Catholic Leaders Sound Alarm At Prayer Breakfast: ‘The Days Of Acceptable Christianity Are Over’

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Despite the bright, warm sunshine outside, a pessimistic fog spread over the Washington Hilton early this morning as the 10th annual National Catholic Prayer Breakfast was underway in the ballroom.

“My message for you today is a somber one,” said Professor Robert George, who lectures on civil liberties at Princeton, to a packed ballroom of Catholics that included failed Virginia gubernatorial hopeful Ken Cuccinelli. “The days of acceptable Christianity are over. The days of comfortable Catholicism are past. …It’s not easy anymore. There are costs to discipleship, heavy costs that are burdensome to bear.”

Soon enough he’d get specific. George stressed that there are “powerful forces and currents in our society that press us to be ashamed of the Gospel. For example, if you believe that marriage is the consensual union between a man and a woman, you’re portrayed as bigoted, even hateful. …If you believe these things, some forces say you are a bigot [who is] against homosexuality [and] you ought to be ashamed.”

Celebrities didn’t fare much better than gays. The Jay-Z’s and Kim Kardashians of the world may want to cover their ears for this, but the keynote speaker, His Eminence Cardinal Sean O’Malley, didn’t hold back on his feelings about celebs. “We live in a world obsessed by celebrities,” he said. “All too often celebrities replace heroines, often they live lives that are superficial and chaotic.”

On a jollier note, O’Malley came with the “warmest of greetings” from Pope Francis. He quickly followed with orders: “If he were here, I’m sure he would [encourage] you to renew the missionary style of the church.” He said Catholics must move from “a maintenance mode to a missionary one. The mission of the church is making disciples.”