Timothy Radcliffe on discernment:

Why go? If it is to find a safer haven, a less corrupt Church, then I think that you will be disappointed. I too long for more transparent government, more open debate, but the Churchs secrecy is understandable, and sometimes necessary. To understand is not always to condone, but necessary if we are to act justly.Why stay? I must lay my cards on the table; even if the Church were obviously worse than other Churches, I still would not go. I am not a Catholic because our Church is the best, or even because I like Catholicism. I do love much about my Church but there are aspects of it which I dislike. I am not a Catholic because of a consumer option for an ecclesiastical Waitrose rather than Tesco, but because I believe that it embodies something which is essential to the Christian witness to the Resurrection, visible unity.

From the current Tablet (with thanks to RM).

Robert P. Imbelli, a priest of the Archdiocese of New York, is a longtime Commonweal contributor.

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