It is sad that there are what you might call professional Catholics who make a living on their Catholicism, but in whom the spring of faith flows only faintly, in a few scattered drops. We must really make an effort to change this.
Certainly, it is difficult to make the demands of the Gospel understandable to secularized people. But this pastoral difficulty must not lead to compromises with the truth.
One can readily admit that the Magisterium's manner of expression does not seem very easy to understand at times. It needs to be translated by preachers and catechists into a language which relates to people and to their respective cultural environments. The essential content of the Church's teaching, however, must be upheld in this process. It must not be watered down on allegedly pastoral grounds, because it communicates the revealed truth.
“If you believe what you like in the Gospels, and reject what you don’t like, it is not the Gospel you believe, but yourself.”
Assuredly, the word of truth can be painful and uncomfortable. But it is the way to holiness, to peace, and to inner freedom. A pastoral approach which truly wants to help the people concerned must always be grounded in the truth. In the end, only the truth can be pastoral.
I suppose there can hardly be any more validation of Cardinal Sarah's observation on silence, wherein he states that
God is silence, and the devil is noisy
than to remember that Bergoglio is always talking, whereas his predecessor who tried to draw people to God, was frequently silent.
I must admit that I found it almost humorous to see Steve Skoject of all people titling a piece "Papal Letter Appearing to Support Communion for Divorced & Remarried Emerges".
I kind of feel the same way as Mundabor on Bergoglio's cringeworthiness:
This man is so toxic, we will soon need to be exorcised just for writing his name on a blog post.
There is no enemy of the Church that Bergoglio will not praise - at least I have not been able to come across one yet, and apparently, neither has he.
The story that Pope Benedict resigned because he could not travel by plane certainly has a lot of legs left in it. Without a doubt it will occupy theologians for a long time to come.
Distinctions Matter
Distinctions Matter Forward
Missale Romanum
Pre-1951 Calendar