When the Church Hurts Her Own

Why the failures of Church leaders are not a verdict against the Church herself

“We have this treasure in earthen vessels, to show that the transcendent power belongs to God and not to us.”
— 2 Corinthians 4:7

I’m always telling you to stay fired up, Catholics. But here’s a reality check. Sometimes it’s hard to keep that fire burning when the Church herself seems to put it out. Sometimes people are hurt by the Church. And even those whom God was raising up as saints can tell that story, often better than we can.

That’s not a theoretical problem. It’s not something only critics bring up. It’s part of our actual history. And if we pretend otherwise, we end up offering shallow answers to people with very real wounds.

What defines us when we feel hurt by the Church is not our paint, but what we do in response to it. One of the most common mistakes I see is people take a bad experience with Church authority—a priest, a bishop, a superior—and turn it into a verdict against the Church as an institution. The saints give us a different way to think about it.

Here are four of them.

Padre Pio

Padre Pio was silenced by Church authorities. For years he was forbidden from celebrating Mass publicly or hearing confessions. The suspicions raised against him turned out to be wrong. Those suspicions centered on allegations of emotional manipulation of the faithful, fostering unhealthy spiritual dependency, possible fraud regarding his stigmata, and concerns that his phenomena were psychological or self-inflicted rather than supernatural. Church authorities acted out of caution and fear of scandal, but subsequent investigations failed to substantiate these claims, and the restrictions were eventually lifted. But here’s the thing to focus on: While they were in force, he obeyed. He didn’t rally supporters, he didn’t turn into a rebel. He didn’t wage a public campaign. He suffered quietly—and the Church eventually lifted the restrictions and later canonized him.

St. Joan of Arc

was condemned and executed by a Church court that was corrupt, politically manipulated, and operating in violation of Church law. She was put on trial by an ecclesiastical court controlled by English authorities after her capture, with the goal of discrediting her visions and undermining the legitimacy of the French crown. She was accused of heresy, false revelation, and disobedience to the Church—charges later judged to be unjust, procedurally invalid, and politically motivated.

This was a betrayal of justice by local Church authority, despite the Vatican and Church law. And yet, years later, the Church overturned the verdict, acknowledged the injustice, and declared Joan a saint.

St. John of the Cross

John of the Cross was imprisoned, beaten, and starved by fellow religious for supporting a legitimate reform within his own order. His suffering didn’t come from enemies of the Church, but from men convinced they were defending tradition. Some of the greatest mystical writings in Christian history came out of that dark cell. God can do something great, even with our pain! St. John’s “Dark Night of the Soul” was a big contributor to my own spiritual life!

St. Athanasius

And then there’s St. Athanasius. He was exiled again and again for opposing Arianism and defending the full divinity of Christ—even after the Church had already authoritatively defined that teaching at the Council of Nicaea. Athanasius wasn’t pushing a novelty. He was defending what the Church herself had formally taught, while large parts of her leadership failed to live consistently with it. Pay attention and you’ll see this sort of thing still happens today, with Catholics imposing their opinions against the authoritative teaching, guidance or declarations of the Church.

So what do we do with that?

First, we keep our categories straight. The Church’s teaching authority, sacramental life, and divine mission don’t always equate to prudence, competence, or virtue in the people who exercise authority at any given moment. So don’t confuse The Church with “people in the Church”. Confusing those categories leads either to naïve idealism or total disillusionment—neither of which is helpful.

First, we shouldn’t pretend that being hurt by Church authorities means someone is weak, bitter, or unserious. Saints were hurt this way. Deeply. Repeatedly. There are those cases where stories are embellished or completely made up, but there are also real and true stories of events that have injured someone, which may be “nothing” events for some, but deep painful for others.

Second, we learn to live with mess without assuming the faith itself is broken. The Catholic experience is messy. Church history shows that the Church can teach the truth clearly and still handle things badly at times. Councils can get doctrine right while leaders hesitate, compromise, or make poor decisions. That gap is frustrating—but it’s not a reason to conclude that the Church’s teaching has failed or that Christ abandoned what He founded.

And third, we learn from how the saints responded. None of them abandoned the Church. Not because the treatment was acceptable, but because they understood that walking away was not an option. The Church is True, but agents in the Church can be flawed. Follow the Church (her teachings, the sacramental life, etc.) and don’t let bad agents knock you off course.

If you’ve been wounded by the Church, you’re not alone. You’re standing in a long line that includes saints. The fire doesn’t go out because of bad stewards. Sometimes it just burns underground for a while, until it breaks through again, purified and stronger.

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