The paradox of the Church

This article by Metropolitan Georges Khodr explores the fundamental paradox of the Christian Church, an institution that is simultaneously divine and human, traversed by both holiness and sin. Through a theological meditation of existential inspiration, the author confronts without detour the contradictions of ecclesial life: the eucharistic community can turn into a ghetto, pastors can betray their vocation, and the institutional Church can endorse unjust powers. Faced with this reality, Khodr refuses both idealization and abandonment: the Church remains the irreplaceable place of Christ's presence, precisely because it is a community of sinners in conversion. The article also develops an ecclesiology open to the world, attentive to the traces of the Word in other religious traditions and committed to social transformation, while refusing any ideological synthesis. The theological contribution lies in the articulation between ecclesial realism, eschatology, and prophetic responsibility.