The Church Jesus Founded
Jesus did not just teach and then leave. He founded a Church to carry His grace and His
teaching to every generation. This lesson explains what the Church is and who leads it.
How Jesus Reaches Us Today
114. Q. Which are the means instituted by our Lord to enable men at all times to share
in the fruits of the Redemption?
A. The means instituted by our Lord to enable men at all times to share in the fruits of
His Redemption are the Church and the Sacraments.
Jesus lived two thousand years ago. How do we receive the grace He won? Through two
things He left us: the Church and the Sacraments. Through them, Jesus still teaches,
forgives, and feeds His people today.
Remember: Jesus reaches us today through His Church and its sacraments.
What the Church Is
115. Q. What is the Church?
A. The Church is the congregation of all those who profess the faith of Christ, partake of
the same Sacraments, and are governed by their lawful pastors under one visible head.
The Church is not just a building or an organization. It is the people of God, united in three
ways:
• the same faith,
• the same sacraments, and
• the same leadership, the bishops under the Pope.
St. Paul calls the Church the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27). Christ is the head, and we
are the members.
Remember: The Church is God’s people, united in one faith, one set of sacraments, and one
leadership.
The Head of the Church
116. Q. Who is the invisible Head of the Church?
A. Jesus Christ is the invisible Head of the Church.
117. Q. Who is the visible Head of the Church?
A. Our Holy Father the Pope, the Bishop of Rome, is the Vicar of Christ on earth and the
visible Head of the Church.
118. Q. Why is the Pope, the Bishop of Rome, the visible Head of the Church?
A. The Pope, the Bishop of Rome, is the visible Head of the Church because he is the
successor of St. Peter, whom Christ made the chief of the Apostles and the visible Head
of the Church.
119. Q. Who are the successors of the other Apostles?
A. The successors of the other Apostles are the bishops of the Holy Catholic Church.
Jesus is the true head of the Church, but since He ascended into heaven we cannot see Him.
So He gave the Church a visible head on earth. He said to Peter: “Thou art Peter; and upon
this rock I will build my church” and gave him “the keys of the kingdom of heaven”
(Matthew 16:18–19).
Peter became the first Bishop of Rome. Every Pope since then is his successor, in an
unbroken line. Vicar of Christ means the one who stands in Christ’s place to lead His flock
on earth. In the same way, the bishops of the world are the successors of the other Apostles.
Your own bishop is one of them.
Remember: Jesus is the Church’s true head; the Pope leads it on earth as Peter’s successor.
Read more: Catechism of the Catholic Church §§880–887.
Why Jesus Founded the Church
120. Q. Why did Christ found the Church?
A. Christ founded the Church to teach, govern, sanctify, and save all men.
121. Q. Are all bound to belong to the Church?
A. All are bound to belong to the Church, and he who knows the Church to be the true
Church and remains out of it cannot be saved.
Jesus founded the Church to teach the truth, govern (lead) His people, sanctify them (make
them holy) through the sacraments, and so save them.
Read Question 121 carefully. It says that someone who knows the Catholic Church is the true
Church and still refuses to join cannot be saved. The Church does not teach that everyone
outside its visible membership is lost. Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know
the truth about Christ and His Church, but sincerely seek God and follow their conscience,
can be saved by His grace. But all salvation comes from Christ through His Church, and God
wants everyone to come to the fullness of the truth.
Remember: Jesus founded the Church to save everyone, and calls everyone into it.
Read more: Catechism of the Catholic Church §§846–848.
Putting It Into Practice
• Learn the names of the current Pope and of your bishop, and pray for them by name.
• Think of yourself not as someone who “goes to church” but as someone who is part of the
Church.
Questions to Think About
1. Why do you think Jesus chose to work through a visible Church rather than only through
private faith?
2. How do you take part in the Church’s mission to teach, lead, and make holy?
A Prayer
Lord Jesus, you built your Church on the rock of Peter. Protect our Holy Father the
Pope and our bishop. Keep your Church united in faith and love, and make me a
faithful member of your Body. Amen.