"Life is bad among us, as it is among the papists." Luther

The most recent Vatican quandry and our commentary should be seasoned with Luther's thoughts:

Doctrine and life must be distinguished. Life is bad among us, as it is among the papists, but we don’t fight about life and condemn the papists on that account. Wycliffe and Huss didn’t know this and attacked [the papacy] for its life. I don’t scold myself into becoming good, but I fight over the Word and whether our adversaries teach it in its purity. That doctrine should be attacked—this has never before happened. This is my calling. Others have censured only life, but to treat doctrine is to strike at the most sensitive point, for surely the government and the ministry of the papists are bad. Once we’ve asserted this, it’s easy to say and declare that the life is also bad. When the Word remains pure, then the life (even if there is something lacking in it) can be molded properly. Everything depends on the Word…

LW 54.110.