Thanks, Anon. Maybe I'll just use my hands when I write....

There is a discernible timidity in today's church that has reduced the radical gospel to mildly-worded objections that make the bishops feel good, but neither offend nor affect the intended parties.

In Italy, we voice our objections through "lo sciopero generale" -- a general strike that lasts a day or two, but gets everyone's attention and puts the government on notice that certain things will not be tolerated. If you've been in Rome during a strike, you know it's a pain in the nether regions, but strikes work and pastoral letters don't. The Catholic Church is fully capable of responding to any governmental violation of human rights by calling a limited strike that would temporarily cripple much of the affected region. If Catholics walked out of schools, hospitals, and social service agencies for one day, and if they were accompanied by sympathetic Catholic who walked off their jobs, maybe we wouldn't have boring meetings.