Gregory the Great on the mixed nature of the church on earth

[Reformed Covenanter]

In the holy Church there cannot be bad people without the good, and good people without the bad. For as long as we live here below, we must walk the path of this present age intermingled. But we are distinguished when we reach the next life. Now the good are never alone except in heaven and the bad are never alone except in hell. But just as this life, which lies between heaven and hell, is accessible to all, so too it admits citizens from both regions alike. Though the holy Church now receives them both indiscriminately, afterward she will make distinctions between them as they exit from this life. ...

For more, see Gregory the Great on the mixed nature of the church on earth.

 

[ZackF]

Gregory the Great was one the last Bishops of/in Rome to bless the church before the plot was lost there.