Ed, I suppose that the main reason I belong to the the Catholic Church is the Mass and the sacraments, which are the essential aspect of the Catholic faith. However, other important reasons are its worldwide union and its history, imperfect though that union and history may be. And I have to say that it is the institutional church, with all its flaws, that has provided the Mass and sacraments; and the faith would have no union or history if it weren't for the institutional church.

You say that many Roman Catholics "have lifestyles that would not be condoned by the RC church." Well, I dunno. I think the church is a lot more tolerant than some belive it to be, just as I think that the thinking and faith of the church is a lot broader than people think. It's the loudmouthed, self-righteous fundamentalists who want to draw the lines so tightly - and to my mind, it's THEY who don't understand what their religion is all about.

As for your questioning whether change can ever take place, given the fact that leadership flows from a caste of leaders - well, Ed, all I can say is that the change takes place by evolution, not by majority vote or by authority structure. The leadership of the Catholic Church has never been very good at affecting change - or at resticting it. The Catholic Church changes when a "critical mass," a "tipping point" is reached. A change can happen very fast when something happens to make it credible. But if people try to force change within the Catholic Church, it doesn't happen. You're looking for an authority structure to affect change, and I'm saying things just don't work that way - for the most part, the Catholic Church evolves. Of course, I think pretty much the same of the United States - despite the best efforts of our politicians and business leaders, most changes in the U.S. come about by evolution.

-Joe-