Ironically, nearly all the Catholic Archbishops & Cardinals with spine are in African countries. The US and European ones are mostly wimps, and that includes the “very conservative” ones.
And don’t get me started on Illinois, where the bishops have spine with the EXCEPTION of the Archbishop of Chicago (and that includes when Cardinal George held the position).
Africa is where people are under daily threat from Islam, AIDS, and other nasties. I would imagine Priests NEED spine there. That men without them would not seek the job there.