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No matter how much the men and women in office seem to wreck their part of the Church’s fabric by their humanness—that is, their sinfulness and weakness—it does not happen.
Christ in their office does not allow the Church to be wrecked because of the weakness or even the evil of the persons who represent him.
Many people expect every member of the hierarchy, from the pope on down, to be a saint.
Remember that we are dealing with the mysterium romanum, the mystery of the Church, and—what is more to the point—dealing with the passion of Christ and the behavior of the apostles, who were not such admirable characters. One denied him, one betrayed him, and all but one ran away when he died.
There are only two possible conclusions: either the Catholic Church is divinely founded, and Christ is in all the people who rule his Church, or there is no Catholic Church, and the whole thing isn’t worth belonging to. Take your choice.
Excerpted and adapted from Grace in Every Season, (2001), April 28, p. 122, available from MH Publications
