Trust in the Church

I want to follow up on a recent article entitled The Need for Transparency in Church Reform with a discussion on trust in the Church. I believe fully in the Church and want support for its sacred mission, regardless of the flaws that appear at times in its veneer. I have argued for transparency in reform and the need to place responsibility over deference to authority. I also want to reaffirm the beauty of Catholicism and the need to stay in communion with our spiritual mother, God’s blessed vessel in this world. While the boat will be rocked by storms on its path through the waters, it will always stay aright as long as it is steadied by Christ and will find its moorings in truth as the one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic faith. Trust issues from the soul that is united in faith and willing to accept God’s gracious love over everything else. Let us explore the nature of trust in the Church as something sacred and everlasting.

First, consider the Church in its proper nature. The Church is first and foremost a gathering of believers in Christ, and the ecclesia, the assembly of God’s people. It is present both as a physical and corporate entity in the World, and a spiritual reality with its movement governed by the Holy Spirit and its edifice situated in Heaven. The Catholic Church has a corporate component; Dioceses have finances, commerce, buildings, and employees under the Church’s umbrella. There are charities, hospitals, and non-governmental organizations, NGOs, that are connected to Catholicism. And yet, these are only the surface of the Church. The spiritual nature of the Church is composed of the Sacraments, worship, spirituality, devotions, and piety, which are employed for the sanctification of souls; and these spiritual elements are to the corporate Church what the human soul is to the body. Both are united and work together yet remain distinct at the same time. 

It can be said, then, that one can scrutinize the corporate aspects of the Church without dispensing with its highest reality, and this scrutiny is for the well-being of souls, not for personal gain. As you correct someone you love for their well-being, those who love our holy Church can call for change without leaving the Church they love. Augustine of Hippo wrote the great treatise, the City of God, ^[i] as an answer to Roman critics of Christianity in the early 5th century. Augustine was responding to claims made blaming Christians for Rome’s decline in power and the upheaval brought to Roman society. Augustine’s counterargument followed two tracks. The first track he made demonstrated how Roman society was plagued by many vices and corruption that ultimately caused its decline. Secondly, he claimed that the Church, our spiritual body, is composed of earthly and heavenly elements, thus possessing a dual reality grounded on earth and present in God’s dwelling. While in the world we have no lasting city, the Church, the eternal city, God’s city, never loses its presence. It stands present to all people, despite the changing world it finds itself in. Considering this lasting presence, one can have real faith that God is working through His Church always, “an ever-present help in times of distress” (Psalm 46.1).

Pope St. John Paul II commented on the charism of priestly service in the Church when addressing prelates from the United States in an address to the American curia and bishops in 2002. In the address, he stated that there was no place in the ordained priesthood for someone who abused children. He also reminded priests and seminarians that they often received privileges that their peers did not have, so they should always remember that they are called to service, which is the ideal of the priesthood.^[ii] In making this address, John Paul was wise and straightforward, and although the scandal occurred under his tenure as Pope, I don’t believe it destroys his legacy as a leader. Historical research reveals that the full extent of the abuse and the number of victims were unknown to him during his pontificate. John Paul is still a light as he was as a good pope and a sincere Christian who wanted to evangelize the world. While the Church’s credibility was irreparably damaged as an institution, renewal is still occurring as a living organization, really an organism that carries the divine life to all people and all cultures. Along with this life, priests take part as Sacramental ministers and those who govern the teaching office. The ordained priest acts in the person of Christ, ministering to souls as his living conduits. Scripture states that Christ is the only high priest. What this means is that all Catholic Christians, baptized and ordained, take part in this eternal priesthood of Christ in different ways. If one were to say there is no ordained priesthood because Christ is the only true priest, what would that say of the priesthood of the baptized? The whole Church together offers the sacrifice of Mass back to God, participating in Christ’s priesthood. In gratitude to so many priests who have served as true shepherds as the Good Shepherd did himself, I can never forget how efficacious Christ’s priesthood has been and is in the Church, fully alive. As all parts of the body are honored and dishonored together, so the ordained and the laity all glorify God by their offering in Christ’s body, the Church (1st Corinthians 12:26).

When people consider which church they are a part of, they often will make the argument that they want a church that seems good and is without scandal. Archbishop Timothy Dolan told the story of how he once got a letter from a Catholic couple who were leaving the Church to find a church that was “less tawdry.” He said he overreacted and sent a letter back to them, saying that any church they joined wouldn’t be perfect once they joined. That is harsh, and still very true. No Christian organization is without stain or sin. The choice we face is whether we will be taking part in grace or sin. Another way to say it is that we are either part of the solution or the problem in the Church. When you consider Gospel values and evangelization, no other church has evangelized longer and baptized more people than the Catholic Church. Again, no other denomination can truthfully claim the footprint of evangelization that Catholicism has had. I won’t write extensively on the arguments made against Catholicism. One such argument is that Catholics are “unchurched” and those who are Catholic need to be “re-evangelized.” It’s hard to argue with an assertion made without fact or Scripture. Jesus envisioned a church that would cover all corners of the earth, evangelizing all creatures (see Mark 16:15 and Matthew 28:20). This corresponds with the Nicene Creed that the Church is “one, holy, Catholic and apostolic.” Jesus intended to wed a Church of this nature, founded at Pentecost by the Holy Spirit. And certainly, Ignatius of Antioch, Augustine of Hippo, and his mother Monica, who all called themselves Catholic, were not unchurched. Let’s leave it at this: all Christians are human and therefore will fall into sin. Anyone can choose to live in grace. The spotless bride, our Catholic Church, has led in its field, evangelization, and brought more people to Christ than any other Christian denomination.

