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Article: The catholic center. (The Public Square).(disagreements in the Catholic Church )(Column)
- Article from:
- First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life
- Article date:
- April 1, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 Institute on Religion and Public Life. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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At the end of last month's installment of this continuing rumination on Catholic trials and tribulations, I spoke of the Catholic center, asserting that 'The center holds." Is that more than a rhetorical ploy? After all, people who take a position generally like to claim that their position constitutes the center. Having taken a stand at the center, one then defines the "extremes," usually described in terms of left and right, liberal and conservative. To be sure, there are minorities who gladly identify themselves as being out of the mainstream and do not blanch at being called extreme. They style themselves revolutionaries or reactionaries, the avant garde or defenders ...