Catechism On Preaching Christ And His Church

To preach Christ while ignoring, denying, or replacing His Church teaching with Christ's authority is to preach another Christ.

 Preamble:

Over the past three years of my Priestly apostolate, a familiar expression from a number of those who disagree with me because of their being enthusiasts of the new order religion or protestantism is “Don’t Preach Church, Preach Christ”. The variants of that objections have included the following: 

• “I follow Jesus, not religion.”
• “The Church is just a vehicle—Jesus is what really matters.”
• Your focus should be on the Gospel, not rules and doctrine.”
• “Stop being so Catholic—just be Christian.”
• “The early Christians didn’t argue about the Church like this.”
• “You care more about being right than being loving.”
• “Stop worshipping the Church—worship Jesus.”
• “You talk like salvation depends on being in your little group.”
• Doctrine divides—Jesus unites
• “Jesus said ‘I am the Way,’ not ‘the Church is the Way.’”
• “God doesn’t care what denomination you’re in as long as you love Him.”

You may add to the list! 

After preparing the brief reflection for today (Thursday within the Octave of Pentecost) based on the Epistle if the day, on the topic "You cannot preach Christ truly with preaching His Church", I afterwards considered developing it into a handy catechism. I hope it indeed comes in handy for some spiritual work of mercy! And you may consider making a printout too... 

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Catechism on Preaching Christ and His Church

Based on Acts 8:5 — 

Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ unto them.

1. What does it mean to “preach Christ”?

To preach Christ is to proclaim Jesus Christ, the Eternal Son of God, Incarnate for our salvation, crucified and risen. But it also means to proclaim His Church, the visible and hierarchical society He established to continue His mission until the end of time.

2. Can one truly preach Christ without preaching His Church?

No. Christ and His Church are inseparably united:

 “Christ is the Head of the Body, the Church” (Col. 1:18).

To preach Christ while ignoring, denying, or replacing His Church is to preach another Christ.

3. What did the Fathers of the Church teach about this unity?

St. Cyprian affirmed:

“He cannot have God for his Father who has not the Church for his mother.”

— De Unitate Ecclesiae, ch. 6

4. Is membership in the Church necessary for salvation?

Yes. The Church teaches infallibly:

 “Outside the Church there is no salvation” (Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus).

This means that no one can be saved who knowingly and willingly remains outside the Church founded by Christ.

5. What did Pope Leo XIII teach about union with the Church?

Pope Leo XIII stated:

“It is impossible to regard the Church as something distinct from Christ... he who wishes to belong to Christ must belong to the Church.” — Satis Cognitum, 1896

6. What does the mission of Philip in Samaria reveal?

Philip preached Christ and baptized believers. Yet the Apostles Peter and John were sent to confirm them, showing that conversion to Christ involves communion with the Apostolic hierarchy of the visible Church (Acts 8:14–17).

7. What does Pope Pius XII teach about the Church’s visibility?

Pope Pius XII declared:

“By the will of its Founder, the Church is a society in which men are united by profession of the same faith, participation in the same sacraments, and submission to lawful pastors, especially the Roman Pontiff.” —Mystici Corporis Christi, 1943

8. Can one accept Christ while rejecting His Church?

No. Christ said:

 “He that heareth you, heareth Me: and he that despiseth you, despiseth Me” (Luke 10:16).

Those who reject the true Church reject Christ Himself.

9. What errors today attempt to separate Christ from His Church?

The major modern errors include:

• Modernism, which dissolves dogma and objective truth;
• Religious Indifferentism, which claims all religions lead to God;
• False Ecumenism, which reduces the Church to a dialogue partner among equals.

Pope Pius XI warned:

“That false opinion which considers all religions more or less good and praiseworthy... is one of the most insidious errors... by which the foundations of the Catholic religion are utterly destroyed — Mortalium Animos, 1928

10. Is the Church of Christ the Modernist, Synodal, Ecumenical, Pan-Religious movement?

Absolutely not. The true Church of Christ is not the Modernist hybrid, ecumenical, synodal, pan-religious impostor church of our day, headed by the incumbent Papal Impostor Prevost, the Imitator of Leo, styled “Leo XIV”, which tolerates and preaches heresy, worships idols, and mocks divine truth.

As Pope St. Pius X wrote:

 “

They [the Modernists] pervert the eternal concept of truth, and under the guise of love, dissolve the true religion.” —Pascendi Dominici Gregis, 1907

11. But where is the true Church today amid this crisis?

Though eclipsed in many places by a counterfeit “church,” the true Church remains visible in her:

• unchanging doctrines
• traditional sacramental rites
• holy discipline
• and faithful remnants united in the same Faith of all ages.

This remnant includes Bishops, Priests, Religious, and Lay faithful who, despite persecution, hold fast to what the Church has always taught and practiced.

As St. Athanasius famously said during the Arian crisis:

“Even if Catholics faithful to Tradition are reduced to a handful, they are the true Church of Jesus Christ.”

 Conclusion

To preach Christ is to preach His Church—not a vague invisible fellowship, nor a synodal counterfeit, but the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, founded by Christ and visible throughout history.

In our time, when a false church rises with ecumenical slogans and synodal lies, we must follow St. Philip’s example:

Preach the true Christ. Lead souls to His true Church. And stand firm with the faithful remnant, knowing that fidelity to Christ means fidelity to His Bride.

 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Be not led away by diverse and strange doctrines.” — Hebrews 13:8–9

May hearts today, like Samaria’s shore

Receive Christ’s message, and love more and more

May the church’s teachings find fertile ground

And faith’s seeds bloom, in every heart ground