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According to _Lumen Gentium_, "the one Church of Christ which in the symbol of faith is professed as one, holy, catholic, and apostolic ... \[and is\] constituted and organized in the world as a society subsists in the Catholic Church which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the Bishops in his communion, although many elements of sanctification and truth are found outside of its visible structure" (1:8).

According to Kilian McDonnell, in commenting on the use of the same word in _Dominus Jesus_, "\[t\]he word 'subsists' was carefully chosen for two reasons. First, it expresses the belief that the church of Christ continues to exist fully only in the Catholic Church. Second, it opens the way to recognize that outside of the visible structure of the Catholic Church many elements of sanctification and truth can be found (the Word of God, baptism, the life of grace, faith, hope, charity, the interior gifts of the Spirit). But even these elements derive their efficacy from the fullness of grace and truth entrusted to the Catholic Church" (_The Christian Century_, October 18, 2000: 1040).