Best Practices of the Church

By Fr. Jerry Pokorsky ( bio - articles - email ) | Feb 10, 2025

Is it ever permissible for a good Catholic to criticize the Church? If so, which attributes could be criticized? The doctrinal unity of the Church? The holiness of the Church? The universal reign of the Church? Her apostolic teachings? Is Mary, the mother of the Church, objectionable?

The one Church is universal. God establishes the Covenant of the Ten Commandments with His Chosen People. Mary, the Immaculate Conception, brings the Word of God—the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity—into the world with her fiat to the Angel Gabriel. Jesus calls the twelve Apostles and places Peter in charge. The twelve Apostles reflect the twelve tribes of Israel, maintaining the link to the Old Testament and God’s covenant. But the twelve Apostles also replace the tribes, rise above all nations, and anticipate the universal—or Catholic—Church.

The Church is holy. John the Baptist foretells the fires of Pentecost that give birth to the Church: “I baptize you with water; but he who is mightier than I is coming… He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” On Pentecost, the Church is born, and the first followers of Jesus—including Mary as Mother—become holy members of the Mystical Body of Christ.

The Church is apostolic. All public revelation concludes with the death of the last Apostle. Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist incorporate us into His Mystical Body. As members of His Church and rooted in apostolic teaching, we embark on the thorny road to salvation.

The Apostles’ Creed summarizes the saving doctrines of the faith. The Ten Commandments stir up the law of God written on our hearts, reminding and indicting us. God sanctifies us with the seven Sacraments. Prayer—above all, the Blessed Eucharist—sustains us. We are members of the Mystical Body of Christ. Catholic faith and morals are integral to our existence.

The Church Militant is only a fraction of Church membership. The Church Suffering—Purgatory—includes faithfully departed souls undergoing purification. The Church Triumphant includes the angels and the saints. Is the Church a democracy? Yes! Chesterton says, “Tradition means giving a vote to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead.” Tradition and Scriptures bind the teachings of popes, bishops, and priests. Never criticize the one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church.

Is it ever permissible for a good Catholic to criticize those who comprise the institutional Church? Certainly! Let’s begin with St. Peter, who begs the Lord after the miraculous catch, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” (Lk. 5:8) St. Peter senses he is unworthy of Jesus, but Jesus welcomes sinners into His band of brothers.

Only Mary is without sin. We are not. His Holiness Pope Peter denied Jesus three times. His Excellency Archbishop Matthew the Evangelist was among the hated tax collectors. His Eminence Judas Cardinal Iscariot betrayed Jesus. The sins of the twelve would keep parish gossips busy.

Some clerics are ecclesiastical card sharks. They maliciously add or remove playing cards from apostolic Tradition and distort the Church’s deposit of faith. St. Paul dispenses with the nuances: “If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to that which you received, let him be accursed.” (Gal. 1:9)

Ecclesiastical ambition is as old as the Gospels:

James and John…said to him, ‘Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory...’ Jesus…said to them, ‘You know that those who are supposed to rule over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. But it shall not be among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant….’” (Mk. 10:35-45)

Mark Twain famously lampooned organized religion (although his magnificent book on St. Joan of Arc calls into question his good standing as an unbeliever). During his post-Civil War tour of Italy, the poverty of the laity in contrast with the relative wealth of the institutional Church appalled him. A flabby, slothful, and worldly institutional Church discourages and scandalizes.

It shouldn’t surprise us that many Church organizations have cumbersome bureaucracies like Fortune 100 firms. They often dispense with the vocabulary of the faith and replace it with the language of business. Mission statements replace Gospel declarations. A reference to bureaucratic “best practices” can be a duplicitous code phrase for “my way or the highway.”

Many of us find the splendor of Church teaching unapproachable because of our sins. Others dismiss the Church because of her scandals. If we were not sinners, we wouldn’t need a Redeemer and the sacred vessel of the Church to navigate the choppy waters of life to bring us safely to our heavenly destination. We are sinners, and we need not fear the fire of the Holy Spirit and the holy Catholic Church to inflame our zeal for holiness and salvation.

What can we expect of our priests? Priests are like the honor guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We know little of the soldier’s private life, but his ritual reverence for our fallen soldiers inspires our patriotism. We may know little of the private life of a priest, and maybe we’re better off. But the priest—validly ordained and adorned with the sacred vestments that accentuate his office in union with Jesus—offers the Mass in thanksgiving for the forgiveness of our sins. Expect, at least, the clergy to exercise their divine office with reverence and fidelity. Or attend a neighboring Catholic parish.

The Church is our home. We need the Church because we need a mother’s love and God’s forgiveness. The Church needs us because she desires the salvation of her children. Authentic Church teaching and the Sacraments direct our lives. The holiness of the Church even critiques and redeems her flawed institutions.

There are reasonable practices, generally accepted practices and industry standards. But only the one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church offers the timeless best practices of Jesus, “the way, and the truth, and the life.” (Jn. 14:6)