text: I agree that Catholics need to grow up, but that isn't just about learning to live with conflict. It's also about being liberated from the paternalism that has characterized the hierarchy for most of our history.
  
  Jesus understood how dangerous a paternalistic hierarchy would be and he warned against it, vehemently, in Matthew 23. (Isn't it interesting how those who argue that every utterance from the mouth of Jesus is to be taken literally conveniently forget that chapter?) Yet we ignored that wise warning, and the People of God have been paying for it ever since.
  
  We can no longer sustain the model of a church made up of children constantly needing to defer to their "daddies" for guidance and permission, especially now that our "daddies" are publicly disagreeing with each other. Christianity, in essence, is a religion for adults who understand that the messiness and imperfection of life is part of the cycle of death and resurrection. It's time to reclaim that truth.