Opposing Digits

"Stability is the hallmark of the Catholic Church, but there are many reasons, especially the large number of parishioners who are disenchanted with church leadership, that affect how Americans think about and practice Catholicism," says Davidson, whose essays are based on columns he has written for 12 diocesan newspapers, including ones in Indiana, California, Maryland and Utah.

The disenchantment Davidson talks about in his book also exists among New Jersey's Catholics, said Teresa Padovano, member and co-founder of the Northern New Jersey branch of Voice of the Faithful, a Catholic lay reform group.

"Their concerns are with the hierarchy not taking responsibility for the sex abuse business, the way pedophiles are not being supervised, they have lots of questions about finances, they're not finding real financial accountability," she said. "These are problems that they are very concerned about."

# posted by madthumbs @ 9:28 AM