As documented in the preceding two chapters, this study's pro-change Catholics envision a transformed church in which differences empower rather than threaten communal solidarity. For them, integration with the larger Catholic tradition does not demand adherence to a uniform identity. This chapter underlines the point that differences characterize community and do so without necessarily fragmenting communal cohesiveness. I focus both on the pluralism that exists among pro-change Catholics and the commonalities that exist between them and conservative Catholics. The findings will contribute to dispelling three popular assumptions: one, that there is a monolithic pro-change bloc or “culturally progressive” worldview (Hunter 1991: 44); two, that pro-change projects in the church represent a “neo-pagan” sensibility rather than a commitment to core Christian symbols (cf. Bork 1996: 288); and three, that pro-change groups are so culturally disconnected from their conservative coreligionists (cf. Hunter 1991: 86–95; Wuthnow 1988: 133, 218–225) that among Catholics, “polarization” has put the church “in jeopardy.” This chapter's findings will thus further show the complexity of identity and of religion as a meaning system in late modernity.

DIVERSITY AND CULTURAL COHESION

Descriptive statistical data based on the questionnaires completed by Dignity, WOC, and CFFC respondents will highlight differences among the three groups on specific questions of faith, conscience, sexuality, abortion, and other politically controversial questions in American society. This chapter also uses survey data from respondents who are members of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights.