[AskStPhilomena]

While bishops and priests are buggering altar boys and seminarians in nearly every diocese around the world, what do you think the holy father is doing?
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apeurope_story.asp?category=1103&slug=Poland%20Pope%20Book
This brings back memories of the emperor Nero, who fiddled while Rome burned. Nero's last words which were "Qualis artifex pereo" (loosely translated "What a loss I shall be to the arts") are possibly also relevant to the current pontificate.

[livius]

Actually, I think the Pope may have realized - a little too late, as Pope Paul VI saw the smoke of Satan a little too late - that he hasn't done enough. I think he has an excessive devotion to "collegiality" and an almost naive faith in the goodwill of other bishops, particularly liberal ones. Or maybe I should say "had," because it seems to me that he has recently been attempting to correct this.

Better late than never. God will judge, but I would have preferred a Pope who spent less time trying to synthesize the writings of phenomenologists and personalists, and more time exercising a bit of authority.

However, it may not be too late. We have had a number of good bishops appointed (including to my diocese), so I am trying to be positive about this. The interesting thing is that with the new bishop, a lot of priests I had thought to be liberal flakes have suddenly emerged as orthodox, are starting Benediction with Exposition, devotion to the Sacred Heart, First Fridays, etc.

[broadsword]

Oh, another new book, while the Church crumbles down onto the bodies of the thousands of souls destroyed by the lavender liberal modernist new-age clergy.

A book about an interesting conversation. Well, what could possibly take precedence over that?

Children butt-raped by the special, gentle lavender priests of Sodom and Gomorrah? Eh? What? Well, so what? Have you heard my latest poem? Poetry is, after all, the primary duty of the Vicar of Christ.

Catholics do not believe in the real presence? They abort, divorce, contracept and shack up at the same rate as the pagans and atheists around them? Big deal! You know, I had this most interesting conversation back in the eighties. Wanna hear about it?

Suppress heresy among my clergy? Protect Catholic children from predators? Why? That would seem mean and overbearing.

Restore unity, reverence and dignity to the Mass? You sound like one of those eeeeeevil Catholic traditionalists! On you, I will bring the hammer down!