It has long been known that catholic leaders in the United States (and Rome) are struggling to keep their flock in line. This started with the general acceptance of contraception as an alternative, regardless of what the church's teaching was on the matter (as more than 96% of all American women who are sexually active have used some form of contraception -- including most catholic women). This disagreement over "required" church beliefs has now spread to other areas.
But in an amazing display of not caring what catholics (and Americans in general) want, several high-ranking U.S. catholic leaders have come out against the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). They are Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone (San Francisco), Archbishop William Lori (Baltimore), Archbishop Jose Gomez (Los Angeles), Bishop Kevin Rhoades (Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana), and Bishop Stephen Blaire (Stockton, California).
While an overwhelming portion of the American public (and U.S. catholics) support VAWA, these catholic leaders have decided to oppose it. They think the inclusion of the LGBT community into the protections of VAWA will somehow change gender and sexual identities and make same-sex marriage easier to become accepted. In other words, they are willing to allow the domestic abuse of women so they can protect their own particular brand of bigotry. What makes this particularly ridiculous is the fact that a clear majority of American catholics already support same-sex marriage.
That was shown by a recent survey done by the Quinnipiac University Poll (done between February 27th and March 4th of about 500 catholic adults in the United States -- with a margin of error of about 4.4 points). That poll showed that 54% of U.S. catholics support same-sex marriage, while only 38% now oppose it (clearly exceeding the margin of error of the poll). Like contraception and VAWA, most of the catholic laity is in opposition to the teachings of catholic leadership.
And those aren't the only areas. That same survey shows a difference between the people and their church leaders on several topics. Here are some other questions asked by the poll and their results:
ARE CHURCH LEADERS IN TOUCH OR OUT OF TOUCH WITH U.S. CATHOLICS?
In touch...............40%
Out of touch...............52%
Don't know...............9%
DO YOU THINK THE NEW POPE SHOULD MOVE THE CHURCH IN NEW DIRECTIONS OR MAINTAIN TRADITIONAL CHURCH POSITIONS?
New directions...............55%
Maintain traditions...............38%
Don't know...............7%
SHOULD THE NEW POPE SUPPORT OR OPPOSE ALLOWING PRIESTS TO MARRY?
Support...............62%
Oppose...............30%
Don't know...............8%
SHOULD THE NEW POPE SUPPORT OR OPPOSE ALLOWING WOMEN TO BECOME PRIESTS?
Support...............62%
Oppose...............27%
Don't know...............11%
SHOULD THE NEW POPE ALLOW THE CATHOLIC CLERGY TO RUN FOR AND SERVE IN PUBLIC OFFICE?
Yes...............35%
No...............59%
Don't know...............6%
SHOULD THE NEW POPE RELAX THE CHURCH BAN ON CONTRACEPTION?
Yes...............64%
No...............28%
Don't know...............8%
SHOULD THE NEW POPE DO MORE TO COMBAT SEXUAL ABUSE OF YOUTH BY PRIESTS, OR IS ENOUGH ALREADY BEING DONE?
Should do more...............81%
Doing enough now...............13%
Don't know...............6%
DO YOU SUPPORT OR OPPOSE REQUIRING INSURANCE COMPANIES TO PAY FOR CONTRACEPTION SERVICES, EVEN WHEN OPPOSED BY CATHOLIC UNIVERSITIES AND HOSPITALS?
Support...............51%
Oppose...............41%
Don't know...............8%
As you can see, there is a significant difference between what catholic leaders support and what the American catholic laity supports. And it is unlikely that either of those groups will change anytime soon. In fact, I expect the number of catholic laity disagreeing with the teachings of church will only grow in the future (since they are having to choose between the equality guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and the bigotry of archaic catholic doctrines).
The real question is how long this disconnect between clergy and laity can continue before it tears the church apart, or renders it superfluous in the developed world (with an ever decreasing membership)? Is it even possible for the catholic church to bring its teachings and doctrine to be more in line with 21st century thought, or is this the beginning of the end for the church?