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THE

ONE CHURCH
by Most Rev. John S. Vaughan



UNITY STUDIES NUMBER TWENTY-THREE

Imprimatur:

Oct. 6,

tfi Francis Cardinal Spellman, Archbishop of New York

1958

Pamphlet No. 11-23

CENTRAL OFFICE

CHAIR OF UNITY APOSTOLATE
GRAYMOOR, GARRISON, N. Y.



THE ONE CHURCH
Most Rev. John S. Vaughan, D.D.

Text : “Now the God of patience and of comfort grant you to be
of one mind and one towards another, according to Jesus Christ;
that with one mind and with one mouth you may glorify God
and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

When we look around and consider the many millions of Chris-
tians in all parts of the world we cannot help being struck by their
extraordinary variety. The religion taught by our Blessed Lord
was one and indivisible. He did not found different religions, as
one might establish different forms of government, to suit the

different characters and peculiarities of different nations and peoples.
He nowhere speaks of His “Churches”; it is always of His Church,
in the singular number. There is no trace of National Churches,
such as we now find, but all were to be united into one indivisible
body, so that all might “with one mind and with one mouth
glorify God and the Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ.”

THE FIRST PROOF—The Church Must Be One Because It Is True

The Church of God must be true, because God Himself is
the Sovereign Truth. But, if it be true, then it must be one. Truth
is essentially the same in all places, and in absolute agreement with
itself. There is nothing of the chameleon about it. It does not alter
to suit the peculiarities and the idiosyncrasies of this nation or of
that. In Christ’s reply to Pilate we have the most solemn and the
most public declaration of His mission: “For this was I born,” He
says, “and for this came I into the world, viz., that I should bear
witness to the truth.”

Now, two Churches teaching irreconcilable doctrines cannot by
any possibility be “bearing witness to the truth.” One at least
must be bearing witness to a he. If, in place of two contradictory
churches, there be two hundred or more, it still remains indis-
putable that only one of the number can be teaching the whole
truth, as set forth by Jesus Christ. For, whatever may be said of
other churches, founded by Luther, Calvin, Henry and Elizabeth,

This succinct, clear proof of the Unicity of the Catholic Church was written
about fifty years ago by the noted English prelate, John S. Vaughan. It
lacks none of its force in being presented today; in fact the passage of the
years only confirms the timeliness of the message in any age. Certain
polemical passages characteristic of his day have been deleted. In no wise
does this deletion materially affect the continuity or force of his argument.

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etc., Christ’s Church is the “Pillar and ground of Truth.” (I Tim.
iii.15) It is on account of this obvious necessity, that St. Paul, in-
spired by the Holy Ghost, assures us that there is but “one Lord,
one Faith, and one Baptism.” There are many erroneous Faiths in
the world today, but to imagine two or more different yet equally
true Faiths is as absurd as to imagine two or more true Gods.
Truth—real Truth—must lead to unity. For, as truth is the selfsame
all the world over, all who accept it will be in complete agreement
with it, and with one another. Why are all men, without exception,
in absolute unity as regards the multiplication table? Simply, be-

cause they all possess and accept the selfsame truth, viz., that
twice two are four, and the rest. So soon as one Church differs
from another, or any one dogma, one of them has departed from
the Truth. Error has crept in and divisions have arisen.

SECOND PROOF—Christ Commanded His Apostles To Teach One and
the Selfsame Doctrine to the Whole World

Not only did Christ bear testimony to the truth Himself,
but He chose out certain trustworthy men, named Apostles, and
commanded them to teach this same truth to the entire world.
“And Jesus spake to them saying: All Authority has been given unto
Me, in heaven and earth. Go ye, therefore, and make disciples
of all nations

(
catholicity in place), baptising them in the name

of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching
them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you
(catholicity in doctrine), and lo! I am with you, even unto the
end of the world” (catholicity in time).

Thus, in obedience to the express command of God-made
man, we find the Apostles teaching and instructing the people. They
taught, not their own views, nor their own pet theories, but “all
things whatsoever (i.e. God) I have commanded.” In short, they
taught others what God taught them. The question is: Were these
doctrines true or false? They must be infallibly true, since they
came from God. But, if true, they must be ever the same, both
in time and in place, and with one nation as with another, and
“to the end of the world.”

