Rebels in the Pews

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But a change is coming nonetheless, Bishop Gregory says, "a greater collaborative approach to the issues that we have to face together." As he sees it, it's about "you respecting my office, my respecting your competence, realizing that together we can do an awful lot that neither of us can do apart." If the attitudes change, he suggests, the church can uphold its hierarchical structure while honoring its constituents at every level, for the contribution they make. The challenge will be whether his vision--"a community of mutual respect and interdependence"--will prove acceptable to the basement revolutionaries and the Vatican enforcers at the same time.