For many people today, practical atheism is the normal rule of life...If this attitude becomes a general existential position, then freedom no longer has any standards, then everyting is possible and permissible.
Celibacy is always, shall we say, an affront to what man normally thinks. It is something that can be done, and is only credible, if there is a God and if celibacy is my doorway into the kingdom of God.
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.
Evil too, will always be part of the mystery of the Church. And when we see what men, what the clergy have done in the Church, then that is nothing short of proof that he [Christ] founded and upholds the Church. If she were dependent on men, she would long since have perished.
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.
Let us remember that cynicism is a sin. When we see someone who seems virtuous we had better give them the benefit of the doubt until or unless we find out more about them, and we are not obliged to seek dirt on them without good cause.
It is interesting to note that there were 300,000 people who showed up for Mother Teresa's beatification in 2003 under Pope John Paul II versus only 120,000 for her actual canonisation under Bergoglio in 2016, a full 13 years later in a period in which the clown in chief says that the Church has never been better.
Distinctions Matter
Distinctions Matter Forward
Missale Romanum
Pre-1951 Calendar