Feud for thought. (editor's note).

Talking on the phone with my mother recently, I mentioned a conflict U.S. CATHOLIC had experienced in connection with a couple of controversial articles we had run. I had just explained to her how I had pushed for a strong stance in favor of an open and frank discussion when in response, and quite out of the blue, came one of those loaded mother statements: "Yeah, Meinrad, the older you get the more you become like your father!" (Big sigh.) My father's tendency to speak his mind publicly, and also occasionally to overshoot--both in his writings and in public forums, particularly on political issues--was often hard for my mother to take. Getting along with others and keeping the peace ranked higher on her list of priorities.

Finding the right balance between speaking out forcefully on issues we feel strongly about while remaining respectful of others and engaging them in true dialogue is often a difficult task, especially in a church that does not always value open and frank discussion. To some Catholics, questioning any church statement or action is tantamount to high treason. "Your 40 years of evil pleasure will come to an end soon," a recent entry from our long list of thoughtful anonymous letters promises the U.S. CATHOLIC staff. "God will triumph. Your satanic plot will be destroyed." Topping other frequently voiced, helpful suggestions to rename our magazine U.S. Protestant or U.S. Heretic, this letter writer recommends the name U.S. Satan. (Where is Dana Carvey's "Church Lady" when you need her: "Could it be ...?")

But while such extreme voices exist in our church, there is also a broad common ground on which we Catholics can meet and enter into constructive dialogue with each other. Just last night, along with several thousand other Catholics, I attended one of 38 public forums held around the Chicago archdiocese to gather input for handling the clergy sexual-abuse crisis. Listening to speaker after speaker take their couple of minutes at the mike, I was on the one hand impressed with and encouraged by the wisdom, the heart, and the common sense of ordinary Catholics and on the other hand saddened by how unusual it still is in our church to tap into this "sense of the faithful."

This month's cover story, "Catholic family feud: Can we find common ground?" (pages 12-17), is our interview with church historian R. Scott Appleby, who shares what he has learned from his six-year involvement with the Catholic Common Ground Initiative and comments on the fallout from the sexual-abuse crisis. Alice Camille and Joel Schorn ("Laity on the line," pages 29-31) take a closer look at the continuing tug-of-war between clergy and laity, and Heidi Schlumpf ("Power plays," page 50) and Celeste Arbogast ("A recipe for reform?" pages 41-42) provide a much-needed woman's perspective on reforming the church.