Some of the comments to the above article

Some of the comments to the above article:
Posted by: FrMatthewG - 2011 9:16 AM ET USA

Well said. All too often I run into people (both laity and clergy) who self-identify as Catholics, and yet dissent on important Catholic teachings. As a priest, this makes my duty of guiding souls in the truth much more difficult. I can tell people what the truth is, but if other priests and theologians "in good standing" say the opposite, it makes people think that it all depends on your personal point of view...

Posted by: jimgrum697380 - 2011 10:57 PM ET USA

Pope Pius X on Modernists: "...thinking not at all of finding some solid foundation of truth, but despising the holy and apostolic traditions, they embrace other vain, futile, uncertain doctrines, condemned by the Church, on which, in the height of their vanity, they think they can rest and maintain truth itself." Many of the bishops themselves were educated at some point by questionable theologians. Good luck in attempting to exclude them now. It might be easier to start from scratch.

Posted by: Cornelius - 2011 2:55 PM ET USA
Some of this failure to rule may be attributed to the idea that error need not be combated - the mere presentation of truth will vanquish it. Was this a legacy of Vatican II and Pope John XXIII? I believe so. But aside from the sheer naivete of this view on its own merits, the idea gained traction that even the presentation of the truth was too aggressive. Someone might feel excluded or offended. So the Bishops made 'happy talk'(ala Lisante)fine and dandy, we're all going to heaven.hurrah