Man, when left to himself, is liable to error. Even the Apostles
might easily have gone astray, had they been abandoned to then-
own devices. But God guaranteed them the continuous and divine
assistance of His own guiding presence, as well as that of His Holy
Spirit. Harken to His words. After commanding His Apostles to
teach, He at once dispels any doubts from their minds, on the
plea of their natural inability and human frailty, by the assurance:
“Lo! I am with you.” So long as He, the Infinite Truth, remains
with them, to guide and to enlighten them, they cannot possibly

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go astray, or make any mistake in the deliverance of their message.
But His divine presence was promised to the very end. Not only,
therefore, to the Apostles themselves, but to all who should suc-
ceed them, “even unto the end of the world.” If Christ’s promise
was to be accomplished, then it is perfectly evident that it was not
limited to the twelve Apostles, since their lives did not outrun the

natural span.

THIRD PROOF—Because the Holy Ghost, the Spirit Of Truth, Remains
With the Teaching Church Forever

Before Our Lord ascended into Heaven, He made a solemn
promise to His Apostles. He said: “Ye shall receive power when the
Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be My witnesses both
in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost
parts of the earth.” Since God has constituted the Apostles witnesses,
they could be witnesses of truth only; and their testimony might
always be relied upon, for the simple reason that they were acting,
not in virtue of their own unaided strength, but in virtue of the
irresistible power of the Holy Ghost according to the words: “Ye
shall receive power when the Holy Ghost is come upon you.” The
same truth is stated still more explicitly and clearly by the beloved
Disciple in his Gospel (xiv. 26) : “The Comforter, even the Holy
Spirit, whom the Father will send you in My name, shall teach
you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said
to you.” If that, dear brethren, does not mean infallibility, then I
know not what it can mean. In another place (John xiv. 16) Christ
says: “I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Com-
forter.” To what purpose? Why, “That He may be with you forever,
even the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive.”

Now surely if Christ promised to remain with the teachers of
His Church, and with their successors, and if He furthermore de-
clared that He would send also the Holy Spirit to abide with them
forever, then there can be but one Church, viz.: the Church which
possesses the Divine Spirit of Truth, according to the promises.
For the “Spirit of Truth” cannot contradict Himself.

FOURTH PROOF—Because God Has Made Eternal Damnation The Penalty
Of Disbelief In The Specific Message

It is solely because God is with His Church, and because He
Himself protects her from so much as the bare possibility of error
that mankind is justly bound, under the most awful sanction,
to accept her teaching. Observe there is no latitude allowed, no
freedom of choice, no private judgment accorded to the multitudes
addressed by the Apostles. Men and women were commanded to
listen and accept. They were to find Salvation by embracing the

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definite teaching proposed to them authoritatively by the divinely
commissioned teachers. This was taken to be such an essential con-
dition of Salvation that any one whosoever refused to accept the
Doctrine, was to be rigorously cut off and to be consigned to hell’s
fires. “He that believeth and is baptised, shall be saved,” declares
the Incarnate Son of God, “but he that believeth not, shall be
damned.” So that nothing less than eternal torments await those
who (wilfully and deliberately and knowingly of course) reject
what the Apostles and their successors teach, now and in the future,
yea, even to the end of time. Why this awful threat? Why so
appalling a sanction? Well, of course, because such persons are
refusing to believe, not fallible man, but God; not a mere creature,
but the Creator, even though He speak by the lips of His creature.
This is clearly enough expressed by Jesus Christ when He said to
the Teachers, whom He had appointed: “He that heareth you heareth
Me, and he that despiseth you despiseth Me,” making no distinction
between them and Himself on this point. What Church is it that
still continues to teach in this authoritative manner? There is but
one Church that so much as claims to be the infallible and unerring
mouthpiece of Christ, and that is the Church Catholic or Universal;
or what all men recognize as “The Roman Catholic Church.”

FIFTH PROOF—Because Christ Prayed That His Church Might Be One

Christ is God, therefore to pray is with Him the same thing
as to effect. Since then He prayed, “Holy Father, keep them in
Thy name, whom Thou hast given Me, that they may be ONE,
even as WE are ONE.” (John xviirll) It follows that His true
adherents must, in truth, be one. For He prayed not only for His
Apostles, but for all who would listen to their teaching. “Neither
for these only do I pray, but for them also that believe in Me,
through their word; that they may all be one, even as Thou, Fa-
ther, art in Me, and I in Thee. That they also may be ONE in
Us.” If the Unity subsisting among the true followers of Christ is
to resemble the unity that obtains between the Father and the Son,
it must above all things include unity of Faith and of doctrine,
which denotes unity of spiritual truth. So much is clearly indicated
by the very terms of the prayer of our Lord, just given, wherein
He expressly says: “Sanctify them in truth.”

SIXTH PROOF—Because Christ Made Unity the Great Mark or Character-
istic by which His Church Was To Be Distinguished from All Others

It is a fact of great significance that Christ prayed not only

that His Church might be one. He did more. He decreed that
this oneness should be so striking, so visible, and so readliy recog-
nized that it might serve as a guide to all sincere inquirers. It

4



was to be more. It was to be so wonderful and so admirable and
so unique as to afford proof of the divine character of His mission.

