67
projects and are not satisfied simply to do what
they reasonably can. Others, because they lack
the patience to allow processes to mature; they
want everything to fall from heaven. Others, be-
cause they are attached to a few projects or vain
dreams of success. Others, because they have
lost real contract with people and so deperson-
alize their work that they are more concerned
with the road map than with the journey itself.
Others fall into acedia because they are unable to
wait; they want to dominate the rhythm of life.
Todayâs obsession with immediate results makes
it hard for pastoral workers to tolerate anything
that smacks of disagreement, possible failure,
criticism, the cross.
83.âAnd so the biggest threat of all gradually
takes shape: âthe gray pragmatism of the daily
life of the Church, in which all appears to pro-
ceed normally, while in reality faith is wearing
down and degenerating into small-mindednessâ.
63
A tomb psychology thus develops and slowly
transforms Christians into mummies in a muse-
um. Disillusioned with reality, with the Church
and with themselves, they experience a constant
temptation to cling to a faint melancholy, lacking
63
âJ. R
atzinger
,
The Current Situation of Faith and Theology
.
Conference given at the Meeting of Presidents of Latin Amer-
ican Episcopal Commissions for the Doctrine of the Faith,
Guadalajara, Mexico, 1996. Translation in
LâOsservatore Roma-
no
, English Language Edition, 6 November 1996. Cf. F
ifth
G
eneral
C
onference of
the
L
atin
A
merican
and
C
aribbean
B
ishops
,
Aparecida Document
, 29 June 2007, 12.
