How Can a Church Full of Sinners Be Holy?

How can a Church full of sinners be holy?

Catholicism has always been the religion with the highest incidence of followers in the world. The most traditional and one of the oldest beliefs is now so common that one often listens to people saying they are ‘non-practicing Catholics’, that is, one who is baptized in the Catholic Church but is not actively part of it. Non-Catholics are then sub-classified into two groups: those who do not belong to the Christian Society and those who call themselves Catholics as a matter of tradition, but have no knowledge about Christianity and its foundations. Furthermore, a fraction of this non-practicing society is characterized by people who were disappointed, those who are Catholics based on their faith only because they are just so discouraged by the Christian misconduct to commit. These people are not feeling betrayed without a reason. The history of Catholicism is marked by many scandals and questionable conduct adopted by members of the Clergy. Violence, murder and sexual abuse contradict all and every Christian principle and have gradually undermined Catholic faith.

The Ten Commandments say: 1. I am the LORD your God, you shall have no other gods before me. 2. You shall not take the Name of the LORD your God in vain. 3. Keep holy the Sabbath day. 4. Honor your father and your mother. 5. You shall not kill. 6. You shall not commit adultery. 7. You shall not steal. 8. You shall not bear false witness. 9. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife. 10. You shall not covet your neighbor's goods. http://whitestonejournal.com/tencommandments/ Yet there are many examples in history when the Christian behaviour contradicts God’s message. In 1431, France, http://www.joanofarc.us/death_of_joan_of_arc.html Joan of Arc was burned alive condemned for heresy by the Pope himself. Joan started fighting with the French army against England after claiming to have been sent by God to crown the legitimate King of France. Her death was one of the great injustices in the Middle Ages and it was not until 25 years later that Joan was proved to be innocent of her prosecution. http://www.ichs.ufop.br/lph/images/stories/ANDR_PEREIRA_ROCHA.pdf) .The Crusades, conducted several times within 1095 and 1291, consisted in brutal, violent bloodsheds caused by territorial disputes between Christians and whoever was occupying the Holy land. Crusade I, established by Pope Urban II, aimed to recover the Holy land from the Muslims, enemies of Christ. Yet, didn’t Jesus tell us to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44)?(biblical reference in bibliography) . In 1163, The Inquisition’s goal was to supress any other creed, religion or belief which denied Christianity. Bishops were directed to act against heresy by using secret proceedings, supreme authority and torture to obtain confessions. ‘The ones who refused to repent were turned over to the government to be burned at the stake.’ http://www.amazon.com/Patron-Saints-Postmoderns-Speak-Future/dp/0830837191/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1250688173&sr=8-1 Clerical sexual abuse cases are found to be the higher incidence of Catholic dysfunctional behaviour and it is, by far, the favourite anti-Catholic bias that the media harbors. The Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, reported that within 2001 and 2010 the Vatican received accusations concerning around three thousand cases of diocesan and religious priests. Sixty percent of the cases involved homosexual relations, thirty percent heterosexual relations and ten percent were cases of paedophilia. http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2010/03/13/catholic-daily-buries-the-news-in-sexual-abuse-headline/ The main possible causes given by psychologists and intellectuals are generally celibacy, paedophilia and homosexuality. Yet, there is still a missing point. People might need to understand what church means to acknowledge its history, weaknesses and purpose. Certainly sexual abuse, long-lasting wars and murder aren’t consistent with God’s message of love, tolerance and respect. Still, do the causes given by psychologists truly explain sexual scandals within the Christian community? Would that be consistent to say, as many people do, that violence and war were produced because people used to have a distorted perception of Christianity? (because of the retrograde Christian mentality of people from the old days)? Dennis M. Doyle, in the text ‘What Does it Mean to Call the Church Holy’ explains what the word Church means. Dennis exposes the five different dimensions that were found in the documents of Vatican II and that characterize the Christian institution, its holy and sinful implications.
The first and second dimensions classify the Church as ‘An Invitation and Sharing’ and as a ‘Membership in Christ’. This aspect consists of an entity that invites us to share God’s own life and refuge. All and every human being is welcome and equally accepted by God, no matter what one’s past is like or what social group one belongs to: we are all sons and daughters of the Creator. (texto pag. 8 5uinto paragraph). The Christian institution can then be thought as a genuine friendship with God, the point of contact between devotees and the Lord, where all inhabitants of a sinful and imperfect world are welcome to encounter his receptiveness and unconditional love. In this sense, the Church is perceived as holy. Sharing the life of God is to be transformed by his warmth, revitalized by his presence, forgiven by his grace. The “Membership in Christ’ reinforces also the concept of belonging. The Christian institution is perceived as a massive movement of solidarity and compassion, where human sinners are embraced by God and their neighbours, where the same God is embraced by all human beings. Dennis clarifies: ‘The Church embraces sinners but is not itself sinful, the emphasis is not on our sins but rather on the faith and love of Christ’s Church, which binds us together. Our sins are forgiven. We communally partake of God’s grace. We are one in each other. ‘

