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.
Homosexuality is incompatible with the priestly vocation. Otherwise, celibacy itself would lose its meaning as a renunciation.
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.
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.
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.
I ran out of tags for Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke's tremendously lucid address at the Franciscan University of Steubenville on the Instrumentum Laboris and attempts to reform the annulment process. This was delivered, whether intentionally or co-incidentally, ont he same day that Pope Francis decided to attack marriage through his Motu Proprios regarding changes to the annulment process.
Distinctions Matter
Distinctions Matter Forward
Missale Romanum
Pre-1951 Calendar