“Pilate saith to him: What is truth? …” (John 18:38) 

That ancient question echoes through every age, and it echoes again in ours – sometimes even within the Church herself. In recent days, a statement by the Holy Father has stirred confusion among the faithful. He said: 

“The supreme rule in the Church is love: no one is called to command, everyone is called to serve; no one should impose their own ideas, we all must listen to one another; no one is excluded, we are all called to participate; no one possesses the entire truth, we must all humbly seek it, and seek it together.” 

Much in these words rightly calls us to humility, listening, and charity. Yet the final phrase – “no one possesses the entire truth” – cannot be taken in an unqualified sense without contradicting the very mission Christ entrusted to His Church. 

Over a century ago, Pope St. Pius X foresaw this very confusion and condemned it plainly. He said: 

“They make no secret, indeed, of their tenet that there is nothing immutable in faith; for them, living faith is always subject to change.” 

This is precisely the danger we face when we imply that no one – or no Church – possesses the entire truth. Such thinking denies that Christ Himself IS the Truth and that His Church, as His Mystical Body, holds the full deposit of faith entrusted to her by God.  

As a bishop and a spiritual father, I must speak plainly: Truth is not an evolving consensus. Truth is a divine Person – Our Lord Jesus Christ – entrusted in fullness to His Mystical Body, the Church.  

“Jesus saith to him: I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). 

In Christ, Truth is not an idea to be discovered by debate; Truth stands before us, speaks, suffers, dies, and rises. He promised His Apostles – and through them, His Church – “But when he, the Spirit of Truth is come, he will teach you all truth …” (John 16:13). 

This promise is not the charter for endless reinvention, but the divine pledge that the Paraclete will lead the Church into all truth, preserving her from error. 

Holy Scripture calls the Church “ … the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (I Timothy 3:15).  

The First Vatican Council solemnly declared: 

“For the doctrine of faith which God has revealed has not been proposed, like a philosophical invention, to be perfected by human ingenuity. Rather, it has been delivered as a Divine Deposit to the Spouse of Christ, to be faithfully kept and infallibly declared.” 

While no individual – laity, priest, bishop, or even pope- comprehends the whole mystery of God, the Catholic Church truly possesses the full deposit of faith in Christ and is divinely charged to guard and hand it on. 

Pope Pius XII affirmed this sacred duty: 

“… the Church which Christ Our Lord has appointed guardian and interpreter of the whole deposit of divinely revealed truth.” 

At times when this truth is dimmed or confused, old errors rise again. The Church must speak clearly: truth does not evolve; it abides forever in the Person of Jesus Christ, and it is guarded faithfully by His Church. 

Love indeed is the greatest commandment, but charity must always serve truth – never replace it. Listening is an act of love when it is ordered to conversion and obedience to revelation. The Good Shepherd who listens to His flock also teaches with authority: 

“Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and behold, I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world” (Matthew 28:20). 

A Church that only listens but never teaches ceases to be a mother; she becomes a mirror of the world. True love speaks truth even when the world will not endure it. 

Therefore, let us look at this statement made by the Holy Father again: “no one possesses the entire truth, we must all humbly seek it, and seek it together.” 

If by this statement he meant that no human mind fully comprehends the mystery of God, that is true. But if he meant that the Church herself does not possess the entire truth revealed by God, that is false and contrary to the faith. And while every believer is called to grow in understanding and to seek deeper union with the Truth, this “seeking together” does not mean that truth itself is still undiscovered; it means that we humbly conform our hearts and minds to the truth already revealed in Christ and entrusted to His Church. 

The Catholic Church, as the Mystical Body of Christ, truly possesses the whole deposit of faith and remains its guardian and interpreter. To deny this would make Christ’s promises void. 

So let me state clearly: Christ is Truth; His Gospel is definitive; His Church is its custodian. 

Beloved sons and daughters, cling to the unchanging Christ. Anchor yourselves in the Holy Eucharist, where the Truth made flesh abides. Pray the Rosary; study the faith; offer acts of reparation for sins against truth and for confusions that wound souls. 

When voices claim that the Church is still seeking the truth she does not yet possess, recall the Lord’s promise: 

“Behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world” (Matthew 28:20). 

The Holy Ghost has not abandoned the Bride of Christ. In every age, He preserves her from error and sustains her witness to the world.  

Pilate’s question – “What is truth?” – is answered not by synods, but by a Person crowned with thorns. Jesus Christ is the Truth, yesterday, today, and forever. He entrusted the fullness of that Truth to His Church, which remains, in the words of St. Paul, “the pillar and ground of the truth.” 

Let every shepherd hand on only what has been received – nothing less, nothing else. 

May the Immaculate Heart of Mary guard the Church in fidelity to her Divine Son, that the world may know once more the freedom that comes from truth. 

Bishop Joseph E. Strickland 

Bishop Emeritus