This recent piece by John Allen caught my attention for a few reasons. First of all, the polarization of Catholicism is of grave concern to me. Secondly I have first hand experience of Salt & Light TV; it is one of the great signs of hope for Catholicism in North America. My wife used to answer the phones there and I can assure you that there are people who make Father Rosica’s job of running a station for all Catholics seem like a thankless task. Thirdly, I have had some contact with the Focolare and they are extremely intriguing, combining faithfulness with openness, firm catholic identity with ecumenism and interreligious dialogue, commitment to life issues with genuinely creative social justice initiatives (cf. their economy of communion model referenced in Caritas in Veritate).
And I genuinely believe that, despite our failings and the rancor endemic in the blogosphere, Vox Nova is a place where different kinds of Catholics meet and engage each other genuinely. I know there are shouting matches and personal attacks and ideology. But I also know that many of you, and not just the one’s I always agree with, seem like friends that I could go have a beer with. This is true of both contributors and commenters. Well, except Kyle. He grates on me.
Brett Salkeld is a doctoral student in theology at Regis College in Toronto. He is a father of two (so far) and husband of one.
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