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.
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.
To live without faith, without a patrimony to defend, without a steady struggle for truth – that is not living, but existing.
The Eucharist is "the source and summit of the Christian life."
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.
Unlike VoxCantoris, I would argue Bergoglio is far from deluded when he says:
The Church is not falling to pieces. It has never been better. This is a wonderful moment for the Church, you just need to look at its history.
For the record, it is not the first time that Bergoglio has said that.
By now no believing Christian can claim that Bergoglio is unwillfully attempting to destroy the Catholic Church.
If we try to follow Christ we had better get used to being thrown under the bus, as this commenter to the piece reporting on Bergoglio's latest scandalous appointments makes clear:
Distinctions Matter
Distinctions Matter Forward
Missale Romanum
Pre-1951 Calendar