The pontiff’s opening words on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica in 2013 noted:
“My hope is that this journey of the Church that we begin today…be fruitful for the evangelization of this beautiful city.”
What has this evangelization wrought in a decade but decadence and a concrete movement toward old-fashioned modernism! The audacious hierarchy of Rome brought all the fruits you would expect of a fallen man playing the role of vicar of Christ on earth. The man who came to power to strengthen human bonds is now eagerly dissolving the very fabric of society established in Eden.
Romanism will enter into the most challenging chapter of its history with a declining population (even in South America, the home of Francis) and a growing apathy to traditional forms. The Catholic Charismatics was an attempt to preserve the Church amid a changing demographic in the 60’s, but now what will become of a Church that claims dogmatic authority led by a pope playing out his socialist and progressive schemes before an ever-changing society? There is no certainty this transition is the last among a wildly revolutionary play on sexual ethics. The Church that prided itself in theological stability and coherence through centuries is now plagued by its own ecclesiology.
Conservative bodies need to be prepared to absorb this hungry generation of Roman Catholics who have observed dogma and tradition faithfully after Vatican II but now will look to find refuge somewhere where creational norms of sexuality have not evolved with time.
I believe the conservative Protestant tradition–especially among the Reformed and Lutheran–must be prepared to educate a massively illiterate Catholic population. Only the Bible and the vast Reformational tradition can provide that security; only the Scriptures can be the source of evangelization.
