to our salvation. God is one and His Church is one. A
kingdom divided against itself will not stand. That is why the Catholic
Church has been around for 2,000 years, and the Protestant sects
continue to splinter by the thousands each year.
• This verse is a tough pill for Protestants to
swallow. They want to argue that the Bible is
the only and final authority. However, not only
does the Bible never say that, the Bible tells us
the Church is the final authority.
• So, if they want to be faithful to the Bible, then
they have to follow the Church. Of course, this
forces them to determine what "Church" this
is. And if they are truly honest with
themselves, they know there is no other
recourse than joining the Catholic Church.
• We need the Church in order to be saved. Jesus
Christ gave us the Church as the exclusive means
by which we become united to Him through the
sacraments, which allow us to grow in holiness,
and give us the best chance for salvation. Those
outside the Church are, objectively speaking, in a
spiritually deficient condition, although they can
still be saved by Christ. But the Church gives us
the totality of the means of salvation through
Christ and His Eucharistic sacrifice, which the
Church celebrates from the rising of the sun to its
setting.
• The Church is the sacrament of salvation. Regularly receiving the
sacraments that Christ instituted is the way that Jesus has set the
whole thing up. Confession is the normative way that God forgives
sins. The Eucharist is the greatest gift God has given to us this side
of heaven - because it is Jesus Christ Himself. It is only in the Church
where we eat His body and drink His blood as Jesus commanded us.
• There was no Bible as you know it for 400 years after Christ's
death, and it wasn't even distributed for 1500 years after His
death. If the Bible is the only way to get us to heaven, then what
happened to those millions of poor souls who never had a Bible
during the 1500 year period? , you need to get familiar with basic
history. Jesus Christ established a Church to proclaim the good
news. He never intended on having the Bible be the sole infallible
guide for the Christian faith. This is why the Catholic Church is
one, and your Protestant denominations are 30,000.
• The Bible
• # Even the word Bible is not in the Bible. It came from the
Greek word biblos which means the inner bark of the
papyrus, paper-reed, from which paper was originally made,
in Egypt. The Latin form "Biblia" spelled with a capital letter,
came to mean "the Book of Books," "The Book" by way of
pre-eminence, the inspired Book, etc. The Holy Scriptures
were first called the Bible by St. Chrysostom, the Catholic
Archbishop of Constantinople, in the 4th century .
• # "What do you mean by the Canon of Scripture?"
The Canon of Scripture simply means the authentic
collection of those writings declared to have been inspired
by God. They are called canonical, whereas those writings
that were rejected as uncanonical were called apocryphal,
which means not of Divine origin, not inspired.
• # The Bible alone theory is not what the Bible teaches. The
Bible teaches us and shows us that the Church came First
before the Bible. After all, what books did Jesus write?
None! Jesus deliberately chose NOT to write. Instead He
chose to establish a Church to teach in His name!
• # How did the early Christians each own a Bible if the printing press
wasn't developed until the 1500's? Even after the printing press was
developed how many Christian could afford to own a Bible?
• # The apostles did not read from the New Testament, which was yet
to be written, instead they taught by "word of mouth" and by
tradition, as shown in the following verses:
• # The Catholic church has the Apostolic Succession that can be traced more
than 2,000 years ago started by Peter as the first Pope click here to see the list
of the Popes http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12272b.htm
• # By the Apostolic succession is meant that priests and bishops have received
the Apostolic authority through an unbroken line of Popes from St. Peter to the
current Pope.
• # The doctrine that the authority and the mission given by Jesus to the Apostles
have descended in a direct and unbroken line of bishops to the bishops of today
• The Early Christians
• St. Linus (67-76)
• After the Holy Apostles (Peter and Paul) had founded and set the Church in order (in Rome) they gave over the exercise of the episcopal office to Linus. The same Linus is mentioned by St. Paul in his Epistle to Timothy.
His successor was Anacletus.
• We cannot be positive whether this identification of the pope as being the Linus mentioned in 2 Timothy 4:21 goes back to an ancient and reliable source, or originated later on account of the similarity of the name.
