Corruption in Church stems for urge to control, Pope says

June 03, 2013

Corruption in the Church arises when individuals seek to take control of the Church for their own purposes, Pope Francis told a congregation at the Vatican on June 3.

Peaching on the parable of the wicked tenants, at a Monday-morning Mass at the Domus Sanctae Marthae, the Pope said that the parable shows three types of people who are involved in Church affairs: sinners, corrupt people, and saints.

Beginning with the observation that all believers are acquainted with sinners—since we are sinners ourselves—the Pope spoke at greater length about those who are corrupt. Unlike ordinary sinners, who fall and repent, the corrupt actively seek to break away from dependence on God, the Pope said.

The corrupt, the Holy Father explained, are those who want “to take possession of the vineyard, and who have lost the relationship with the Master.” Judas, he said, was the first example of a disciple whose betrayal began in greed and ended in corruption.

The corrupt “do great harm to the Church because they are worshipers of themselves,” the Pope said. The saints, by contrast, do great good for the Church because they are interested in service rather than self-interest.

 

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Further information:

• Pope Francis: the corrupt harm the Church; the saints are a light for all (Vatican Radio)