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I, too, am disturbed by the network of "allies" the Pope surrounds himself with, who would vehemently disagree with the above Catholic principles.

I'm afraid that these allies are going to start pushing hard on gay marriage as well. Perhaps shame is the wrong word. Distressed is probably better. This not the same church, IMHO, that I was confirmed in just 30 years ago..

It is the same Church. It's had a hefty share of popes who were dumb, naive, incompetent, frail, vacillating, or occasionally evil, but the Church has always survived by the grace of God and the skin of our teeth. Read a bit of history. After the shock passes it tends to steady one.

I heard this anecdote just the other day. After spending the better part of 15 years locked in constant conflict with Pope Pius VII (which included putting the pope in prison), Napoleon Bonaparte told Pius’ adept Secretary of State, Cardinal Consalvi, that he would “crush” the Roman Catholic Church.

The cardinal sighed and shook his head over the emperor’s naivete and answered. "If in 1,800 years we clergy have failed to destroy the Church, do you really think that you'll be able to do it?"