One holy Church

Today’s General Audience began at 10:30am in Saint Peter’s Square, where the Holy Father, Pope Francis met with groups of pilgrims and the faithful who had come from various parts of Italy and other parts of the world.  In his catechesis, spoken in Italian, the Pope focused his mediation on the holiness of the Church.

Following the syntheses of the catechesis, spoken in various languages, Pope Francis spoke greetings to various linguistic groups who were present.

The General Audience was concluded with the singing of the Pater Noster and the Apostolic Blessing.

Catechesis of the Holy Father, Pope Francis

for the General Audience

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

In the Credo, after having professed: I believe in one Church, we add the adjective holy; thereby affirming the holiness of the Church, and this is a characteristic that has been present since the initial understandings of faith in the first Christians, the ones we simply refer to as the saints (cf Acts 9:13:32, 41; Rm 8:27; 1 Cor 6:1), because they were certain that the Church is made holy by the action of God through the Holy Spirit.

But in what sense is the Church holy if we see that historically, the Church, in her long journey through the centuries, has had such difficulty, so many problems, so many dark moments?  How can a Church made up of human beings, of sinners be holy: sinful men and women, sinful priests, sinful sisters, sinful bishops, sinful Cardinals, sinful Popes?  Everyone!  How can such a Church be holy?

To respond to the question, I should like to be guided by a part of the Letter of Saint Paul to the Christians at Ephesus.  The Apostle, taking for his example their familiar relationships, affirmed that Christ loved the Church and gave himself for her, in order to make her holy (5:25-26).  Christ loved the Church, and gave himself entirely on the cross.  This means that the Church is holy because she is led by God who is holy; he is faithful and will not abandon her in times of trial or even of death (cf Mt 16:18).  The Church is holy because Jesus Christ, the Holy One of God (cf Mk 1:24) is united in an indissoluble way to her (cf Mt: 28:20); she is holy because she is guided by the Holy Spirit who purifies, transforms and renews her.  She is not holy based on our merits, but because God makes her holy, she is the fruit of the Holy Spirit and of the Spirit’s gifts.  We human beings do not make the Church holy.  It is God, the Holy Spirit who by his love makes the Church holy.

You could say to me: but the Church is made up of sinners, we see it every day. And this is true: we are a Church of sinners; and we sinners are called to allow ourselves to be transformed, renewed, sanctified by God. There has been in history the temptation of some who affirmed: the Church is only the Church of the pure, of those who are totally coherent, and the others are estranged. This isn’t true. This is a heresy. No! The Church, which is holy, does not reject sinners; on the contrary, she receives them, is open also to those who are most distant, she calls all people to allow themselves to be enveloped by the mercy, the tenderness and the forgiveness of the Father, who offers every possibility of encountering him, of walking towards sanctity. But, Father, I am a sinner, I have grave sins, how can I feel part of the Church? Dear brother, dear sister, it is precisely this that the Lord desires; that you say to him: Lord, I am here, with my sins! Forgive me, help me to walk, transform my heart! The God we encounter in the Church isn’t a merciless judge, but He is like the Father of the evangelical parable. You can be as the son who left home, who touched the depth of estrangement from God. When you have the strength to say: I want to go back home, you will find the door open. God comes to meet you because He always waits for you, he embraces you, He kisses you and celebrates. The Lord wants us to be part of a Church that is able to open her arms to welcome all, which is not the house of a few, but the house of all, where all can be renewed, transformed, sanctified by His love, the strongest and the weakest, the sinners, the indifferent, those who feel discouraged and lost. The Church offers every possibility of following the way of sanctity, which is the way of the Christian. She makes us encounter Jesus Christ in the Sacraments, especially in Confession and in the Eucharist; she communicates to us the Word of God, she makes us live in charity, in the love of God towards all people. So we ask ourselves: do we allow ourselves to be sanctified? Are we a Church that calls and welcomes sinners with open arms, that gives courage and hope or are we a Church that is shut in on herself? Are we a Church in which the love of God is lived, in which there is care for the other, in which we pray for one another?

A final question: what can I do, I who feel weak, fragile, sinful? God says to you: do not be afraid of sanctity, do not be afraid to aim high, to allow yourself to be loved and purified by God, do not be afraid to let yourself be guided by the Holy Spirit. Let us allow ourselves to be infected by God’s holiness. Every Christian is called to sanctity (cf. Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium, 39-42); and sanctity does not consist first of all in doing extraordinary things, but in letting God act. It is the encounter of our weakness with the strength of His grace; it is trust in His action that enables us to live in charity, to do everything with joy and humility for the glory of God and in the service of our neighbor. There is a famous phrase of the French writer Leon Bloy, who in the last moments of his life said: There is only one sadness in life, that of not being saints. Let us not lose hope in sanctity; let us all follow this way. Do we want to be saints? All? The Lord awaits all of us with open arms. Let us live our faith with joy, let us allow ourselves to be loved by the Lord … let us ask for this gift of God in prayer, for ourselves and for others.

At the conclusion of the catechesis, summaries of this text were also provided in various languages.  Once the summary had been pronounced in all languages, the Holy Father offered greetings to pilgrims of various languages.  Here is the translation of the greetings he offered to English-speaking pilgrims:

I cordially greet the members of the delegation from the International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue in Vienna. I also welcome the Buddhist visitors from Japan, including the delegations from the Tendai denomination and the Nakano Dharma Centre of Rissho Kosei-kai. Upon all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors present at today’s Audience, including those from Scotland, Benin, Australia, India, Japan, Canada and the United States I invoke God’s blessings of joy and peace!

Finally, I wish to send an affectionate greeting to the youth, to the sick, to the newly-weds.  Today, we celebrate the Memorial of the Guardian Angels.  May their presence reinforce in each of you, dear young people, the certitude that God is accompanying you in your daily lives; sustaining you, dear sick persons, taking away your daily fatigue; and may they help you, dear newly-weds to build your families based on the love of God.

May God bless you all!