It’s Hell, Not the Church

…that is the Fortress. We are the besieging army. The gates of Hell (those are defensive structures since you don’t attack people with gates) shall not prevail. That, in a nutshell, is why the deliberate attempt by some Catholics to a create a ghetto, to suppress evangelization, to resent and fear converts, and to maintain purity by making sure as few people as possible have contact with the sacraments or are acknowledged as “real Catholics” is so wrong-headed. If the Church calls you “Catholic” that’s good enough for me. You may be a bad Catholic, intellectually or morally (aren’t we all?) but the Church is generally willing to risk tares with the wheat and bad fish with the good rather than play it safe and hole up in a Fortress.