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Spare the rod, spoil the world – according to the Holy Father:

The Church too must use the shepherd’s rod, the rod with which he protects the faith against those who falsify it, against currents which lead the flock astray.

The use of the rod can actually be a service of love. Today we can see that it has nothing to do with love when conduct unworthy of the priestly life is tolerated.

Nor does it have to do with love if heresy is allowed to spread and the faith twisted and chipped away, as if it were something that we ourselves had invented.

- From the papal homily at the end of the year for priests this weekend (the entirety of which is well worth the read)

I could reflect on many things in this short passage, but I want to focus on one: Pope Benedict has highlighted here the connection between laxity of discipline and laxity of orthodoxy.

Therefore, according to the Holy Father, the Church best safeguards herself (and her children) when she is vigilant both about protecting and defending the truths of the Church (i.e., doctrine) and the disciplines of the Church (i.e., punishment of sin, intolerance of evil). Those who criticize the Church for not “cracking down” on her guilty priests ought to also criticize the Church when she does not “cracks down” on her guilty teachers (to put it in imprecise but effective terms). Similarly, those who find fault when the Church disciplines her wayward teachers should realize they are harming the ability of the Church to discipline her wayward pastors.

At the same time, the fullness of the Church involves both promoting virtue and chastity in its priests and lay people, as well as promoting fidelity to the saving teachings of Christ and understanding of those same teachings in the wider world around us.

A holy universal and Catholic church will always be unified by the teachings of Christ and the personal witness of her shepherds.