Father Z at his blog prints the following:
POWERFUL WORDS TO THE BISHOPS OF THE WORLD!
“In order to avoid conflicts, they let the poison spread.”
“[I]t is true that the Church may never simply align itself with the “Zeitgeist” [spirit of the times]. The Church must address the vices and perils of the time; she must appeal to the consciences of the powerful and of the intellectuals, not to mention of those who want to live narrow-minded, comfortable lives while ignoring the needs of the time, and so forth. As a bishop [of Munich] I felt obliged to face this task. Moreover, the deficits were too obvious: exhaustion of the faith, decline in vocations, lowering of moral standards even among men of the Church, an increasing tendency towards violence, and much else. The words of the Bible and of the Church Fathers rang in my ears, those sharp condemnations of shepherds who are like mute dogs; in order to avoid conflicts, they let the poison spread. Peace is not the first civic duty, and a bishop whose only concern is not to have any problems and to gloss over as many conflicts as possible is an image I find repulsive."
Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger in Salt of the Earth: The Church at the End of the Millennium. An interview with Peter Seewald. (Ignatius Press, 1996, pp. 82-83)
MY COMMENT: WOW! AND THE HOLY FATHER SAID THIS WHEN HE WAS A MERE CARDINAL IN 1996!
2 comments:
All Cardinals should be saying such things. They wear the Scarlett for a reason, it represents the blood they must be willing to shed to defend the Faith. If you ae a Cardinal and are not pissing off Heretics, Secularists, and Modernists, you're not earning your pay.
And Bishops and Clergy should all be exercisng their inner Cardinals at the Diocesean and Parish levels as well. We are called to be Martyrs for the Faith in need. We should be led like it also.
My hero right now is Abp. Chaput, who has distinguished himself by the force of his statements. We need many more like him.
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