LESZEK KOLAKOWSKI
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sense in which this verb is used in modernist heresy) . Interpretations
may change, and do, as do the liturgy and canon law, forms of organi–
zation, and Church policy on various matters; but dogma, strictly
speaking, does not, nor do the basic divine moral commandments. For
a truth cannot cease to be a truth-a statement to which not only
Catholics, but also many rationalists, would assent.
The third element of the Church's identity, corresponding to antici–
pation, is its orientation towards the future. This, of course, remains as
it has always been: the Church is the guide which will lead humanity to
the harbor of salvation. But in the case of the Church there is an addi–
tional significance to this element which is absent from, or at least not
always present in, other kinds of collective identity: not just anticipation
of the future and future interests, but also the consciousness of having
an active mission. The idea of a mission can-but need not-be part of
both a nation's and individuals' perceptions of themselves. Nations, and
their ideologues, can, in addition to proclaiming the superiority of their
culture, believe that they have a duty to propagate it, or that they have
a special role to fulfill in world history. Individuals can believe that
God's will or destiny has entrusted them with a special mission, or they
may believe that their calling in life is to serve others. But for the
Church, its mission is an essential part, indeed the basic core, of its iden–
tity, built into its very constitution.
The fourth component of the Church's continuous identity, corre–
sponding to body, is the Apostolic Succession: the perfectly traceable and
uninterrupted continuity in the handing down, over the centuries, from
one generation of priests to another, of the gifts originally bestowed upon
the Apostles. Individuals are born and die, but the body of the Church,
in the form of this succession, retains its identity as the treasury of
redemption. It is the Apostolic Succession that lends the Church a bodily
identity that is stronger and clearer in its continuity than that of other col–
lective organisms, such as states, political parties, corporations, or uni–
versities. These may claim continuity over generations, as new members
take over from those who have left or died, but there will always be an
element of doubt (similar to the doubts about Theseus's ship), whereas
the Apostolic Succession provides the Church with clear criteria for the
legitimacy of each new generation; it is always clear who may take his
place in the collective body as the rightful successor of the Apostles, on
what conditions, and on what grounds.
In
this very particular sense it is
not a collection of physical persons that makes up the body of the
Church, but the "spiritual body" which these persons together represent.
