Bishops who favor a more open, dialogical Church continue to speak out. Two recent examples come from Milan and from Rochester, N.Y.

Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini of Milan, Italy, often mentioned as a possible future pope, spoke at Harvard Divinity School Feb. 26 about the millennium as a time of hope, not fear. He cited three progressive churchmen -- Joseph Bernardin, Henri Nouwen, and Rembert Weakland -- as the inspiration for his talk. Asked about qualities needed in John Paul II's successor, he said the next pope will need to make "a great effort for the unity of all Christians," and show special concern for the poor and for "the problem of ministry."

Bishop Matthew Clark of Rochester, N.Y., in an article in New Theology Review last August and in follow-up press interviews last fall, called for the Church to bring lay people into the process of selecting bishops, and into formulation of church teaching on such issues as marriage and divorce, human sexuality and married priests. The Church needs unity, but not uniformity, he said. If a policy such as priestly celibacy does not affect the unity of the worldwide church, why shouldn't bishops have discretion, he asked. "How can a local bishop faithfully serve the people of God," he wrote, "when in his and in their judgment our insistence on priestly celibacy has resulted in a dearth of vocations?"