In a respected Catholic newspaper, one columnist was asked this question: “My daughter told me that she belongs to a group called “Recovering Catholics” that meets once a month to talk about how they can shed the bad effects of their Catholic faith. Have you ever heard of this kind of thing before? How can I respond to my daughter?” Monsignor M. Francis Mannion, a priest of the Diocese of Salt Lake City, entitled his response: “Yes, there’s much to complain about in the Church, but every Catholic is responsible for its reputation.” I think that is a complete and insightful answer.

To begin at the beginning, by our baptism in the Catholic Church we are shriven of original sin and we become friends of God; we are also made members of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church founded by Jesus Christ the Son of God and given over to the management of Christ’s twelve Apostles and their successors. The Church’s head is Jesus himself, our Eternal High Priest; its visible head is the Bishop of the whole Catholic Church, that is the Bishop of Rome. This is the Church that Jesus gave us and admits us to by Catholic baptism. Nowhere in the New Testament does Jesus ever say that his Church is only for the perfect, for an elite. As a matter of fact, he said in one place that he had come to call sinners first of all. One might even say that Jesus doted upon sinners and welcomed them into the Church. Since most of us are sinners, we should be glad of that fact.

However from the time we reach the use of reason, whether we build up the Church in faith, hope and love or tear it down in company with the world, the flesh and the devil is up to us; it is our free choice. It does not come easily to the ear or to the tongue, but each one of us has in a certain sense a “right” to go to Heaven or a “right” to go to Hell, according as we choose.

I have been a priest for 50 years and for 38 of those years I have been involved in diocesan administration, in one capacity or another, and over the years have opened a lot of mail. Sometimes I have wished the postage that First Class mail stamps cost were not 45 cents but $45. I have received all sorts of observations on the Church; many of them complaints. Some people point out things which the Church could do better. Those complaints are always welcome and helpful. A certain number are vituperative, a few even abusive and even vulgar. I have never done so, but now and then I think that I would like to answer some of the latter by saying, “As you leave, don’t let the door hit you in the back.”

Now, many people who complain are not well brought up and so they do not know better behavior, which is one reason not to answer in a mean fashion. But the Church is often called the “barque” or “ship” of Peter. In a boat during a storm, the boat rolls and pitches and yaws. The sails snap or the engines lose purchase, water is everywhere and it is chaotic. Commonsense tells you to stay in the boat. But sailors will tell you there is always some fool who thinks he would be better off in the water.

In my 50 years as a priest, I have to say that wherever I have been assigned to work (Elgin, South Beloit, Rockford, Rome), I have always encountered Catholic people much healthier and holier than I am. They have been Christ to me and have helped me to make myself more faithful as a member of the Church. That is the duty of us all toward each other. But there are those who do not like the Church or do not want to improve it, and perhaps cannot. Well, as we see them go overboard into the sea, there is not much we can do for them except pray.