To live without faith, without a patrimony to defend, without a steady struggle for truth – that is not living, but existing.
That Christianity gives joy and breadth is also a thread that runs through my whole life. Ultimately someone who is always only in opposition could not endure life at all.
A civilization inspired by a consumerist, anti-birth mentality is not and cannot ever be a civilization of love.
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.
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.
Honestly, I'll bake you a cake if you can make sense of what Bergoglio is trying to say in his speech on decommissioning churches, i.e., closing them because NOChurch has chased people away from the faith.
Distinctions Matter
Distinctions Matter Forward
Missale Romanum
Pre-1951 Calendar