• St. Evaristus (97-105)
• St. Alexander I (105-115)
• St. Sixtus I (115-125) Also called Xystus I
• St. Telesphorus (125-136)
• St. Hyginus (136-140)
• St. Pius I (140-155)
• St. Anicetus (155-166)
• St. Soter (166-175)
• St. Eleutherius (175-189)
• St. Victor I (189-199)
• St. Zephyrinus (199-217)
• St. Callistus I (217-22) Callistus and the following three popes were opposed by St. Hippolytus, antipope (217-236)
• St. Urban I (222-30)
• St. Pontain (230-35)
• St. Anterus (235-36)
• St. Fabian (236-50)
• St. Cornelius (251-53) Opposed by Novatian, antipope (251)
• St. Lucius I (253-54)
• St. Stephen I (254-257)
• St. Sixtus II (257-258)
• St. Dionysius (260-268)
• St. Felix I (269-274)
• St. Eutychian (275-283)
• St. Caius (283-296) Also called Gaius
• St. Marcellinus (296-304)
• St. Marcellus I (308-309)
• St. Eusebius (309 or 310)
• St. Miltiades (311-14)
• St. Sylvester I (314-35)
• St. Marcus (336)
• St. Julius I (337-52)
• Liberius (352-66) Opposed by Felix II, antipope (355-365)
• St. Damasus I (366-83) Opposed by Ursicinus, antipope (366-367)
• St. Siricius (384-99)
• St. Anastasius I (399-401)
• St. Innocent I (401-17)
• St. Zosimus (417-18)
• St. Boniface I (418-22) Opposed by Eulalius, antipope (418-419)
• St. Celestine I (422-32)
• St. Sixtus III (432-40)
• St. Leo I (the Great) (440-61)
• St. Hilarius (461-68)
• St. Simplicius (468-83)
• St. Felix III (II) (483-92)
• St. Gelasius I (492-96)
• Anastasius II (496-98)
• St. Symmachus (498-514) Opposed by Laurentius, antipope (498-501)
• St. Hormisdas (514-23)
• St. John I (523-26)
• St. Felix IV (III) (526-30)
• Boniface II (530-32) Opposed by Dioscorus, antipope (530)
• John II (533-35)
• St. Agapetus I (535-36) Also called Agapitus I
• St. Silverius (536-37)
• Vigilius (537-55)
• Pelagius I (556-61)
• John III (561-74)
• Benedict I (575-79)
• Pelagius II (579-90)
• St. Gregory I (the Great) (590-604)
• Sabinian (604-606)
• Boniface III (607)
• St. Boniface IV (608-15)
• St. Deusdedit (Adeodatus I) (615-18)
• Boniface V (619-25)
• Honorius I (625-38)
• Severinus (640)
• John IV (640-42)
• Theodore I (642-49)
• St. Martin I (649-55)
• St. Eugene I (655-57)
• St. Vitalian (657-72)
• Adeodatus (II) (672-76)
• Donus (676-78)
• St. Agatho (678-81)
• St. Leo II (682-83)
• St. Benedict II (684-85)
• John V (685-86)
• Conon (686-87)
• St. Sergius I (687-701) Opposed by Theodore and Paschal, antipopes (687)
• John VI (701-05)
• John VII (705-07)
• Sisinnius (708)
• Constantine (708-15)
• St. Gregory II (715-31)
• St. Gregory III (731-41)
• St. Zachary (741-52) Stephen II followed Zachary, but because he died before being consecrated,
modern lists omit him
• Stephen III (752-57)
• St. Paul I (757-67)
• Stephen IV (767-72) Opposed by Constantine II (767) and Philip (768), antipopes (767)
• Adrian I (772-95)
• St. Leo III (795-816)
• Stephen V (816-17)
• St. Paschal I (817-24)
• Eugene II (824-27)
• Valentine (827)
• Gregory IV (827-44)
• Sergius II (844-47) Opposed by John, antipope (855)
• St. Leo IV (847-55)
• Benedict III (855-58) Opposed by Anastasius, antipope (855)
• St. Nicholas I (the Great) (858-67)
• Adrian II (867-72)
• John VIII (872-82)
• Marinus I (882-84)
• St. Adrian III (884-85)
• Stephen VI (885-91)
• Formosus (891-96)
• Boniface VI (896)
• Stephen VII (896-97)
• Romanus (897)
• Theodore II (897)
• John IX (898-900)
• Benedict IV (900-03)
• Leo V (903) Opposed by Christopher, antipope (903-904)
• Sergius III (904-11)
• Anastasius III (911-13)
• Lando (913-14)
• John X (914-28)
• Leo VI (928)
• Stephen VIII (929-31)
• John XI (931-35)
• Leo VII (936-39)
• Stephen IX (939-42)
• Marinus II (942-46)
• Agapetus II (946-55)
• John XII (955-63)
• Leo VIII (963-64)
• Benedict V (964)
• John XIII (965-72)
• Benedict VI (973-74)
• Benedict VII (974-83) Benedict and John XIV were opposed by Boniface VII, antipope (974; 984-985)
• John XIV (983-84)
• John XV (985-96)
• Gregory V (996-99) Opposed by John XVI, antipope (997-998)
• Sylvester II (999-1003)
• John XVII (1003)
• John XVIII (1003-09)
• Sergius IV (1009-12)
• Benedict VIII (1012-24) Opposed by Gregory, antipope (1012)
• John XIX (1024-32)
• Benedict IX (1032-45) He appears on this list three separate times, because he was twice deposed and restored
