Family rant. Just ignore.

 This Reuters report compares Catholics who hold to tradition as the same as hard line communists, and Pope Frances as Gorbechev, who is trying to open a moribund institution to new ideas.


The essay mentions the problem of polygamy in Africa, but the way we approached it in Africa was the same as the pre Vatican II catholics approached divorce: You keep going to church and keeping the commandments and rely on the mercy of God.

Or to put it more cynically, as Madam De Montespan once quipped when someone said how could she fast during Lent when being the King's mistress: Well, just because I break one commandment doesn't mean I will break all of them.

Same here.

Just ignore the innocent victims of divorce, because parents are supposed to be free to do their thing. A lot of marriages break up because of financial problems, but more do so from immaturity where drink/drugs/adultery is considered okay by one spouse, while the other spouse tries to keep the kids safe.

Now, if I could only convince that "who am I to judge" doesn't mean it isn't a sin to give Lolo's hard earned money to a conniving mariposo instead of his wife of 20 years...but never mind.

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update: Archbishop Chaput reminds the Vatican (and MSM):

n mastering nature for the purpose of human development, we human beings have wounded our oceans and the air we breathe. We’ve poisoned the human body with contraceptives. And we’ve scrambled the understanding of our own sexuality. In the name of individual fulfillment, we’ve busied ourselves with creating a new Babel of tyranny that feeds our desires but starves the soul.
Paragraphs 7-10 of the Instrumentum did a good job of describing the condition of today’s families. But overall, the text engenders a subtle hopelessness. This leads to a spirit of compromise with certain sinful patterns of life and the reduction of Christian truths about marriage and sexuality to a set of beautiful ideals — which then leads to surrendering the redemptive mission of the Church.
The work of this synod needs to show much more confidence in the Word of God, the transformative power of grace, and the ability of people to actually live what the Church believes. And it should honor the heroism of abandoned spouses who remain faithful to their vows and the teaching of the Church. …
We need to call people to perseverance in grace and to trust in the greatness God intended for them — not confirm them in their errors. Marriage embodies Christian hope – hope made flesh and sealed permanently in the love of a man and a woman.
This synod needs to preach that truth more clearly with the radical passion of the Cross and Resurrection.