So much trouble in the Church?

By Fr Robert Christo

Vicar for Communications

Every time scandal or crisis rocks the Church or the world at large, somebody says, “Well, I gone. That is it for me. I tell alyuh so!” In the Caribbean, we might put it another way: “If one fisherman sink he pirogue, yuh stop eating fish?”

Of course not. You first care for the fisherman, repair the boat, learn the lesson, and then head back to sea.

Jesus warned us that the wheat and the weeds would grow together until the harvest (Mt 13:24–30). He never told His servants to uproot the weeds immediately, because they might damage the wheat. Saints and sinners will share the same field until Christ returns.

Searching for the perfect Church is like searching for the perfect family. You will never find one. The Church remains one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic because Christ is holy, even while her members struggle toward holiness.

The Church has sailed through persecution, heresy, scandal, wars, plagues, and crises for over 2,000 years. She is still afloat because Christ is still in the boat.

God works through imperfect people

Peter denied Jesus. Judas betrayed Him. The Apostles argued over who was the greatest. David committed grave sins. Moses lost his temper. Jeremiah wanted to quit. God does not call perfect people; He perfects the people He calls.

Jesus never described His Church as a museum displaying polished saints behind stained glass windows. He called Himself the Divine Physician: “Those who are well have no need of a doctor, but those who are sick” (Mk 2:17). The Church is His field hospital, where sinners are healed, not where sin is excused.

Repentance must be visible

Wrongdoing is never ignored. The Church has increasingly recognised that repentance must be public as well as personal.

Pope Francis travelled to Canada in 2022 to apologise for the Church’s role in the suffering caused by the residential school system. Religious communities have also returned land to Indigenous peoples as acts of justice and reconciliation.

Such actions cannot erase the past, but they show that authentic repentance bears fruit in truth, accountability, and concrete action.

When scandal occurs, the Church follows a Gospel roadmap: truth before reputation, justice before convenience, repentance before restoration, accountability before business as usual, and healing for everyone affected.

Like any good doctor, the Church must first diagnose the wound. Sometimes surgery is painful. Sometimes infected tissue must be removed to save the body. Covering a wound while poison remains underneath is not mercy; it is malpractice.

A holy church with human members

As US Bishop Robert Barron often reminds us, the Church is both divine and human: divine because Christ is her Head; human because her members—bishops, priests, Religious and laity alike—remain capable of sin. As St Paul says, “We hold this treasure in earthen vessels” (2 Cor 4:7).

St Augustine described the Church as a corpus permixtum, a mixed body of saints and sinners journeying together until the final harvest. The Divine Farmer has not abandoned His crop. At the appointed time, He Himself will separate the wheat from the weeds with perfect justice.

After every storm, we rebuild

Caribbean people know about hurricanes. After every storm, neighbours do not simply admire blown-away roofs. They gather hammers, nails, plywood, tarpaulins, chainsaws, and food hampers. They clear fallen trees, rebuild homes and check on the elderly and vulnerable.

The Church must do the same after every scandal: care first for those who have been harmed, hold wrongdoers accountable, call sinners to repentance, strengthen safeguarding, accompany those whose faith has been shaken, and keep pointing everyone back to Christ.

Scandal should never become normal. Neither should it become the reason we abandon the Gospel. Our faith rests not on the perfection of clergy or the People of God, but on the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. When Peter failed, Christ restored him. When the Apostles fled, Christ gathered them again. When the Church is wounded, Christ continues healing her from within.

So yes, we grieve. We demand truth. We pursue justice. We protect the vulnerable. We seek repentance and healing.

But we do not jump overboard because the boat is leaking. We stay with Christ, help bail the water with our own calabash, and keep rowing toward the Kingdom, for He alone has the words of eternal life and the only GPS that never loses its signal.