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.
“What is perfection in love? Love your enemies in such a way that you would desire to make them your brothers … For so did He love, Who hanging on the Cross, said ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’” (Luke 23:34)
To live without faith, without a patrimony to defend, without a steady struggle for truth – that is not living, but existing.
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.
No one is forced to be a Christian. But no one should be forced to live according to the "new religion" as though it alone were definitive and obligatory for all mankind.
Not unsurprisingly, VoxCantoris takes on Bergoglio's decision to change the catechism and claim that the death penalty is "inadmissible". He brings up all of the main points and I can only agree with his conclusion:
We are alone against the cowards. Half of our shepherds are cowards and the others are wolves. May they repent, lest they are damned.
Distinctions Matter
Distinctions Matter Forward
Missale Romanum
Pre-1951 Calendar