Weak priests are the Church's greatest enemy

I'd say the problem is weak people in general.

Next on Oprah:

Weak priests -- and the weak bishops who enable them.

The cardinal's remarks sound right on target. A major reason we have weak priests in the US is because we have secularized and often morally dissipated seminaries. Whether this is true in Peru or not, I don't know.

But if seminarians--like several I know--are being browbeaten by Biblical Studies professors not to believe we can really know the meanings of Sacred Text, and told that it's "fundamentalist" to believe we can derive the natural moral law from Scripture, many will have weakened faith.

Their lack of confidence in the text will show in the pulpit--and they will be weak preachers who can't communicate the living Christian faith and the natural moral law that is a necessary part of Christian life and salvation.

And as the Cardinal notes, when the faithful are already wavering under the pressure of a secular society, that's one less rock they have to depend upon. I agree, Eric, that weak people in general are a big problem, but within the Church it is crucial to the health of the Body of Christ on Earth that priests preach the faith confidently and accurately.