Answer:  “Universal”

“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”
– Mt 28:19-20

“Thus, the teaching mission of the Church comes from Christ himself. The responsibility for fulfilling that mandate passes on unchanged to the bishops and to all Catholics.

Within each Catholic diocese, the diocesan bishop is its principal teacher.  He is assisted by clergy, religious, and lay men and women who serve as educators and catechists in Catholic institutions, including elementary and secondary schools, colleges and universities, seminaries and parishes.

Catechesis is the act of handing on the Word of God intended to inform the faith community and candidates for initiation into the Church about the teachings of Christ transmitted by the Apostles.  It also involves the lifelong effort of forming people into witnesses to Christ and opening their hearts to the spiritual transformation given by the Holy Spirit.

The teaching authority of the Catholic Church, called the Magisterium, lies with all of the bishops who are led by the pope and guided by the Holy Spirit.  The pope and bishops are the authoritative teachers in the Church.” – The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, www.usccb.org

Catholic belief is succinctly expressed in the profession of faith or credo called the Nicene Creed:

I believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.

I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only Begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages.
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and became man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate,
he suffered death and was buried,
and rose again on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures.
He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead
and his kingdom will have no end.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.

I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins
and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come. Amen.

ONE:  The Church is “One” 

(1) Its source is the Holy Trinity.

(2) Its founder is Jesus Christ.

(3) Its soul, the Holy Spirit, dwells in the souls of the faithful, uniting all of the faithful into one communion of believers.

HOLY:  The Church is “Holy”

(1) Jesus Christ is present to us in His Body which is the Church.

(2) Christ sanctifies the Church, and so in turn, the Church is His agent of sanctification.  The Church is a visible sign of holiness.

(3) The Church gathers in all, sinners included, and calls them all to holiness.

(4) The Church recognizes the power of the spirit of holiness within her by canonizing saints as models and intercessors.

CATHOLIC: The Church is “Catholic”

(1) In his letter to the Smyrnaens, St. Ignatius of Anitoch (c. 100) used this word meaning “universal” to describe the Church.

(2) It is catholic because Christ is in Her.

(3) It is catholic because it has been sent out by Christ on a mission to the whole of the human race – “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations” (Matthew 28:19). 

(4) “The Church on earth is united to the Church triumphant in Heaven and the Church suffering in Purgatory.  Here is the understanding of the communion of saints – the union of the faithful in Heaven, in Purgatory, and on earth”.

APOSTOLIC: The Church is “Apostolic”

(1) “The Church is founded on the apostles in three ways:

– She is built upon the foundation of the witnesses chosen and instructed by Christ himself.

– She is filled with Holy Spirit and thus, keeps and hands on the teaching she has heard from the apostles.

– She is taught, sanctified, and guided by the apostles until Christ’s return.”

(2) Vatican II’s Council Decree on Ecumenism explains:  “For it is through Christ Catholic Church alone, which is the universal help toward salvation, that the fullness of the means of salvation can be obtained.  It was to the apostolic college alone, of which Peter is the head, that we believe that our Lord entrusted all the blessings of the New Covenant, in order to establish on earth the one Body of Christ into which all those should be fully incorporated who belong in any way to the People of God.”

Catechism  #813-822, pgs. 214-218

Cathechism #823-829, pgs. 218-220

Cathechism #830-831, p. 220

Catholic Education Resource Center, www.catholiceducation.org

Cathechism #857, p. 227

Vatican II, Unitatis Redintegratio, 1964.