[MeganC]

The Pope is wrong.

[svcw]

Wrong.

[FatherofFive]

Well, duh. Of course Christ is in the Church He established!

“Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Mat 5:14-15

So here Christ says His Church will be visible.

“Careful to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. One body and one Spirit: as you are called in one hope of your calling. One Lord, one faith, one baptism.” Eph 4:3-5

The Church is to be one, not many.

“And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Mat 6:18

Here Christ says his Church will not be destroyed.

“I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.” John 16:12-13

“But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.” 1Tim 3:15

Here Christ says, and Paul reaffirms, that the Church will always teach the TRUTH.

Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."Mat 28:18-20

Again, here Jesus assures us that He is always with us, to the very end.

So Christ says His Church will not be destroyed or fall away from him, that the Holy Spirit will guide the Church to always teach the Truth, and He will always be with us. The Church is much more than a collection of nice people who read a Bible and believe anything they want.

[BubbaBasher]

Jesus gave himself to us before there was a church. “He who believes in me shall not perish”.

[Mercat]

Church = Body of Christ.

[demshateGod]

Speaking of persecution. I don’t imagine any religion as persecuted more Christians than the Catholic “church” has.

[Resolute Conservative]

I don’t believe he is correct on this.

[muir_redwoods]

Well, he understands his brand.

[Yashcheritsiy]

I assume he’s talking about the *local* church?

Because there is no universal, big-C “Church,” biblically speaking.

[Nifster]

let’s not let history or the New Testament get in the way of whatever the pope wants to say...../s

[Mad Dawg]

As usual, a great many of those who disagree have no clue what the Pope means when he says "Church."

Some people prefer being outraged to knowing the thing they're outraged about.

[Revolting cat!]

Why, and I thought that Jesus was to be found in the Protestant Cafeteria of 30,000 delicious sects!

[onedoug]

...who began his Papacy facilitating communion at the Vatican for Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi.

It’s evidently okay to trash the other sacraments, but step right up for the Host.

[Marcella]

The earth physical church is buildings where Christians and non-Christians go. The spiritual church is all who believe in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit - I belong to this one.

[Boogieman]

Then the Pope hasn’t looked very hard.

[SECURE AMERICA]

If you can not find Jesus outside of a church how can you be a Christian..

[FoxPro]

Are we going to fight the reformation here all over again?

[HangnJudge]

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.

— 1 Cor. 15:3–8, NIV

One could make a case that Paul (Saul) was brought to Christ through a revelatory act, as “Abnormally Born”
Initially quite separate from the Church

It is not my place to limit God, as He can do all things

[bunkerhill7]

Ok bible scholars: What does this mean then?

Scripture: Mark 9:38-41
38 John said to him, “Teacher, we saw a man casting out demons in your name, and we forbade him, because he was not following us.” 39 But Jesus said, “Do not forbid him; for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon after to speak evil of me. 40 For he that is not against us is for us. 41 For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ, will by no means lose his reward.

[EricT.]

Aw, geez. Just when I was starting to warm up to him, he says something ridiculous like this.

I’ve known too many solid disciples of Jesus who didn’t need The Church™ to come to know and follow our Lord.

I guess he also thinks that people in places like China and Iran who are secret believers are not Christians, either.