In all ages unity was destined by God to mark off His Church
from every other, and to impress men with a sense of its authen-
ticity. This Unity was to be the guarantee of its genuineness through
the ages, not only to the student and to the historian, but to the
man in the street, and to the common wayfarer, if he would only
set aside prejudice and the influence of early training and tradition,
and just open his eyes and look around for himself. “That the world
might know that thou didst send me.” In short, He asks that His
Church might display such a note of unity that the world itself
would feel compelled to exclaim: “Digitus Dei est hie”; the finger
of God is here! Hence we are not surprised that the Catholic Church,
though so vast, though so extended, and though consisting of men
and women of every nation, race, color and tongue, is yet so es-
sentially one that the startling fact cannot be explained on purely
natural grounds. It presents such a spectacle to the world that any
honest enquirer, who takes the trouble to examine it impartially, will
be led to exclaim: “It is a work divine. It must have been founded
by One who alone can guard and guide and hold together in peace
and harmony such a vast number of wholly heterogeneous elements.”
“The glory which Thou hast given Me I have given them”, says our
Lord. Then, as if to lay further emphasis on the statement, He con-
tinues to petition, “that they may be perfected into one, that the
world may know that Thou didst send Me, and lovest them even as
Thou lovest Me.” (John vxii. 22:23).

SEVENTH PROOF—Founded On The Symbols Under Which Christ Refers
To His Church

That the divine Founder of Christianity intended a real, close
and organic union between the various members of His Church is
abundantly established by the very figures and symbols which He
makes use of in describing it. He speaks of it sometimes as (1) a
House, sometimes as (2) a City, and again as (3) a Kingdom.
Each of these figures clearly suggests the idea of unity and compact-
ness. Each is one, whole, made up of many parts, all of which are
intimately correlated. A House, a City and a Kingdom! Each is a
single complete entity. There is no antagonism nor want of harmony
between their parts. For if there were they would not endure. This
is explicitly enunciated by our Lord Himself who warns us (as
though in view of the divisions existing among the various sects)
that “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation;
and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand.”
(Matt. xii. 25.) A kingdom, though it may consist of many provinces,
and many states, is nevertheless bound together into unity, inas-

5



much as all its inhabitants are subject to the same laws, governed
by the same legislative assembly, and placed under one and the
same head, ruler or king. So, too, though the Church of God consists
of many countries, yet all are united under one supreme Head,
submit to one sovereign authority, and accept the same doctrine,
and “With one mind, and with one mouth glorify God and the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

EIGHTH PROOF—Because Christ Spoke of His Church as (1) A Flock Under
One Shepherd, as (2) a Vine, as (3) a Tree, and (4) as a Living Body

If we pass to other illustrations and figures made use of by
our Lord, the case grows still stronger. He likens His Church to a
Flock or Fold under one pastor; to a vine, in which every part
is united; to a Tree, in which every limb and branch draws its
life and nourishment from the same trunk or stem, and to a Living
Body, which possesses, perhaps, a more perfect organic unity than
any other.

Let us consider the Church under the figure of a Tree. Christ
says: “The Kingdom of Heaven (which is the Church) is like unto
a grain of mustard seed, which a man (Christ Himself, the Man-
God) took and sowed in a field (the field is the world), which is
indeed the least of all seeds; but when it is grown it is greater
than all herbs and becometh a Tree, so that the birds of the air
come and lodge in the branches thereof.” (Matt. xiii. 31.)

In the case of a seed recently planted we contemplate small
beginnings; a simple bud, a stem, a leaf; but as it grows, and by
virtue of the great principles of life with which God has endowed
it, it becomes more complicated. It puts forth numerous leaves,
twigs and spreading branches in all directions, and in greater and
greater abundance. Yet, observe, however many and however varied
are the parts of a tree, all are intimately united and bound together.
Every part shares in the one common life. The selfsame vivifying
sap courses along from one extremity to the other. Not only is this
unity of the most intimate kind, but it is absolutely essential. So
essential indeed that if a single branch detaches itself from the
parent stem, it forthwith perishes, and if even a single leaf loses
its hold and flutters to the ground, it immediately withers and dies.

