Editor’s note: This is part of a series of columns in which Archbishop Dolan addresses “hot button” issues.

I find myself humming it every once in awhile. It’s one of the hymns I hear a lot at the parishes I visit for Mass ... All are welcome! Not only is it a catchy tune, but it effectively captures a core truth of our Catholic faith: the church is indeed catholic, all-embracing, inclusive.

Like the majestic colonnade of Bernini extending out from St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, the church as a mother reaches out to embrace all God’s children, saint and sinner, rich and poor, every race, language, continent, and background. Indeed, all are welcome. That is central to the teaching of Jesus and his church.

But, as is very often the case with the teaching of Our Lord, there is a counter-balancing truth: namely, that, as a matter of fact, at times, some are not welcome! The teachings of Jesus, faithfully handed on by his church, are cogent, clear, and compelling, and rather than change them or debate them, he is willing, sadly, to let people leave him.

We think, for instance, of the “rich young man” who could not obey the imperative of Jesus, and left him. Or we recall the tough teaching of the Master on the Eucharist, leading some of his disciples to “leave him.” In neither case — and there are more examples — did the Master say, “Wait a minute! Let me alter my teaching to get you to stay.”

No, He maintained the integrity of his message, even if it broke his Sacred Heart to see people leave his following. Of course, his parables about the “kingdom” tell us that some will be left outside.

Lord knows, St. Paul was certainly rather blunt in his letters that certain actions place one clearly outside the communion of the church. I think, for instance, of his pointed statement, proclaimed in the liturgy of the word on a recent weekday, that a prominent man in the community should be dismissed from the church because of his sexual immorality.

This is a particularly tough aspect of church teaching in today’s society, where “exclusion,” or “intolerance” is considered the only remaining mortal sin, and where any institution that “marginalizes” or “alienates” people is thought rude and mean.

I have been intrigued by recent commercials by some other churches — very attractively done, by the way — trumpeting their “openness” to everybody, even if, I guess, their beliefs and moral choices are clearly at odds with the teaching of Christ and his Church.

Maybe I’m overly thin-skinned here, but I sense in these advertisements a subtle snub at any church — guess who? — which has well-defined boundaries as to what we believe and how we act.

So, what do we do with this dilemma? On the one hand, all are welcome, as a posture of inclusion and a warm embrace to all is at the soul of who we are as the church. On the other hand, all are not welcome if by their beliefs or conduct they freely choose to separate themselves from the communion of the church.

I propose that it is not an “either-or” matter, but a “both-and.” You bet, all are welcome, and every ounce of our energy should be channeled to a posture of evangelization that truly invites everybody, everywhere, to the church.

But, we ask, all are welcome — but, to what? To a community whose primary task is to call people to a conversion of life to bring our beliefs and actions into conformity with the teachings of Jesus!

We are certainly extraordinarily patient with one another as we sincerely struggle to change our lives in obedience to Christ, and the church offers abundant resources of grace, formation, and mercy to assist us. But we likewise never dilute our teaching just to try to convince people that their actions or beliefs, if clearly contrary to what Jesus taught, are “OK.”

The renowned Irish novelist, James Joyce, commented, “The Catholic Church means ‘here comes everybody’” He’s right. There’s the inclusive, all-embracing, all are welcome side. But, there also has to be a here for them to come. And that here has a clear, cogent tradition of faith and morals, an essential core of its fidelity to its Founder, who is the way, the truth, and the life.