• Sylvester III (1045) Considered by some to be an antipope
• Benedict IX (1045)
• Gregory VI (1045-46)
• Clement II (1046-47)
• Benedict IX (1047-48)
• Damasus II (1048)
• St. Leo IX (1049-54)
• Victor II (1055-57)
• Stephen X (1057-58)
• Nicholas II (1058-61) Opposed by Benedict X, antipope (1058)
• Alexander II (1061-73) Opposed by Honorius II, antipope (1061-1072)
• St. Gregory VII (1073-85) Gregory and the following three popes were opposed by Guibert ("Clement III"),
antipope (1080-1100)
• Blessed Victor III (1086-87)
• Blessed Urban II (1088-99)
• Paschal II (1099-1118) Opposed by Theodoric (1100), Aleric (1102) and Maginulf ("Sylvester IV", 1105-1111),
antipopes (1100)
• Gelasius II (1118-19) Opposed by Burdin ("Gregory VIII"), antipope (1118)
• Callistus II (1119-24)
• Honorius II (1124-30) Opposed by Celestine II, antipope (1124)
• Innocent II (1130-43) Opposed by Anacletus II (1130-1138) and Gregory Conti ("Victor IV") (1138),
antipopes (1138)
• Celestine II (1143-44)
• Lucius II (1144-45)
• Blessed Eugene III (1145-53)
• Anastasius IV (1153-54)
• Adrian IV (1154-59)
• Alexander III (1159-81) Opposed by Octavius ("Victor IV") (1159-1164), Pascal III (1165-1168), Callistus
III (1168-1177) and Innocent III (1178-1180),antipopes
• Lucius III (1181-85)
• Urban III (1185-87)
• Gregory VIII (1187)
• Clement III (1187-91)
• Celestine III (1191-98)
• Innocent III (1198-1216)
• Honorius III (1216-27)
• Gregory IX (1227-41)
• Celestine IV (1241)
• Innocent IV (1243-54)
• Alexander IV (1254-61)
• Urban IV (1261-64)
• Clement IV (1265-68)
• Blessed Gregory X (1271-76)
• Blessed Innocent V (1276)
• Adrian V (1276)
• John XXI (1276-77)
• Nicholas III (1277-80)
• Martin IV (1281-85)
• Honorius IV (1285-87)
• Nicholas IV (1288-92)
• St. Celestine V (1294)
• Boniface VIII (1294-1303)
• Blessed Benedict XI (1303-04)
• Clement V (1305-14)
• John XXII (1316-34) Opposed by Nicholas V, antipope (1328-1330)
• Benedict XII (1334-42)
• Clement VI (1342-52)
• Innocent VI (1352-62)
• Blessed Urban V (1362-70)
• Gregory XI (1370-78)
• Urban VI (1378-89) Opposed by Robert of Geneva ("Clement VII"), antipope (1378-1394)
• Boniface IX (1389-1404) Opposed by Robert of Geneva ("Clement VII") (1378-1394),
Pedro de Luna ("Benedict XIII") (1394-1417) and Baldassare Cossa ("John XXIII") (1400-1415), antipopes
• Innocent VII (1404-06) Opposed by Pedro de Luna ("Benedict XIII") (1394-1417) and Baldassare Cossa
("John XXIII") (1400-1415), antipopes
• Gregory XII (1406-15) Opposed by Pedro de Luna ("Benedict XIII") (1394-1417), Baldassare Cossa ("John XXIII")
(1400-1415), and Pietro Philarghi ("Alexander V") (1409-1410), antipopes
• Martin V (1417-31)
• Eugene IV (1431-47) Opposed by Amadeus of Savoy ("Felix V"), antipope (1439-1449)
• Nicholas V (1447-55)
• Callistus III (1455-58)
• Pius II (1458-64)
• Paul II (1464-71)
• Sixtus IV (1471-84)
• Innocent VIII (1484-92)
• Alexander VI (1492-1503)
• Pius III (1503)
• Julius II (1503-13)
• Leo X (1513-21)
• Adrian VI (1522-23)
• Clement VII (1523-34)
• Paul III (1534-49)
• Julius III (1550-55)
• Marcellus II (1555)
• Paul IV (1555-59)
• Pius IV (1559-65)
• St. Pius V (1566-72)
• Gregory XIII (1572-85)
• Sixtus V (1585-90)
• Urban VII (1590)
• Gregory XIV (1590-91)
• Innocent IX (1591)
• Clement VIII (1592-1605)
• Leo XI (1605)
• Paul V (1605-21)
• Gregory XV (1621-23)
• Urban VIII (1623-44)
• Innocent X (1644-55)
• Alexander VII (1655-67)
• Clement IX (1667-69)
• Clement X (1670-76)
• Blessed Innocent XI (1676-89)
• Alexander VIII (1689-91)
• Innocent XII (1691-1700)
• Clement XI (1700-21)
• Innocent XIII (1721-24)
• Benedict XIII (1724-30)
• Clement XII (1730-40)
• Benedict XIV (1740-58)
• Clement XIII (1758-69)
• Clement XIV (1769-74)
• Pius VI (1775-99)
• Pius VII (1800-23)
• Leo XII (1823-29)
• Pius VIII (1829-30)
• Gregory XVI (1831-46)
• Blessed Pius IX (1846-78)
• Leo XIII (1878-1903)
• St. Pius X (1903-14)
• Benedict XV (1914-22) Biographies of Benedict XV and his successors will be added at a later date
• Pius XI (1922-39)
• Pius XII (1939-58)
• Blessed John XXIII (1958-63)
• Paul VI (1963-78)
• John Paul I (1978)
• Blessed John Paul II (1978-2005)
• Benedict XVI (2005-2013)
• Francis (2013—PRESENT)
• History of Catholic Faith Defenders