Pope Claims a Relationship with Jesus is Dangerous Without Church
VATICAN CITY - Christians are not made in a laboratory, but in a community called the church, Pope Francis said.
At his weekly general audience June 25, Pope Francis continued his series of audience talks about the church, telling an estimated 33,000 people that there is no such thing as "do-it-yourself" Christians or "free agents" when it comes to faith.
Pope Francis described as "dangerous" the temptation to believe that one can have "a personal, direct, immediate relationship with Jesus Christ without communion with and the mediation of the church."
"It is through our brothers and sisters with their gifts and their limits," the pope said, "that he comes to us and makes himself known. This is what belonging to the church means. Remember: being Christian means belonging to the church. If your first name is Christian, your last name is Member of the Church."
At the end of his talk, the pope asked people to join him in praying that they would never "give into the temptation of thinking you can do without others, without the church, that you can save yourself, of thinking you can be a laboratory Christian."
Christians, he said, are not manufactured in isolation, but belong to a long line of believers who handed on the faith and challenged one another to live it fully.
Church is essential for faith; there are no 'free agents,' pope says
Pope Francis' catechesis at the General Audience - The name and surname of a Christian