re: (1) They do not wish to leave the religion in which they were born;
(2) There are too many poor and ignorant people in the Catholic Church;
(3) One religion is as good as another if we try to serve God in it, and
be upright and honest in our lives.

Q. 515. How do you answer such excuses?
A. (1) To say that we should remain in a false religion because we were
born in it is as untrue as to say we should not heal our bodily diseases
because we were born with them; (2) To say there are too many poor and
ignorant in the Catholic Church is to declare that it is Christ's
Church; for He always taught the poor and ignorant and instructed His
Church to continue the work; (3) To say that one religion is as good as
another is to assert that Christ labored uselessly and taught falsely;
for He came to abolish the old religion and found the new in which alone
we can be saved as He Himself declared.

Q. 516. Why can there be only one true religion?
A. There can be only one true religion, because a thing cannot be false
and true at the same time, and, therefore, all religions that contradict
the teaching of the true Church must teach falsehood. If all religions
in which men seek to serve God are equally good and true, why did Christ
disturb the Jewish religion and the Apostles condemn heretics?

LESSON TWELFTH.
ON THE ATTRIBUTES AND MARKS OF THE CHURCH.

Q. 517. What is an attribute?
A. An attribute is any characteristic or quality that a person or thing
may be said to have. All perfections or imperfections are attributes.

Q. 518. What is a mark?
A. A mark is a given and known sign by which a thing can be
distinguished from all others of its kind. Thus a trademark is used to
distinguish the article bearing it from all imitations of the same
article.

Q. 519. How do we know that the Church must have the four marks and
three attributes usually ascribed or given to it?
A. We know that the Church must have the four marks and three attributes
usually ascribed or given to it from the words of Christ given in the
Holy Scripture and in the teaching of the Church from its beginning.

Q. 520. Can the Church have the four marks without the three attributes?
A. The Church cannot have the four marks without the three attributes,
because the three attributes necessarily come with the marks and without
them the marks could not exist.

Q. 521. Why are both marks and attributes necessary in the Church?
A. Both marks and attributes