It’s hard not to see the crisis in the Church as providential in many ways. What would the Church look like if the style of the pontificate of Ven. Pius XII had continued for the next 70 years? There still would have been major liturgical reforms (as many know, the liturgical reforms began under Ven. Pius XII—or even under St. Pius X if you include the breviary). The penitential seasons would have continued in free fall (as they had already begun in the late medieval period and accelerated in the 18th century). Moral theology would have continued to grow lax. The veneer would be different, but the essential problems that have plagued the Church over the last few centuries would lie hidden. Isn’t it better for the problems to show themselves so they can be removed once and for all? Can’t we have hope in God during these times? Do we not have the promises of indefectibility?

Conciliarism infused its deadly poison into the Church for centuries before the Reformation. Cardinals, theologians, bishops, and even saints were infected with it. It took two of the greatest humiliations in the history of the Church for it to be eradicated: the Great Western Schism and the Reformation. Yet was it not in response to this that papalism and the great reforms of Trent were strengthened? What if there had been Innocent III–style papacies for the next few centuries? The veneer would remain, but so would the poison.

We need crises in the Church to purify her. Rejoice and have hope.