During the recent papal events, I did a bit of media and overall was impressed by the decent coverage. Then again, there were always a few "dissenters" who were paraded - and I do mean paraded. As I watched John Paul II's funeral, I couldn't help but wonder, "Where are the dissenters? Where is the division?" 3 billion people tuned in for the funeral - millions visited Rome. Is this the way people respond to someone (or some institution) with which they strongly disagree? By and large (& when polled fairly), many Catholics seem to be reasonably content with the Church and her teachings.

This experience was only confirmed after The Washington Post asked me to write a piece on Benedict XVI and women in the Church. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11128-2005Apr23.html I expected a lot of unfavorable responses. Instead, I received many encouraging emails from Catholics (& some non-Catholics) who are people happy with the core teachings of the Church and who are happy to see those teachings enunciated.

Perhaps this is an isolated event, but I'll take heart from it nonetheless;) After all, here in Washington, DC, we know that letter/emails/faxes actually sent count for a lot more than those that weren't.