"The Church"... as in, the body of Christians, has been in trouble since he handed the keys to a human being. The Old and New testament is full of stories that showcase true human nature: we reject God. From that point.... absolute sh*tshow follows.
As Christians, we have clear instructions from Jesus: [44] But I say to you, Love your enemies: do good to them that hate you: and pray for them that persecute and calumniate you: [45] That you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven, who maketh his sun to rise upon the good, and bad, and raineth upon the just and the unjust. Matthew 5:44-45
This means we pray for the bad popes, the pedophiles, etc. SO hard to do, and I struggle with it every day...
There will always be bad people everywhere, even in the most sacred and holy of places, because sin never takes a rest and every human on earth is vulnerable. The only exceptions were Jesus, his mother Mary, and even his adoptive father Joseph who was given special blessings to resist temptation and sin.
Other than those 3 everyone else is going to commit sin, no matter how small, and that includes popes and bishops and cardinals and priests. Not saying it's okay, it's not, but Jesus died for our sins, past and present and future, so that we might confess those sins and follow Him once again and have eternal life. So, as my own mother says, until death, nothing is settled, and even the worst villains still have a shot at righting themselves, and we must pray for them the most.
"The Church"... as in, the body of Christians, has been in trouble since he handed the keys to a human being. The Old and New testament is full of stories that showcase true human nature: we reject God. From that point.... absolute sh*tshow follows.
As Christians, we have clear instructions from Jesus:
[44] But I say to you, Love your enemies: do good to them that hate you: and pray for them that persecute and calumniate you: [45] That you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven, who maketh his sun to rise upon the good, and bad, and raineth upon the just and the unjust.
Matthew 5:44-45
This means we pray for the bad popes, the pedophiles, etc. SO hard to do, and I struggle with it every day...
There will always be bad people everywhere, even in the most sacred and holy of places, because sin never takes a rest and every human on earth is vulnerable. The only exceptions were Jesus, his mother Mary, and even his adoptive father Joseph who was given special blessings to resist temptation and sin.
Other than those 3 everyone else is going to commit sin, no matter how small, and that includes popes and bishops and cardinals and priests. Not saying it's okay, it's not, but Jesus died for our sins, past and present and future, so that we might confess those sins and follow Him once again and have eternal life. So, as my own mother says, until death, nothing is settled, and even the worst villains still have a shot at righting themselves, and we must pray for them the most.