Religion:Faith of the Church
Faith of the Church (Latin: fides Ecclesiae) is a basic concept of Catholic theology. It implies that not the faithful individual but the Catholic Church as a whole is considered to be the primary carrier of Christian faith. This refers to the act of believing (fides qua creditur) as well as to the matters of doctrine (fides quae creditur).
According to Catholic teaching, the Church has received the complete faith by Jesus Christ through the apostles (depositum fidei). Led by the Holy Spirit, as promised by Christ (John 16:12-14), the Church progressively during the times "unpacks" and displays the germ of the creed, such keeping it actual and alive. May there be reductions or unbalances in single ages or regions, the Church as a whole, however, is trusted to be sustained in the truth and to maturate towards its complete understanding.
Equally, in this concept, the act of believing, the personal devotion to the holy and inconceivable God, for the individual is participation in the devotion of the Church, which means in the devotion of Christ himself to the Father in the Holy Spirit.
The single faithful, in consequence, is invited to acquire the faith of the Church, as assiduously as possible, into his personal possession, nevertheless being aware of the insufficiency of isolated cogitation and listening to the common voice of the Church.
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