I don't think Joe should be so concerned about mudcat.org debate on religion. The threads he worries over tend to start with people who have religious faith referring to those without it as being a single entity with similar views. That gets the fun started. .....

I too have concerns over the UK angle and coincidentally a Catholic friend mentioned this at a party last week. Perhaps a paraphrasing (the best I can do thanks to "taking a little wine for thy body's sake) of his take may be useful to the thread.

"This Pope seems very progressive and has corruption in his sights. Examples in the news all the time of dealing with long term issues both financially and morally.   

However. This survey sums the problems he faces up for me. The idea of asking your people then acting on their wishes makes him the servant to the cause. Traditionally, the Pope has been the leader of the cause. Some people have issues with his approach. Mainly due to their own existing power base.

The UK survey questions being an example. If the status quo is reflected in this survey, then the Vatican doesn't know much about your average Catholic in communities wheretthey form a small minority. Other than a couple of large cities, that describes your average member. The impression you are left with is that we are a happy home for clergy who live in the previous century and we will brush aside the celibacy in order to welcome Anglican vicars who refuse to brush aside male dominance. "

I don't have a dog in this race but thought his take, if I have reflected it accurately, to be interesting. I have concerns but they are of the more fundamental "if you live in a country with clear equality laws, debating whether to respect them is ultimately futile. "