Is it a dogma of the Catholic Church that Christ ascended bodily into heaven?
Yes. The Gospels declare the fact. And in the Acts of the Apostles we read that when Stephen was being stoned to death he was “filled with the Holy Ghost, and looking up steadfastly into heaven, he saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God. And he said: Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.” Acts VII., 55. 746. I can scarcely conceive that Christ would have in heaven the same body that He had on earth. Christ has the same body as He had on earth, but nobody maintains that that same body is subject to exactly the same conditions as when He lived in the midst of men. No difficulty presents itself concerning the fact. The Jesus Christ who died on the cross was the Jesus Christ who rose from the dead, and that demands that He rose with the same body and soul. That body was as integral to Christ in His human nature as your body is integral to you. It is an historical fact, also, that Jesus ascended bodily from this ea
