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.
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.
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.
A civilization inspired by a consumerist, anti-birth mentality is not and cannot ever be a civilization of love.
I certainly hate to agree with Cardinal Marx on anything but I can do no more than agree with him that Amoris Laetitia is very clear when it comes to the heretical position on Holy Communion for adulterers. Any lack of clarity has been cleared up with Bergoglio stating that "there are no other interpretations" when the question came to him from his native Argentina.
The Bergoglio bug strikes again, this time attacking the Church's, in other words Christ's, teaching on marriage:
Distinctions Matter
Distinctions Matter Forward
Missale Romanum
Pre-1951 Calendar