I think the Catholic Church has to get out of the business of compelling people to do stuff or not to do stuff. We've reached a point where a significant percentage of the laity are educated and sophisticated enough to make their own decisions. Some have a conservative perspective, some liberal, and many in the middle. If the Catholic Church is to survive, it has to open its doors to all of these perspectives and not force homogenization on Catholics. There's no reason why there can't be some breadth in things so that all can be accommodated. If the next Pope is conservative but is willing to respect and tolerate liberals, that would be a big step forward. I think Benedict almost made that step, but not quite.
-Joe-