The weird thing is, Sean, that Catholic congregations in the US are shrinking dramatically, and donations are falling in proportion. Some bishops have openly acknowledged that they have a problem with people leaving the Church over issues like LGBTQ inclusion, women’s rights, and women in leadership positions. In fact, there appear to be several battles raging in the US Church over what to do about the problem.

They apparently don’t have a handle on what to do. Tobin is actually seen to be in the progressive wing of the Church. Hardline bishops don’t care for him or his supposed “liberal stances.” So, what he thought his tweet this morning would accomplish is hard to say.

One devout Catholic I know says that we shouldn’t try too hard to understand. She thinks Tobin sincerely believes what he tweeted, and that he had no underlying motives for his public statement other than to express his Catholic faith.

If that’s the case, I would suppose that unless a new generation of leaders comes along, the Church in much of the US is doomed to continue to shrink to irrelevance.