The Times They Are A-Changin’, by Stephen P. White

The words we use to describe our politics and parties – liberal, conservative, etc. – don’t always translate very well into ecclesial life. They don’t always translate, but they sometimes do, or nearly do, which makes their application to the Church tantalizing, even as it leads to problems and confusion along the way. “Liberal” and “conservative” are convenient handles for describing, say, certain prominent modes of interpretation of the Second Vatican Council. But they are also, usually, relative terms that require context: Liberal in what regard? Conservative compared to what?

My EPPC colleague, Brad Littlejohn, recently made an interesting point along these same lines. “For the more than five decades since,” he writes, “conservatives have continued to appeal to what they felt sure was that silent majority, a median-voter demographic that didn’t like abortion, didn’t like same-sex marriage, and was ready to join them in opposing the ‘woke elites.’” …

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