Has the Catholic Church become too liberal or is it too conservative? Both sides have strong followers and mediation seems impossible. On both sides, conservatives and liberals, I see a genuine desire for Catholic faith to be relevant.

The conservative person values the past. In a time of crisis, such person is able to look back and draw from society’s history wellsprings of wisdom and practice.

The downside is that they fail to realise the seriousness of the change that has occurred within our society. They risk marginalisation because their world view is too far from real life. Most do not want to turn the clock back!

The liberal person values the positive changes in our society. He is able to sift the good endeavours of current society and promote them.

The risk here is to create a personal faith. Christian faith is not a self-built edifice but is based on the actions and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. Different interpretations are possible but they have to remain within a spectrum.

Not all interpretations are acceptable. We cannot go counter to a basic Christian principle and call ourselves Christians.

Humility is important at this point for those who desire to remain Catholics. They are called to live the tension between what they would like and the slow but wisdom-filled discernment of our Church leaders.

Blessed is he who is capable of making both horizons meet. He “is like a householder who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old”. (Mt 13,52)