First, confusion was sown in the field of ideas. […] Then, after having sown confusion about the Faith, the foundation of everything, morality was attacked so as to render the norm null and void and give freedom of expression to every human act.At this point, exterior elements that “held together the ecclesiastical structure of the Clergy” were attacked with whimsical confusion in innumerable cultural events: the religious habit, seminaries ... . Then, in place of Heaven, the idea of a sociological paradise on earth was introduced, of a “perennial revolution” instead of peace, and symbolic value was given to the worship of a Lord, by this time, confined to the mist.Priestly celibacy was attacked, even by teachers, ignoring that the Church had never been able to better and lead the people there where celibacy was abolished. The latest and ongoing discovery: discussing matters that are defined, as if they were not, as if they were not from Jesus Christ Himself. Not everyone has arrived at this level, many have retreated behind the lines without realizing the consequences of the intermediate states. Others, at the same pace, have skipped everything and everyone. Nevertheless, we still have the people, who are good and whom God is evidently looking after.Slogans abound, while catechism is not taught; “pastoral” is continually mentioned, while sacred ministries are gradually abandoned; there is talk of the Word of God - yet it is taught as if it were all a fairy tale. There are dissertations about closeness with God, while at the same time the Most Blessed Eucharist is mocked or ridiculed. At least in practice. And all of this is progress!
[Thoughts of Cardinal Giuseppe Siri from the "Rivista Diocesana Genovese", January 1975 - Italian excerpt posted by the Cordialiter blog - tip and translation: Contributor Francesca Romana]
