A problem in institutional churches is that they have trouble rising to the level of Christliness. Their teaching descends into cold orthodoxy and religious rite. As a result, societies are not elevated, but wallow in spiritual squalor because “oh, we did what we had to at the church.” Nope. Christianity needs to be a 24/7 thing. You don’t clock in and clock out with the Lord.
I couldn’t agree more. That’s why I left the Catholic church for good in 2000. Yet the previous popes were holy men, some of them, even if they could not see what we see.