I find it inconceivable that we're meeting for five and a half days, and there isn't one moment on the agenda to deal with the greatest crisis we've ever had in the church since 1789.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Our theology is still in a time of crisis, and I think this will last for some years more.
9/11 allowed us to witness the ordinary face of goodness in the love that those about to die brought with them to work that day. It is fitting that we refer to a large segment of the church year as Ordinary Time because it describes the look of the true faith that, as we read of the Kingdom, is spread about us.
I think what has happened, actually, is that September 11 has given a spur, a renewed urgency, to dialogue between the great faiths.
If we all looked out for each other a little bit more, I think we wouldn't have a lot of the crisis that we have in today's society.
Crisis alone is not enough. There must also be a basis, though it need be neither rational nor ultimately correct, for faith in the particular candidate chosen.
I do feel that federation, loose parallel processes, are less than we've got, less than we could have and, in the very long run, less than what God wants in the Church.
When anyone has the power to destroy the whole human race in a matter of hours, it becomes a moral issue. The church must speak out.
It is an absolutely unique success of the church community to have introduced such an epoch-making change, in just a few years, without having a serious division.
We are scheduled to meet this year fewer days than any Congress since at least 1948. And that is even before I was born. So far, we are in the 123rd day of this year, and yet we have only had 26 voting days in this body. That is a shame.
The imminent demise of the church has been predicted since the middle of the 18th century. This is the regular secular mantra if churchgoing declines. I could take you to plenty of churches that are full to bursting and new churches being built.