Ecclesiam Unam

The Winter, 2014 issue of Communio , on the theme of “ Ecclesiam Unam ,” is the fourth and last in our series devoted to a reflection on the mystery of the Church as one, holy, catholic, and apostolic.

"As the uniting Spirit affirms the distinct Persons of both Father and Son in the immanent Trinity, so also in salvation history the Spirit joins the many members by perfecting their unique individuality in a transcendent unity."

"[A] catholic love runs throughout history, backward and forward from the Cross."

"In becoming a canon of ecclesial confession, Maximus necessarily also becomes a canon of conscience as well, a living proof that freedom is truth and truth, freedom."

"The separation of ideas and reality . . . leads to a dialectic of 'idealism' and relativism."

"Same-sex 'marriage' therefore rests upon overturning the three different yet inseparable elements . . . : sexually differentiated spouses, unifying love in which the sexual difference is preserved, and fruitfulness."

"The great gift that comes with hope . . . is the ability to accomplish deeds that reflect God's sovereign freedom, to mirror it with a fidelity otherwise unmatched in the finite realm."

"The unity of the Church is not a fitting together of parts, but a union of persons."

"In creating man as man and woman, God imprints on humanity the mystery of that communion which is the essence of his interior life."