Question 10.156

10.156 What have been the Church’s defeats?

If you are referring to the Church as a society and not to her essential reality as the Mystical Body of Christ, one fatal error would be to emphasize social, economic, or, worse, political work to the detriment of evangelization. Francis’ first words, in the Sistine Chapel, a few hours after his election to the See of Peter, are especially eloquent: “We can walk as much as we want, we can build many things, but if we do not profess Jesus Christ, things go wrong. We may become a charitable NGO, but not the Church, the Bride of the Lord. When we are not walking, we stop moving. When we are not building on the stones, what happens? The same thing that happens to children on the beach when they build sandcastles: everything is swept away, there is no solidity.” When Christ is no longer proclaimed, it is therefore no longer about the Church. Because the Church is holy, apostolic, and missionary.