Which of the many churches now in existence corresponds to this
description? Where is such Unity as this to be found save in the
Catholic Church? Let us apply the figure. If the Church is a tree,
then our Blessed Lord is the root and foundation; His Vicar, the
Sovereign Pontiff, is the single trunk or stem. The Bishops through-
out the world are the great limbs; the priests and pastors are the
lesser branches or twigs, and the faithful are the innumerable leaves.
Thus, as even the most distant leaf on the topmost branch is in

6



connection with the massive trunk that supports the whole structure

and draws its life and nourishment from it, so each and every
individual member of the Church is in connection with the infallible
Vicar of Christ, from whom he draws the spiritual sap of divine
truth. Take a Catholic living, let us say, in India or Canada, or
New Zealand or anywhere else you please. If a practical member
of the Church of God he will be in communion with his parish
priest; the priest will be in communion with his duly appointed
Bishop; and the Bishop will be in direct communication with the

Pope at Rome.
And just as the sap rises in the trunk of a tree and passes through

the immense limbs and so on through the lesser branches till it

reaches the furthermost leaves, imparting to them vigor, freshness

and life, so the pure doctrine of Christ, carefully protected from

error by the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, issuing from the lips of
the visible Head of the Church, passes on to the Bishops and is from
them conveyed to the priests of their respective dioceses, and finally
preached by them to the faithful throughout the world.

Thus it is evident that Jesus Christ by establishing His Church
on Peter and his successors, while safeguarding them from error,
has knit the whole Church together, and every member com-
posing it, in a Unity corresponding in almost every respect to the

unity that obtains in the case of a shrub or a tree. All Catholics

believe the same truths, because all are taught by one and the
same supreme authority. All are absolutely one in Faith and in
Doctrine, because all are conscious of the foundation (Peter) on
which they stand, and because all recognize the Voice of God in
the voice of Peter. “Upon this rock I will build my Church.” “Who
heareth you, heareth Me.” Though many other arguments might
be adduced, perhaps enough has been said to prove that Christ
determined that His Church should be one, and that all His
followers should be united in the same Faith and in the same
Doctrine. But if He really wished this Unity to exist, and in such
a striking form as to be a mark or character visible and conspicuous
to all, it is quite certain that He must have established some principle
of cohesion, some bond of union which should be at once simple
in its application and efficacious in its results.

Now there are but two principles in possession. The one is the
Protestant one, viz.—an infallible Bible alone. The other is the Catho-
lic one, viz.—an infallible and living Teacher or Head, namely the
Pope. Now it is quite certain that Christ knew what He was about.
It is unthinkable that He, who decreed that His Church should be
ONE, should have chosen a means wholly inadequate for the
purpose. The Bible alone has been tried as a bond of unity for over
three hundred years by Protestant churches. It has been proved, and

7



found wanting. So, far from being a bond of unity, the Bible alone,
interpreted by each man for himself, has proved a principle of
division and disintegration. It separates and divides and breaks men
up into hundreds of quarrelling sects. A leading article in that great
representative Protestant London paper, “The Times”, informs us
that: “England alone is reputed to contain some seven hundred
sects, each of whom proves a whole system of theology and morals
from the Bible.” (See “Times” of Jan. 13, 1884.) Such is the verdict
of history.

On the other hand, the Principle of Unity which obtains in the
Catholic Church draws all her members together and unites them
in the closest possible harmony. Though the Catholic Church is
vaster than all Protestant churches taken together, and though she
counts among her children people of every race and language,
and color, and civilization, yet she contrives to keep them all
absolutely one in Doctrine and in Faith. Our Lord promised that
this would be so in order that the world might be able to distinguish
His Church from all others. His promise has been most faithfully
kept. She is conspicuously and manifestly one; and the world
itself is bound to acknowledge this Unity, even though it is too
proud and too self-willed to accept the logical consequences and
to acknowledge her authority and to place itself in obedience to her.

I will not at this late hour delay you by producing many
illustrations of this fact. But I will conclude by setting before you
at all events just one instance. It shall be in the form of a quotation

from the “London Times” at the time of the Vatican Council in the
year 1870. This is how that great Protestant journal sums up the
situation in its leading article: “Seven hundred Bishops, more or less,
representing all Christendom, were seen gathering around one altar
and one throne partaking of the same divine mysteries, and render-
ing homage by turns to the same spiritual authority and power. As
they put on their mitres or took them off, and as they came to the
steps of the altar, or to the foot of the same spiritual Father, it was
impossible not to feel the unity and the power of the Church which
they represented.” (See issue of December 16, 1870).

The decrees passed by this General Council were cheerfully
accepted by between two and three hundreds of millions of
Catholics scattered throughout the world. The mere handful of dis-
sidents in Germany served only to render the general unanimity
the more striking and conspicuous. Thus every member of the world-
wide Church of God continued now, as before, “with one mind
and with one mouth to glorify God and the Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ.”

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that all

may be one