Benedict XVI: The Barque of Peter is Sinking

The Church continues to lament the passing of Cardinal Meisner of Cologne, who was an outspoken opponent of Amoris Laetita which breaks with tradition by allowing divorced and civilly remarried people to receive Communion. Surprisingly, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI sent a letter of tribute to be read at Meisner's funeral on July 15. In the letter he says:

"What particularly impressed me from my last conversations with the now passed Cardinal was the relaxed cheerfulness, the inner joy and the confidence at which he had arrived. We know that this passionate shepherd and pastor found it difficult to leave his post, especially at a time in which the Church stands in particularly pressing need of convincing shepherds who can resist the dictatorship of the spirit of the age and who live and think the faith with determination. However, what moved me all the more was that, in this last period of his life, he learned to let go and to live out of a deep conviction that the Lord does not abandon His Church, even if the boat has taken on so much water as to be on the verge of capsizing."