“The people who are behind the curve of the Catholic future are the institutional-maintenance types.” Quote by George Weigel
“The Germans now seem the primary example of this [institutional-maintenance type] - which is another reason to scratch the head at their seeming determination to force the whole Church to adopt the Catholic Lite approach that has, in a bizarre inversion, emptied German churches of congregants while vastly expanding the German Church's bureaucracies.” ReasonWholeSeemsForceChurchExampleTypeApproachDeterminationCatholicPrimariesBureaucracyBizarreExpandingScratchesSeemingMaintenanceInversions Author:George Weigel
“The pope [Francis] knows that the marriage culture is in crisis throughout the world, and so is the family.” KnowsWorldCultureCrisisPope Author:George Weigel
“[Pope Francis] comes to that conviction [of family crisis] as a pastor, not as Brad Wilcox or Charles Murray. So he wants to challenge the Church to find pastoral responses to that crisis that meet real human needs.” WantNeedsHumansRealChallengesChurchCrisisResponseConvictionPopePastorHuman NeedsBradReal Human Author:George Weigel
“"You don't believe what you read in the papers about anything else; why do you believe it about the pope?" That's where I'd start.” BelievePaperDon't BelievePopePapers Author:George Weigel
“These [conservative] people, if they're Americans, look back on the last 35 years of our ecclesial experience and take heart from that. The dramatic reform of seminaries continues. The priests and bishops who take their pastoral model from John Paul II will continue to do so, perhaps learning a lesson or two from Francis along the way - and they'll be the overwhelming majority of the Church's ordained ministers ten, twenty, thirty years from now.” PeopleIfsWayYearsLooksHeartTwoLastsChurchLessonsTenModelsTwentiesMajorityConservativeReformMinistersDramaticThirtyPriestsOverwhelmingBishopsThirty YearsJohn PaulLearning LessonsJohn Paul Ii Author:George Weigel
“The dynamically orthodox orders of religious women will continue to grow, and the dying orders, which long ago opted for the lightest of Catholic Lite, will continue to die.” LongOrderDiesGrowsReligiousDyingCatholicOrthodoxLong Ago Author:George Weigel
“Younger theologians will continue to pursue and understand truth rather than deconstructing it, as a lot of their elders seemed to want to do.” WantPursueTheologianElders Author:George Weigel
“Vital parishes built on the Bible and the sacraments, committed to evangelizing their neighborhoods, will continue to flourish. The poor will be served, the sick healed, and the dying comforted. None of that is going to change, and I'd wager that it's going to get better.” PoorDyingBuiltSickCommittedGet BetterNeighborhoodSacramentsHealedParishWagers Author:George Weigel
“The Church in the United States turned a corner about three decades ago, and the idea that we're going back to the incoherence of the late Sixties and Seventies is, frankly, silly. Let's have a little faith in what the Holy Spirit has done among us these past 35 years.” YearsLittlesIdeasStatesDonePastSpiritThreeChurchUnitedUnited StatesHolyLateCornersDecadesSillyHoly SpiritSixtySeventiesLittle FaithIncoherenceHave A Little Faith Author:George Weigel
“What I hope my liberal friends (and I have more than a few) take from this pontificate is that mercy and truth are never separable in Catholic pastoral life.” MercyCatholic Author:George Weigel