Also, consider that the Church is never perfect. To be perfect can mean different things: flawless, complete, without equal. For discipleship, Christ calls each one of his members to be perfect as completed in himself. In other words, the disciple is meant to be mature in Christ, following the meaning of the Gospel’s Greek word for perfection. Nothing should get in the way of our love of Christ, most especially the scandals that always come. I apply this ethos to all scandals and not simply the abuse crisis. Wherever humanity goes, nothing is straight, as Immanuel Kant opined. Anyone will be outraged at the abuse of power, and the call to conversion is not a distraction from problems in the Church. Nonetheless, one needs to remember why he or she is here. We come to the Church, among the congregation that forms Christ’s body, in communion that unites all to be saved. Christ is working to save us. We are being wedded by a loving God who wants to draw us into his Trinitarian life. This alone is the highest ideal. I love to remember the phrase Jesus said to Peter when he asked about the beloved disciple and what would become of him. Jesus replied to him,” What concern is it of yours if I want him to remain until I come? You follow me,” (John 21.22). My concern is love of God and neighbor, not the politics present in the Church. The concern for each person needs to be the salvation of his soul and the community. Trust in the Church means I cannot ever lose sight of my conversion and its lifelong project.

Next, consider the unseen web that touches all godly things. What happens when we lose sight of the divine and spiritual in life? Life becomes illusory, as Thomas Merton believed. Christ has given us his body, divine and human alike, to nourish us and bless us, and the faithful community of believers forms this corpus fidei, this mystical body of faith, present wherever faith and love are professed. While it may not be visible, at least not to mortal eyes, its light reflects God’s light in all places and times. As God commanded light to be formed first at the creation events, Christ’s light is shining in our hearts, and the Holy Spirit is marching forward in all places (cf Genesis 1:2, 2 Corinthians 4:6, Acts 11:15). So, the Church has an invisible and still real, tangible presence touching all things. Problems in the Church, accidental or directly caused, are like wrinkles in a timeless fabric that is still unfolding and is always unfolding. “What we will be has not yet come to light” (1 John 3:2). We see dimly, and still see brightly with eyes of faith. The people of God will find meaning in all things. This is a confidence, daresay a divine confidence, which cannot be defeated. How beautiful is this grace in which we stand! It is not anachronistic to say that the world is saved by beauty, and that the Church inspires beauty in the graces it holds. Great lights in the arts and literature found their inspiration in the Church, finding grace through its inspiration. I cannot all the many voices who drew breath spiritually in Catholic belief, among these were Michelangelo, JRR Tolkien, and Flannery O’Connor. The Catholic web serves as a spiritual nexus that is simultaneously upright in its ideals and open to those drawn into its beating heart. I think of the Irish Modernist author James Joyce. He wrote many novels that were avant-garde and pushed the envelope on acceptable writing. He wrote in the novel Ulysses a character named Leopold Bloom, a marginalized Jew living in Dublin. In this novel, Leopold is far from a role model to polite company, yet he expresses a fondness for Catholicism in its worship and beautiful rituals.^[iii] James Joyce wrote with an experimental style that is hard for most readers to understand and was not gun-shy in deploying grotesque imagery. Nonetheless, Joyce never forsook his Catholic identity. He was asked in an interview if he was still Catholic, and he responded by saying that it was “for the Church to decide.”^[iv] Unanchored from their spiritual moorings, wandering souls never lose the imprint of the sweet nourishment they received in Catholic Sacraments, and the Church’s doors are always ready for them to return.

