Joe, you are too long with Mudcat to expect threads to have trains of logic, aren't you? We must be glad when we find sporadic streaks.

As for ethicists, I would hope that everyone is an ethicist, in one form or another - we should all consider the effects seriously whenever we make a choice to do something with significant impact. To my mind, we should make our moral decisions with our own logic, taking the guidance of rules and authorities into consideration

Yes, and their arguments in a free discussion.

That, my friends, is the authentic Catholic tradition, no matter what misconceptions of Catholic rules you may have heard.

I read them in the texts you mentioned. You are probably right that those rules / teachings do not play the role in Catholic practice that conservative clergy attach to them.

The pope seems to have realized that, and may be preparing a major reform of the Vatican's doctrine. Yesterday he published a statement - not really sounding clear to me, but journalists suggest that the following passage indicates nothing less than a revocation of the infallibility dogma:

Nor do I believe that the papal magisterium should be expected to offer a definitive or complete word on every question which affects the Church and the world. It is not advisable for the Pope to take the place of local Bishops in the discernment of every issue which arises in their territory. In this sense, I am conscious of the need to promote a sound "decentralization".

If those journalists are right, it will be not 30, but 500 years late, and all the more respectable. (Note that the other major churches have been there for centuries, yet not been able to prevent abuse of power as described by Musket.) Further steps lie ahead, together with the other religions and denominations.

Being an ethicist is as high a qualification as being a scientist - I do not claim either, at expert level. (In fact, what I wrote in this thread seems pretty basic and self-evident to me.) Ethical reasoning must be strong enough to serve as a basis for a better organization of society worldwide, universally accepted, to prevent various disasters. (Using the word "capitalism" is a bad idea, since in 19th-20th century logic, "socialism" is associated.)

That project takes more collective effort than any conventional politics can offer - neither can a conventional revolution, of course. All persons of authority, including but not restricted to religious leaders, will be required to contribute really new practical ideas and convincing arguments, not just patronizing wisdom. Let us see how much the pope has understood.