What does paragraph 832 in Catechism mean?

[DoxieMama]

It states Each Particular Church is “catholic”

Does this only pertain to Catholic churches, or can it be Lutheran churches too? The Lutherans recite the Apostles Creed and state they believe in the catholic church.

 

[PaulfromIowa]

832 “The Church of Christ is really present in all legitimately organized local groups of the faithful, which, in so far as they are united to their pastors, are also quite appropriately called Churches in the New Testament. . . . In them the faithful are gathered together through the preaching of the Gospel of Christ, and the mystery of the Lord’s Supper is celebrated. . . . In these communities, though they may often be small and poor, or existing in the diaspora, Christ is present, through whose power and influence the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church is constituted.”

This refers to the Catholic Church and, perhaps, the Orthodox Churches. Protestant Churches are not not truly Churches in the Catholic understanding because they do not have valid bishops in apostolic succession. Pope Benedict sometimes refers to the Protestant Churches as “Christian communities.”

 

[Anthony_V]

It states Each Particular Church is “catholic”

Does this only pertain to Catholic churches, or can it be Lutheran churches too? The Lutherans recite the Apostles Creed and state they believe in the catholic church.

Particular church, within this context, is referring literally to the parish itself. Protestant communities are not catholic in the sense of being a particular church of the Body of Christ. While they are loosely connected to the Body of Christ by way of Trinitarian Baptism, it is the Eucharist (which must be celebrated by a validly ordained priest or bishop) which forms the community into a particular church. The Catholic Church does not recognize this priestly validity in Protestant communities, so we do not call them churches in the sense of “catholic”. We do recognize the validity of Trinitarian baptism by anyone in good faith, and in that sense the Protestant communities are catholic ecclesial communities.