This kind of behavior is NOT sanctioned Catholic teaching at any level in the Church but as a member of the faithful, I am left sorting out what my leadership is now saying with some of its recent actions. We may not be able to control the fringe fanatics which exist in every body of organized religion but knowing they are out there and that they can be fed by misinterpretations of our doctrines, we better be sure that we are making every effort to be clear with our words especially when we are authorizing a return to a liturgical form which calls Jews "perfidious" and when we are telling Protestants they can't call themselves churches.

My Roman Catholic Church can say the recent document which calls other Christian denominations wounded and defective is not new teaching but a nuanced and careful clarification meant for the faithful. They can say that their desire is nothing more than a way to clearly define terms so that we can have open communications with "our separated brethren." They can even, as usual, cry foul that the media doesn't have the knowledge to talk about our faith and doesn't offer a fair representation of our positions.

Okay, having read the document as a student of Catholic theology that's all true as far as it goes. But I think their explanations also lack a certain fullness of truth and it's damned unfair for them to wonder why the Protestants might be a little mad about it. The Catholic Church is not just a holy, ethereal body, concerned with the things of God---it's a large political institution with needs to preserve, defend, and spin. Therefore, it's perfectly fair for thinking people to ask why these clarifications came now on the heels of restoring the Latin mass. We have to wonder what it means for the future of the Church and whether those of who question still have a home there or whether we don't get to call ourselves church either.

I'm not smart enough---some would say faithful enough---to figure that out at the moment but I do know that in America where we live with religious diversity in our workplaces and homes everyday, the Catholic Church better start having the conversation with our adult laity as if they are thinking adults. John Allen of the National Catholic Reporter has a great post on this if you're interested in better understanding this trend toward reasserting Catholic identity. If our bishops and priests want a place to start, read it and then get out of the office and go talk to ordinary Catholics about it. Sending out wordy, complicated Church documents which then get reduced to media sound-bites isn't going to do that work for you Men of the Church!