The third and fourth dimensions represent the Church as ‘A Journey’ and as a ‘Leaven in the World’. The Christian’s long and continuous mission in the world’s progress comprises weaknesses and inclinations, and brings about its invigorating transforming power. Despite the fact that we are still learning and susceptible to make mistakes, our spiritual journey resides in our mission to change the circumstances that surround us. In this level, rather than holy the Church represents its sinful elements. The moments in history previously discussed of sexual abuse and violence are characteristics of this Journey: of a developing community, of a church that is nothing but incomplete. We have not been good all the time, and that is what the Lord God is there for: to forgive and to alleviate our sufferings. That doesn’t imply that we shouldn’t recognize our faults. Whether the sin of an individual compromises their own reputation or the Church’s structural importance, our mistakes are to be acknowledged and improved. (text page 10 second paragraph) Our past is nothing but an opportunity to learn from our sins and to find the right track in following the path of Jesus. The Church has this ability: to transform the human existence into a holy experience, regardless of its inclinations to temptations. The ‘Leaven in the World’ may then, have its holy elements understood as a flower that blooms amidst the chaos: in between all scandals found in history of Christianity there would still be those who did not give up of the way of God. An outstanding example is the Archbishop Oscar Romero, who died in martyr when defending the weak and fighting injustice against the poor in El Salvador. http://blackboard.nd.edu.au/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_86916_1%26url%3D

The fifth Dimension of the Church found in the documents of Vatican II reveals the Church as a Sacrament. This dimension underpins both, the divine and human elements of the Church. Now, the Christian community embraces the Church as an institution that at the same time that is holy for being a spirit-guided society is susceptible to sin because its purposes are led by imperfect beings. We are here facing both perspectives of the Christian organization: the innate holiness of the spirit-developed faith founded by Christ and the systematic pattern of behaviour within the Catholic organization. (text page 11) This inevitable conflict proves that the holy Church free of sinners is unavoidable. Yet, we may also see the situation as a whole. While three thousand cases of clergy sexual abuse where reported between 2001 and 2009, other billions of priests around the world were loyal to the Christian principles, were lightening the lives of devotees with messages of love and representing the Lord God with dignity and respect. While at times in history the Church contradicted its own doctrine, during more than two thousand years Christianity has helped the poor, has performed miracles, has intervened in wars and more.

Lastly, the Church can be seen as the human representation of Christ, just as Christ was the human representation of God. The holy institution is governed by imperfect mortals, who are by nature susceptible to the implications of the human existence. Even the Pope, highest member of the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, is a mortal like us, vulnerable to many inclinations. To understand the divine and human duality undergone by Christianity people are to realize that even though the spiritual presence of God brought by the Church is holy, it is impossible not to be susceptible to mistakes considering our imperfect human nature. Once individuals acquire this awareness, there will be no questioning about the Christian’s spiritual legitimacy. Also, the media’s anti-Catholic tendency plays an important role in raising these doubts about Catholicism. The church is neither only holy, nor only sinful, and any opinion based on either element will be precipitated. In contrast, human attributes have not always been a threat to the Christian society. Our rational ability has brought many benefits to Catholicism, such as prosperous religious decisions in favour of humankind, the raising of the Christian influence in governmental spheres and the building of many Christian institutions other than the Church, such as schools, universities and hospitals, where the teachings and intentions of God educate people from all mind settings to make for a more compassionate, peaceful and loving world.