I have expressed previously my view that the Catholic Church will tie its future with conservative culture of the southern hemisphere since there are far more people involved than the Catholic population in the West. Furthermore, I have agree with the view that there is no middle ground to much of what is the official Catholic belief system. If the pope were to reverse decisions regarding female clergy or homosexuality, etc., he would lose the vast majority of his followers and, most likely, would not regain any of the more liberal population in the West. For the latter, the opportunity to address these controversial issues when it would make a big difference has passed. For all those who identify with liberal positions, they have come further down the road of spirituality and recognize that one need not identify with a religion, with all its inherent problems, in order to be spiritual.
For the first time, I just read a column that, more or less, agreed with this view, but comes to the point from a totally different perspective. Samuel Gregg happily sees the demise of a more liberal Catholic population as good news. He sees that the Catholic Church will be better off without them. Those who remain want the orthodoxy of the conservative beliefs to be respected and treasured.
I admit that his view ultimately is consistent with mine, except for its assessment of the merits of the outcome.
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