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.
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.
A civilization inspired by a consumerist, anti-birth mentality is not and cannot ever be a civilization of love.
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.
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.
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.
It is difficult to take Pope Benedict XVI seriously if he really abdicated because he was too frail to attend World Youth Day....Talk about frivolous a reason!
Distinctions Matter
Distinctions Matter Forward
Missale Romanum
Pre-1951 Calendar