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The Church

Sinfulness, however, concerns not only the individual, but also the entire Church. "She is holy, and at the same time, always needs purification. Her path leads through continual penance and renewal", (Second Vatican Council). It is not so  easy  to  recognize  the reality of Christ behind her unsightly facade. There  are  dark  periods  in  the  history of the Church, times where she failed very  obviously, and we  think  that  there  is  no  reason  to conceal this.

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Criticizing the Church

Because  of  her  faults and weaknesses the Church has to be criticized. A fair and pertinent critique,  from  inside or outside the Church, is desirable. We cannot defend everything in the  Church.  Failure does not disappear through "sugarcoating", but only through pleading guilty and converting. Honesty is a precondition  to this.  An internal critique of the  Church must be allowed for still another reason: everyone who is a member of the Church is responsible for her,  and it is his duty to  point  out  anything that  does  not seem to be in order.  Such a critique is based on concern for the Church or anguish about her failure,  but  never  malicious  joy.  It is  intended to  help and build up.  Criticism  of  the  Church  would, however, be excessive if it questioned her foundation through Christ.

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Christianity without Church?

Let us once again come back to the  difficulties many people have in their search for God: Does the Church not interpose herself between God and us? Why should private piety not be sufficient? Faith, as Christ sees it, is not only a private matter of the heart. Many Christians seem to know only this sentence from  the  Scriptures:  "If  you  want to  pray,  go into your room". But they overlook everything that was said before. They reduce their Christianity to the formula "God and I" and "I deal with God directly myself". But the image of the body of Christ shows that no one stands alone in his faith and that one member has to  assist the  other.

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Human  beings are  dependent on each other in every realm.  Has not  everybody,  who is trying honestly,  experienced the fact that faith dies off if there is no stimulation and support coming from the community? The attempt to be a Christian all by oneself will be unsuccessful in the long run.  The self-justification  "in the core of my being I am religious" is very easily a  pretext for  limiting  religion to a bare minimum without any obligation.

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"I can be a good Christian without the Church, just the same". This statement is questionable. Naturally, we can still ask: "Why does God use such a weak instrument as the Church? "Why does He not reveal Himself to every individual directly?" We do not have an answer to this. But we have to humbly accept the way God reveals Himself to us. This applies equally to the Church.          

The Church

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Holy Church - the Church of sinners

"I believe in the holy, catholic (worldwide) Church." You may have heard this sentence from the Profession of Faith. Many people start to object at this point. The Church - holy? One must be blind not to see all the unhappiness of the Church. "Holy Church" does not mean that the Church considers herself as a community  of  particularly  perfect  people.  We do not profess  a  "Church of Saints", but a "Holy Church". Holiness is not something that can be brought about by men,  but issues from God.  We can only talk of a holy Church because she is the work of God, because Christ remains present and active within her. Despite  her  sinfulness,  Christ sanctifies people in her. He gave Himself up for them, that He might sanctify them. (see EPA 5,25).

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It is not arrogant to speak of a "Holy Church". The men and women who are venerated as saints were particularly aware of their sinfulness.  They knew, as St. Paul did, that "by the grace of God I am what I am". (1 Corinthians 15,10).

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Although it is true that Christ is present in His Church,  an  equation of Church = Christ is out of the question. It is true that the Church is the work of God, but equally true that there is never a Church without human beings. At the  beginning  of the Church is the will and the call of God. But if people do not follow His will and His call, then there is no Church.

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As we see,  there  is  divinity and humanity in the Church. But searching, erring and sinning are part of humanity and every single member of the Church. Although Christ desires  the sanctification of man (see 1 Theses 4,3), He believes that He was sent "not to call the righteous, but sinners". (MT 9,13). For this reason, the pious of those days reproached Him for "receiving sinners and eating with them". (Luke 15,2). Is the Church allowed to do otherwise? Can she ignore His directives that "those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick"?  (MT 9,12).  Does  she  not have an obligation to bear with  her  weak  members,  even if they considerably harm her reputation?

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Jesus  gave us the sacrament of reconciliation especially for sinners.  Who among us could  still  call  himself  a  member  of  the Church, if she had no place for sinners - including bishops and popes? Are the mistakes we so easily take offense at not also our own? Does not the clash of our self-glorification with the  dominion of  God go right through the heart of every member of the Church? The Church is not "those guys up there", but all those who are baptized.

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Occasionally, the  reproach is heard that the  "churchgoers"  look down on others.  Where  this is the case, they have not yet understood that whatever they are,  they owe to God.  On  the  other hand,  there can be much hypocrisy  in the observation  that  "churchgoers"  are  no  better  than anybody else. Those who wanted to have a "church for pure souls only"  were the first ones to be called heretics and schismatic.