Some blogs I know have taken up the question of, Why Do You Remain a Catholic? I guess depending on the attitude, it could be anything from a sneer to a request for information. Certainly at this time, the anti-Catholic forces in this country are on the rise and they do have good ammunition due to certain members of the Church dropping the ball or causing a scandal through their personal behavior.
But I find these issues to be irrelevant when compared to the reason I remain a Catholic—Because I am convinced that the Catholic Church is the Church established by Jesus Christ and that God continues to protect His Church from teaching error even when individuals within the Church do wrong.
So, if we know that God is with His Church, having given the Church the authority and the responsibility to carry out His mission, we can trust Him to make sure the Church does not mislead us and we can trust Him to protect His Church from attacks from the outside as well. That doesn’t mean the Church won’t face suffering—in fact Our Lord warned us that the world will hate us too (John 15:18-25). But the attacks against the Church will not defeat the Church.
So my remaining in the Church is not based in Papolatry (as the Protestants call it) or in Ultramontanism (as the traditionalists put it). I personally think Pope Francis is a good Pope, but he is not the reason for my faith. I trust in God to guide him so when he teaches in a way which requires assent, I trust God will prevent him from teaching error.
