Today I want to respond publicly to something many people ask me privately:
“Father, why is there so much scandal in the Church?”

And I ask them another question:
Are you still Catholic after all the scandals in the Church?
My answer is clear: Of course!
Jesus is not abandoned because of Judas.

Do not scandalize, do not be scandalized

I hope none of us is a source of scandal. Woe to him who scandalizes! We can all fall, make mistakes, and commit errors that affect others. Therefore, we must live with humility and responsibility.

However, it is also true that we live surrounded by people who seek out scandals, who become indignant before verifying the facts, who consume rumors as if they were the truth. Some would not have followed Christ for two days if they had lived in His time.

Yes, there are real and very sad scandals, especially when they come from the highest levels of the hierarchy. We have gone through a dark period, like the one that will be remembered 80 years from now for the abuses committed over decades. It is a tragedy that should not be minimized.

Neither Peter nor Judas were the center

Let us not forget that even in the early days of the Church, there were scandals:

• Judas betrayed and hanged himself.
• Peter, the rock upon which Christ built His Church, denied Him.
• All the apostles ran away.

Mary Magdalene, Susanna, and other women who did not deny Jesus might have felt superior. Even Mary, the mother of Jesus, might have been scandalized. But no. She thought about how to raise Peter, how to bring the other ten back. She wondered how Judas could not understand the mercy of her Son.

As long as there is life, there is hope.
Judas could have repented. He did the one thing he shouldn’t have done: lost hope.

Don’t commit suicide in your soul.

Dear brothers and sisters, don’t commit suicide in your soul or in your heart. Let no one steal our faith with their errors. If we see scandals, let us pray, ask for the conversion of the guilty, try to repair the damage, seek dialogue and healing.

We are a mystical body. When one part suffers, the whole body suffers. The Church is not an institution founded by men 500 or 200 years ago. The Catholic Church is the only one founded by Christ.

Many were scandalized by Judas and, instead of praying and seeking unity, they divided the Church. The result? Empty churches in Europe. Churches founded by men, not by Christ.

Jesus said at the Last Supper:
“Father, that they all may be one, as you and I are one.”

Are we scandalized by the Twelve?

Are we going to be scandalized by the Twelve? They all failed, they all fled.
Even Saint John, “the beloved disciple,” ran away.

And if I had been there, I would most likely have done the same.

Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, I remain in the Church, until the last day of my life—by the grace of God—to contribute my humility, my respect, my prayer, and my sacrifice.

Let us do all the good we can.

Let us not abandon the boat. The Church needs us.
Let us do all the good we can.
May God bless you always.