One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church

We say in the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed that we believe in “One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church” and we casually understand the idea of Apostolic Succession as the meaning behind this phrase. The Holy Apostles, through the laying on of hands, ordained bishops who ordained bishops who ordained bishops, all the way through to today. But the laying on of hands is just the outward expression of the meaning of Apostolic.

It is the inner meaning that matters most, because as in the case of the Roman Catholic Church, they too have the physical laying on of hands from the Holy Apostles until today. The difference is the Roman Church does not have the same Apostolic Dogma as we have maintained. Without the dogma, it us just hands.

Shortly before His Passion Christ promised that the Holy Spirit would come upon the Holy Apostles and guide them “into all truth.” (John 16.13) and it is truth that matters when it comes to our salvation. When the Orthodox Church affirms that we are “One Holy Catholic and Apostolic” we are affirming that we believe as the Holy Apostles, who were guided into all truth by the Holy Spirit, believed.

Let’s put in another way. If the Apostles said it, we believe it. If the Apostles said to do, we can trust them and do it. If the Apostles said don’t do it, we can trust them and avoid it. It was the Holy Apostles that were guided into all truth, and they are the ones honored today on the Feast of the Synaxis of the Twelve Apostles.

One last point. The term ‘catholic’ in the Creed does NOT refer to Roman. It means ‘whole’ or as some would say, ‘universal’. The Church is the whole apostolic faith.