It seems clear to me that we are living through a major paradigm shift in the Catholic Church, and our understanding of religious faith generally. It will be a hundred years or more before the full implications of this are known. But it is now obvious that much of what was meaningful in the past is rapidly losing relevance to a modern, highly educated and assertive people.
Let me take one example: About twenty years ago, when the looming priest shortage was clearly emerging, the Catholic Church authorities had three possible ways of responding to it.
