Video of Marvin Olasky Interviewing Me

Comment from a student:  "The Pope is thought to be pretty progressive.  Has he softened the Church’s stance on moral issues?”

Pope Francis believes what the Church has always believed, but I think he may be trying too hard to say it nicely.  The problem is that true love desires our true good.  If what we want isn’t our true good, then what true love wants for us sounds harsh no matter how you put it.  If you overdo the soft words -- “Who am I to judge?” -- people think you have softened the doctrine itself -- “He’s saying it’s not wrong.”

A convert I know from the time of John Paul II’s papacy says that before her conversion, “I asked myself what the true Church would look like.  She would tell the truth, and the whole world would hate her for doing so.  When I looked at the Church, that’s what I saw.”

Tomorrow:  A Dialogue on Natural Law, Part 5 of 10