Pope Bill I & Gorbachev II

Just in case you missed it, and are like more than a few people concerned or interested in the future of the Roman Catholic Church, Bill Moyers on PBS last night provided viewers with a sure-fire path to a secure future: married priests and women priests. If both of these things were allowed by the hierarchy, Moyers assured worried Catholics and other viewers, the Catholic Church would become "an unstoppable force."

Unstoppable? I waited for him to go on and say, "As in, like, the gates of hell wouldn't be able to prevail against it." But he didn't. Married priests and women priests (and, one assume, female bishops and--popes!)--these are the keys to the future unstoppable kingdom.

Pope Bill I's guest, James Carroll, author of Constantine's Sword: The Church and the Jews, couldn't wait to pontificate with Mr. Moyers. He said he used to hope for a pope who would be a liberal, like John XXIII. Now, he assured us, he would be happy with a pope who is the Gorbachev of the Catholic Church and simply preside over the collapse of its outdated structure. Carroll, by the way, also wrote a book called  When Jesus Became God: The Struggle to Define Christianity During the Last Days of Rome. I think he wishes the Last Days of Rome to come around again.

Touchstone's Editor David Mills, by the way, has written an insightful feature article for the June issue in which he engages this sort of liberal media coverage of Catholicism, especially as it "reported on" the legacy of John Paul II. You won't want to miss the June issue, which you can get by subscribing right here.