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.
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.
A civilization inspired by a consumerist, anti-birth mentality is not and cannot ever be a civilization of love.
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.
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.
So DeusExMachina thinks that the firing of some scandalous bloggers has more to do with the realisation by the National Catholic Register that earning a living from a dying gang - what he calls "ZombieChurch" - is a bad business modell.
Distinctions Matter
Distinctions Matter Forward
Missale Romanum
Pre-1951 Calendar