When explaining the vocation and virtues of the Christian, I think of the example of the goose. Geese are beautiful creatures. When you see them in flight and out in nature, they are compelling in their beauty. I always love to watch geese as they mate and spawn, hatching and raising their young, and then dispatching to fly south for warmer climates. I find myself sad when I see geese lose their natural beauty. When geese become accustomed to people feeding them and letting them rule the roost, they lose their natural grace, pushing out the other birds and becoming tawdry. The moral of this analogy is virtue fulfilling nature; when anything lives in virtue, true to its nature, it is beautiful, fulfilled, and flourishes. When a created thing loses its natural substance, subsisting on that which will not sustain it, the creature will then atrophy and be corrupted over time. When you see the Church living as it should, people worshiping sincerely at Mass and in their devotional practices, priests serving out in the field over an office job, parishioners and teachers in Catholic schools living out Catholicism faithfully, you see the Church alive. When ecclesial organizations become overextended and bureaucratic, they prioritize other things over the Gospel and Sacraments, and you have atrophy, slothfulness, and corruption. By corruption, I do not mean bribery or extortion. I mean, by definition, a loss or deterioration of what the Church is meant to be. Christians in the Church lose their strength when they lose sight of its mission. This is, indeed, the perpetual struggle for the Church. We have to let the Holy Spirit awaken us from our apathy. Like geese in flight, we need to take flight and not wait to hatch the living fruits of grace. 

From this, we come to trust. Stephen Covey once wrote that trust is the highest motivator.^[v] It creates a force that cannot be stopped or beaten when it is unleashed. When I say I trust the Church, it is not blind or deferential trust. It is in respect to the truth and seeks justice; it is also merciful towards failure and expectant of redemption. To trust in this sacred temple is to know that God’s will is evident in His Church, guided by the divine plan and providence. Trust means that our Church is always our home, never overcome, and never destroyed. Our Church will endure for all ages until time into eternity has grown. Time does not hinder the Church. It only strengthens her conviction. She rises and falls on faith. Our trust is to believe in God’s grace at work in the Church. I will reiterate that we all sin, and sin can run rampant inside even hallowed grounds; it still doesn’t take away from the trust we can have in Christ. Christ is the one who leads Peter away when he is going astray. Remember the story of Peter running away from Rome on the Appian Way. He encounters Jesus, who tells him he is going to Rome to be crucified with his Church. Peter went back and gave his life for his flock. All this just from his one question, “Domine, quo vadis?” “Where are you going, Lord?” Anyone who reads the headlines and wants to keep his or her faith will ask, “Where are you, Lord? Why is this happening?” Jesus stays with us when we don’t recognize Him. He is close to us, especially when we are not aware of his presence. When the Emmaus event occurred, Jesus found his two followers and stayed with them. He didn’t impose himself on their company. He openly asked them what had happened in Jerusalem. Remember that he then opened the Scriptures to them. Upon their imploring pleas, he stayed with them after they stopped. He took the bread and blessed it, and then they knew him. He was only known “in the breaking of the bread” (cf. Luke 24). Jesus will work with us when we don’t see a reason for why something is happening. Trust makes this possible. Yet it is not ordinary trust. It is a trust formed out of divine grace and supernatural power. Of course, the Church never stands on its own. It is only through God’s grace that we can come back. The Church has survived persecution and temptations of power and bad decisions, and survived every one of us, on top of it all! We can trust in the promise that the Church will continue to stand, founded on rock and steadfast in faith.

I trust the Church. We need to trust in God’s Church. The Catholic faith is one of the most successful ideals to ever be tried and found to succeed. Church structures and organizations have changed countless times over human history. I for I, one for one, can do nothing consequential. We can do something. The true Church of Christ, united in faith, fed by the Sacraments, and prepared for grace in devotional practice and worship, withstands the test of time. Let’s end with the opening blessing of Pope Leo XIV after his election to the Papacy on May 8th of this year.

Peace be with all of you!

Dearest brothers and sisters, this is the first greeting of the Risen Christ, the good shepherd who gave his life for God’s flock. I, too, would like this greeting of peace to enter your hearts, to reach your families, and all people, wherever they are, all of the people, all over the World, 

Peace be with you!

We still have in our ears that weak, but always courageous voice of Pope Francis as he blessed Rome! The Pope, who blessed Rome, gave his blessing to the whole world that Easter morning. Allow me to follow up on that blessing: God loves us, God loves you all, and evil will not prevail!

We are all in the hands of God. 

Therefore, without fear, united hand in hand with God and among ourselves, we move forward. We are disciples of Christ. 

Christ precedes us. The world needs his light. Humanity needs him as the bridge to allow it to be reached by God and by his love.”^[vi]

^[i] Augustine of Hippo, City of God, edited by Knowles, David, Pelican Classics, (1976).

^[ii] Melinda Henneberger “Pope Takes on Scandals,” Sun Sentinel, 21 April 2002.

^[iii] Joyce, James, Ulysses, Shakespeare and Company, (1922), Facsimile Edition published by Ann Arbor Media Group, LLG, copyright 2005, 414.

^[iv] Davison, Neil R., James Joyce, Ulysses, and the Construction of Jewish Identity: Culture, Biography, and ‘the Jew’ in Modernist Europe. Cambridge University Press, (1998), 78.

^[v] Covey, Steven, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, FIRESIDE, Simon and Schuster Inc, (1989).

^VI Tarantino, Alessandra, “Transcript of Cardinal Robert Prevost’s first speech as Pope Leo XIV,” translated from Italian, 8 May 2025.