A lot of people think that because there are so many scandals in the Church, that one shouldn’t be Catholic. But is this true?
We live in an age of embarrassing scandal in the Church. Evil men have taken positions as priests and bishops and have wrecked havoc on the reputation of the Church because of their heinous sins.
But does this mean one shouldn’t join the Catholic Church?
Should Catholics leave their faith over these scandals?
Absolutely not.
The reason why is because, in spite of these evil men, the Catholic faith is true. The Catholic Church is the one, true Church of Christ, even if now there are bad prelates in a position of power.
In other words, these two propositions are not incompatible
- The Catholic Church is the One, True Church of Christ.
- There are many evil men currently in positions of authority inside the Catholic Church.
Reason, apart from the gift of faith, can show that God exists, that God has definitively revealed Himself in the person of Jesus Christ, and that Christ established HIS Church, His ONE Church, that will last until the end of time.
He never promised it would always be ruled by good men.
He promised that His Church would last, in spite of whatever bad happens. Not even the gates of Hell would prevail against it.
It’s times like these we should remember a quote from Hillaire Belloc:
“The Catholic Church is an institution I am bound to hold divine — but for unbelievers a proof of its divinity might be found in the fact that no merely human institution conducted with such knavish imbecility would have lasted a fortnight.”
Since Judas, there have been evil men in the Church and as the parable of the wheat and the tares tells us there will be evil men inside the Church until the end of time.
The real question then is not, should I leave the Church because of these bad men?
The real question is, is the Catholic faith TRUE? Because if the Catholic faith is true, then one should NEVER leave it. In fact, now is the time to stay and fight this cancer from within with prayer and fasting.
