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"But I don't recall such saintly people writing after action reports of "where are they now" interests. It's unlike an Apostle or Christian Disciple to boast, "Ya see, I told ya so. You didn't listen, and now look at you. LOOK at YOU!""

I've been on the Catholic ping list of NYer for a couple of weeks now. What I have been seeing is joy that some beginning of the defining of borders of the faith are being set. To defend the faith, the borders must be set. If people undermining the Church are pushed from their positions of influence, that is a good thing and worth noting. I think the power the Church, used wisely and including excommunication, has kept many would be heretics in the fold. I can't recall posts that I would say are way out the bounds of charity toward people like the America magazine editor who are intelligent but use their intelligence to destroy. You may view things different and I don't know the content of the emails you are receiving that you find so offensive. I find nothing so offensive on these threads that I would say rises above a venial sin. :).

"I find nothing so offensive on these threads that I would say rises above a venial sin."

I should hope that you are right. I dearly love the ping list and my concern for Catholic news doesn't diminish. My pastor exclaimed that if we don't use our gifts of the Holy Spirit to unify, then they cease being gifts and our talent only becomes vanity.

In a slim hope, I was hoping that another would have been elected Pope. But since I didn't make the final cut, I won't pout and hold my breadth (that's sarcasm, BTW). The danger of examining contrary opinions too long and too deeply is that we let our ideological (and dare say I, our spiritual) opposites define who we are instead of letting the positive reality define our identity. St Augustine and the early Church had to face infighting and it was beyond vicious. It was very deadly.

Among those senior Church clergy who should have learned well by now, revisiting obvious errors and heresies (like liberalism) is not for the growth of discussion, but eventually a dreaded waste of time. I suffered greatly under the tutelage of liberalism and still carry those scars. Yet, I'd rather let that reconciliation, between my soul and the misguided priests who thought they were being sincere with me, be completely healed. I'm not going to visit them in a confessional and ream them for their spinelessness. Nor am I going to gloat of History's successful "conservative"/ethical/timeless Catholic teaching.

Thus, it's not about "us". It's about Jesus.