David and Popes

Over at Crossed the Tiber I came across a very interesting post comparing bad and often sinful decisions made by Popes with David's fornication and having the husband, Uriah the Hittite, killed. The main gist of the post was this:

Catholics are often asked how we can believe in the validity of the Church in light of the bad popes, corrupt bishops, bad priests, (sinful bloggers) etc and the recent abuse scandal.

Would Uriah the Hittite have accepted what came to be the Word of God if he knew that the man destined to write a portion of it (Psalms) fornicated with his wife and sent him into battle to die? The Jewish people as well as early Christians accepted the Old Testament as God's Word despite the fact that adulterers, polygamists and murderers wrote fairly large portions of it, including Moses, David and King Solomon. We don't believe the sinful actions of these men affected the truth God inspired them to write.

That's right, just as Sacred Scripture is the inerrant Word of God despite the sinful and sometimes scandalous actions of the writers, just so is the Catholic Church still the one true Church despite the sins and scandals of some Popes. The Holy Spirit is, despite some protestations to the contrary, able to proclaim Truth and overcome the sinfulness of mankind.