The Joy of Punditry
This is my own little contribution to the attempt by half the people alive who are aware of the Pope's exhortation to explain to the other half what it's all about.
A particularly difficult passage is found in n. 94:
This worldliness can be fuelled in two deeply interrelated ways. One
is the attraction of gnosticism, a purely subjective faith whose only interest
is a certain experience or a set of ideas and bits of information which are
meant to console and enlighten, but which ultimately keep one imprisoned in his
or her own thoughts and feelings. The other is the self-absorbed promethean
neopelagianism of those who ultimately trust only in their own powers and feel
superior to others because they observe certain rules or remain intransigently
faithful to a particular Catholic style from the past. A supposed soundness of
doctrine or discipline leads instead to a narcissistic and authoritarian
elitism, whereby instead of evangelizing, one analyzes and classifies others,
and instead of opening the door to grace, one exhausts his or her energies in
inspecting and verifying. In neither case is one really concerned about Jesus
Christ or others. These are manifestations of an anthropocentric immanentism.
It is impossible to think that a genuine evangelizing thrust could emerge from
these adulterated forms of Christianity.
Perhaps a picture will help clarify what Pope Francis is saying about the second way that fuels worldliness: