Hope amidst the problems

As you read this letter you cannot help but sense the hope that belies the Pope's presentation. It is much like a parent's confidence in their child's goodness despite their outlandish behavior at times. The comments on how there is a failure to pass the faith on to our children resonated with my own personal life and experiences. There is a hint of the Pope's South American origins in his list of deficiencies in some Catholics, but the presence of these problems throughout the world can not be denied.

Challenges to inculturating the faith
68. The Christian substratum of certain peoples – most of all in the West – is a living reality. Here we find, especially among the most needy, a moral resource which preserves the values of an authentic Christian humanism. Seeing reality with the eyes of faith, we cannot fail to acknowledge what the Holy Spirit is sowing. ... The immense importance of a culture marked by faith cannot be overlooked; before the onslaught of contemporary secularism an evangelized culture, for all its limits, has many more resources than the mere sum total of believers.

69. It is imperative to evangelize cultures in order to inculturate the Gospel. ... We must keep in mind, however, that we are constantly being called to grow. ... Each culture and social group needs purification and growth. In the case of the popular cultures of Catholic peoples, we can see deficiencies which need to be healed by the Gospel: machismo, alcoholism, domestic violence, low Mass attendance, fatalistic or superstitious notions which lead to sorcery, and the like....

70. It is also true that at times greater emphasis is placed on the outward expressions and traditions of some groups, or on alleged private revelations which would replace all else, than on the impulse of Christian piety.  ... Some people promote these expressions while not being in the least concerned with the advancement of society or the formation of the laity .... Nor can we overlook the fact that in recent decades there has been a breakdown in the way Catholics pass down the Christian faith to the young. It is undeniable that many people feel disillusioned and no longer identify with the Catholic tradition. Growing numbers of parents do not bring their children for baptism or teach them how to pray. There is also a certain exodus towards other faith communities. The causes of this breakdown include: a lack of opportunity for dialogue in families, the influence of the communications media, a relativistic subjec- tivism, unbridled consumerism which feeds the market, lack of pastoral care among the poor, the failure of our institutions to be welcoming, and our difficulty in restoring a mystical adherence to the faith in a pluralistic religious landscape