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"The Church Has Failed To Preach The Gospel And Traditional Morality!" Meanwhile...

Millions of people are kicking down the doors of the Catholic Church, because--get this--they have come to believe that, among other things, the Word made flesh would not sanction the moral and doctrinal laxity that passes for religion in other communities. How excited do you think a convert gets when he finds out that matters of faith and morals will never change, nor will they be subject to a majority vote?

If I may be direct, I don't think we should blame the pastors for any number of failures which are actually evidence for a profound lack of conversion. "If only Francis valued precision like Benedict! Sin abounds because Francis would rather be liked than preach the truth!"

Or our pastors rightly expect that a person with a living relationship with the Holy Trinity doesn't need to be hectored like the basics of morality are a new concept. No one walks away from the Church on account of its teachings? I disagree; I don't think the faithful are the ones who utter the phrase, "Catholic guilt."

I'm all for a clear-eyed assessment of what we're doing right, and what we could improve. That said, I think a lot of people enjoy being armchair bishops. After all, if things will get better when Francis is gone, I don't have to look at myself.
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