Simple Notes for CICM Identity (to ground the course)

Sacrament: Channel, Representative, Visible sign of an invisible reality

God Jesus Church

The Sacrament of God is Jesus and the Sacrament of Jesus is the Church (John 20:21, Acts 1:8)

The Church started as a religious renewal “movement”/group in Jerusalem, Israel by no other

than Jesus Christ. Jesus grounded the Church on the foundation of the Apostles (Ephesians
2:20) and it spread from Jerusalem to the Roman Empire world until throughout all the earth.
The first “name” of the Church was : The Way (Acts 9:2), The members of the Church were
called Christians in Antioch (Acts 11: 26). The Church was persecuted by the Roman Empire
(which was still pagan) until the Conversion of the Emperor Constantine in 313 AD which paved
the way for Christians to infiltrate Rome until Christianity was declared as the official religion of
the Roman Empire in 380 AD by Emperor Theodosius. Way back in 45 AD, the apostle who first
went to Rome and started the Church there was no other than Peter. Reflecting on the mission
of Jesus which He passed on to the Church, the Church’s official “name” or title is One (John
17:21), Holy (Ephesians 1:4, 5:27, I Peter 2:9), Catholic (Matthew 28: 18-20, Acts 1:8, Gen 12: 3,
John 3: 16-17) and Apostolic (Ephesians 2:20 )

Episkopos/i = apostle = Bishops

Presbyter/elder ===== Priests
Diakonia =========== Deacons

From the Church developed the Hierarchy (Bishops, priests, and deacons – with the Pope as the
overall head for the sake of division of work or maintaining the unity of the Church while it
spreads the Kingdom of God on earth.

From the Church comes the different “kinds” of priests according to spirituality or mission area.
Diocesan/secular is a term use for priests serving their local places; Monks – started in the 3rd
century AD in Egypt and in Syria with a life of simplicity or asceticism; and the Missionaries who
really want to go to serve remote places not yet evangelize. Examples of missionaries are the
following: The Dominicans who was founded by St. Dominic in Prouille, France. (Dominic was a
Spanish priest); The Augustinians which started in 1244 in Italy (group or no specific founder);
The Jesuits or called Society of Jesus who was founded in 1540 by Ignatius of Loyola formerly a
Spanish soldier who became priest.; The CICM and other missionary groups only came out
later. The CICM was founded by a diocesan priest Theophile Verbist in Scheut, Anderlecht,
Brussels, Belgium. So what is a CICM? It is just one of the missionary groups which an arm of
the Church for evangelization. ……………….......