To live without faith, without a patrimony to defend, without a steady struggle for truth – that is not living, but existing.
“If you believe what you like in the Gospels, and reject what you don’t like, it is not the Gospel you believe, but yourself.”
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.
Homosexuality is incompatible with the priestly vocation. Otherwise, celibacy itself would lose its meaning as a renunciation.
It is sad that there are what you might call professional Catholics who make a living on their Catholicism, but in whom the spring of faith flows only faintly, in a few scattered drops. We must really make an effort to change this.
Lest anyone think that I am alone in bemoaning the attempts of some to create a false dichotomy between evangelisation and proselitysm - and I would in many cases argue, a false distinction altogether -, Steve Skojec makes a similar point:
The story that Pope Benedict resigned because he could not travel by plane certainly has a lot of legs left in it. Without a doubt it will occupy theologians for a long time to come.
Distinctions Matter
Distinctions Matter Forward
Missale Romanum
Pre-1951 Calendar