1. Who is a Catholic.
Everybody calls themselves Catholic because nobody knows the description of a true Catholic. Even ‘Lumen Gentium’ could not define the Catholic Church clearly. God knew that this would happen. So He gave His Church visible signs by which all men can know which is the Church He established.
2. God gave us visible signs
God gave His Church four official visible signs. And these are found in the Nicene Creed. They are: One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic. There is absolutely no other way of knowing the true Church. To have a baptismal and marriage certificate are fine but they are not signs of one’s Catholicity.
3. The Protestants are giving erroneous Biblical signs of being the true Church.
Every religion and especially every Protestant sect are presenting proofs that theirs is the true Church. Yes, their signs are biblical but they are not the ones considered as the biblical signs of the true Church.
The Protestants, for instance, mentions memorizing the entire Bible as a sign of belonging to the true Church. St. Bellarmine states that even the devil have memorized the Bible but that does not make him a Catholic.
4. The official signs. And other signs like liturgical signs
Aside from the four official visible signs, the Church has many other ways of knowing which is the true Church. A more popular but deeper way of understanding is through the Liturgy.
The Gospel of All Saints day enumerate eight signs that make up the perfection of the Catholic Church. These are called the Beatitude. Holy Mother the Church tells us that to have the first Beatitude ‘to be poor in Spirit’ is already a sure sign of Catholicity.
5. Most of the signs, even the official signs are difficult to understand. Like One and Holy.
Most Catholics, both the clergy and the laity do not know the four official visible signs of the Church because some signs are partly supernatural in nature. It is almost impossible to find out if a Church is One unless you live with that Church or community for at least 10 years. It is even impossible to find out if the people are Holy. In fact, the only visible sign that is easy to understand is Apostolic.
6. The expanded list of St. Robert Bellarmine
Being more specific the 15 Marks of the true Church described by St. Robert Bellarmine, Jesuit saint and Doctor of the Church is popular specially today since it was translated into English only months ago. It is selling like hot cakes and everyone who reads it is convinced they are not really Catholic.
The Bishop’s Synod 2015 is of interest in that some fathers showed they had some visible signs, like the 12 Cardinal signatories of the manifesto to Pope Francis; also, most of the Bishops of Africa and Poland showed visible signs of true Catholicity.
But what is worrisome is that some fathers did not show any visible signs; like some German bishops, specifically Baldisserri, Cardinal Tagle and a few more. Remember these are visible signs for all men to see. So we can see who has them and who do not have them.
7. As expected by Pope Gregory XVI, Pius IX and Pius X. Not only most priests, bishops and cardinals will lose the Faith. Even the possibility of the rise of an anti-Pope. This was revealed to Pope Pius IX as the ultimate goal of the enemies of religion. They would accomplish this by contaminating the hierarchy with sin and heresies through the atmosphere of liberalism, gradualism and naturalism. These same bishops will build up a new Protestant denomination to replace the Old Catholic Church.
Most dioceses and parishes today, if we get Bellarmine’s book, go around and analyze them, are mostly Protestant because their bishops and cardinals had first fallen into the spirit of modernism. Those who were meant to lead souls to heaven are, instead, dragging souls to hell; as prophesied in Fatima. Who will warn the laity of this danger? When they are looking up with great reverence to modernist heretics? It is impossible to find a priest free from the evils mentioned in the ‘Syllabus.’ Just read the last three heresies in Pope Pius IX’s list. Most priests are guilty of them. And they could be your parish priest, if not your own bishop.
8. It is possible for individual bishops to show signs of Catholicity without their diocese or parishes showing the same.
As noticed in all the news, many individual African and Polish bishops show signs of true Catholicity. While others, like the Germans, show signs of being at enmity with Christ.
9. True Catholics live quiet lives. They are busy perfecting their visible signs of being true Catholics while at the same time instructing those who get in contact with them to do the same.
The non-catholics are noisy, constantly accusing others to be non-catholics when they themselves do not even know the visible signs of true Catholicity because they do not have them; and by nature they will persecute the true Catholics because not being for Christ they will be against Christ.
Polarization takes place when God demands that each Catholic make a stand, whether they are for Christ or against Christ. Life for Catholics is a continuous battle wherein he is made to continuously show whose side he is.
10. Is is a great favor for the Church to detect and expose Catholics who do not have the visible signs of Catholicity. I am amazed at the ignorance of Catholics on this truth in the Nicene Creed. In polyphonic music, renaissance composer usually go slow and majestic when reaching the words ‘et unan, sanctam, catholicam. Et apostolicam Ecclesiam.’ Yet most know nothing about these signs. Well, not anymore. The ‘De controversiis’ of St. Robert Bellarmine had been translated into English, published, and is on sales in bookstore. That book alone with the four visible signs are the only signs by which we can know if this or that is the true Catholic Church founded by Jesus Christ.