Part 3. The Role of the Church. Not surprisingly, with all this fiddling as Rome burns (in a manner of speaking), the influence of the Catholic Church among the faithful is diminishing. So the efforts of conservatives to remain the arbiters of moral guidance may be chasing a lost cause. The ARDA Sixth National Survey…

Part 2. Two competing visions. There are, to a greater or lesser extent, two competing visions of the Catholic Church. The vision of Vatican II, a vision of significant change such as the proposition that the People of God are the Church, not the priests and clerical hierarchy. The competing conservative vision is of a…

Part 1. Top down governance from Rome has brought significant declines in Catholic Church membership, both worldwide and here at home. It has lost its way after shunning its rebirth by Vatican II. Is there hope? Yes, in my humble opinion but it will take time. As many know, Vatican II was an ecumenical council…

From what I saw and what others are saying, it was quite an operation at the Aquinas Newman Center this week when the former Dominican chapel, as it had evolved over 64 years, was re-made into a “traditional” church. The Dominicans are gone, banned by the Archbishop effective Tuesday, and the views of parishioners on…