This past August, two men sat and quietly discussed major issues facing the world and the Church. Rev. Antonio Spadaro and Pope Francis. The one, the editor of La Civilta Cattolica, a Jesuit journal based in Rome; the other, the head of the Catholic Church, the world’s largest Christian Church. On September 19, 2013, their thought-provoking and engaging conversations ignited a media explosion. The New York Times headlined their story: “Pope Says Church Is ‘Obsessed’ With Gays, Abortion and Birth Control.”

According to recent statistics published by the Pew Research Center, the numbers of individuals not affiliated with any church are growing rapidly. One-fifth of all those surveyed and one-third of adults under thirty claim not to be connected with any particular church. Various polling organizations have also discovered that Catholic students know less about religion than any other group.

Cluttered Complexity! That’s our world today. TVs with hundreds of options. Phones that double as cameras, web cams or notebooks. Blenders that cook. So many gadgets that are meant to simplify life, yet are complex themselves. Even the directions on medicine bottles, tax forms, vacation club memberships require more than a quick once-through reading.