That Pope Francis letter about divorced couples and the Sacraments

As kicked around by Ross Douthat.  I saw this story a few days back when it first broke.  The MSM take was the usual ‘Francis pushes Church toward a liberal paradise.’  Catholic outlets  preferred cautioned, insisting Francis isn’t changing anything.  He’s, well, you know, sort of doing what Mr. Douthat says.  On one hand, not changing anything.  On the other hand, making it clear that if the Church keeps going along its current trajectory, it won’t have to change anything.  Which is something I observed earlier this year.

I realize that for some, Pope Francis is simply awesome.  Period.  Anything short of affirming this observation and you don’t care about the Church, Jesus, or the Magisterium.  I know this because in certain corners of the Catholic blogosphere, that is what I was told when I questioned a few things Francis had to say, or how he said it.  Others, however, seem to notice an ongoing trend that doesn’t make declaring Francis’s awesomeness the answer to these questions.