Four Marks of the Church: Apostolic

"On this rock I will build my Church... I will give you [Peter] the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven" (Matthew 16:18-19).  When Christ established the Church, he made Peter be his rock upon which he would build his Church. This meant that Peter would be given the authority to lead the Church and be the vicar, or mouth piece of Christ. Thus, Peter would become the first Pope and the Apostolic Succession would begin; this is the basic idea of the Apostolic Mark of the Church.

The first point of this Mark is the Apostolic Foundation of the Church. This refers to the Church being on the foundation of the Apostles and their authority to teach, govern, and sanctify. Christ gave the Apostles the Great Commission, which was their instruction to "go and make the disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:16-20). At this moment, Christ reveals his plan to establish a Church.

When the Great Commission was given to the Apostles, they were afraid of the persecution that would follow. However, at Pentecost, ten days after the Ascension of Christ, the Holy Spirit filled the Apostles with the courage to deliver the Good News. This is where the second point of this Mark, the Apostolic Faith is introduced  the reason that the teaching of the Magisterium today is infallible;  Although all of the teachers of the Church are sinners, the Holy Spirit guides them to teach the true word of God.

The last and most controversial part of the Apostolic Mark is the Apostolic Succesion. For a significantly large amount of time, many people have believed that the authority of the Apostles to teach, govern, and sanctify died with the first twelve Apostles. This of course is completely wrong and the first example of this is the replacement of Judas of Iscariot by Matthias. The Apostles were able to elect a new apostle through prayer and guidance by the Holy Spirit. Even today this is how a Pope is elected as was most recently demonstrated at the last conclave in which Pope Francis was elected. The Church continues being taught, sanctified, and governed by the Apostles through their successors in the pastoral ministry.