I know I have said this before, but it bears constant repetition: You cannot fix the world. You can only save it.

Yes, it is possible to make modest improvements to the conditions of the world, and it is possible to improve the lot of some people in some places by your efforts alone. But none of that fixes the world.

It cannot be done, because the condition of the world is fundamentally broken. The best you personally can do is make it run for a couple of minutes, and get it to move forward a few feet before it breaks down again. But you can save the world, and by saving it, cause it to be fixed.

This is what makes groups like VOTF so frustrating. There is only one power in the Roman Catholic Church, and it is neither the Pope nor the College of Cardinals, and it is a profound misunderstanding, not to say heresy, to think it is. Anyone who wants seriously to “keep the faith” would know that. Arguing about who gets to do what and when reduces the physical manifestation of Christ on earth to a petty legislature.

I am on record as being in favor of married clergy. I am biased towards the idea of a female clergy. My opinions on these subjects matter not at all. If the Holy Spirit wants these things, He will find a way to make them occur, and He will not first ask my permission.

Let our focus in the Church please be on nothing more—and especially nothing less—than the saving of souls. The souls of the corrupt priests and corrupted victims require significant attention, and our penance must surely be severe. But they are not the only souls about which we must be concerned.

I could really use some help with mine, for instance, and I imagine yours is in much the same shape. That guy down the street needs some help, too. And the person on the way to work this morning…And the woman who…