especially at the national level, it was clear it was not about keeping the faith and changing the church, but trying to change the faith of the Church,” Father Landry said. “And as things have settled over the course of the last few years, that strain of Voice of the Faithful has triumphed, and many of the people who came in to try to bring greater accountability to the church have left.”

Voice of the Faithful’s trademarked slogan is “Keep the Faith, Change the Church.”

Father Landry said that Voice of the Faithful’s leaders initially sought to disguise their dissenting perspectives in order to win support from mainstream Catholics. But more recently they have been less cautious about concealing their agendas.

Said Father Landry, “I think now they realize it’s going to be hard to attract those ordinary Catholics again, and their true colors are starting to appear.”

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Voices of the truly faithful

A group calling itself “Voice of the Faithful” was formed to “change the church” but its numbers are flagging.

Meanwhile, 30 U.S. Catholic men’s conferences energetically defending the church attracted thousands in 2006:

- Boston, Mass., 5,200.

- Detroit, Mich., 3,500.

- Cincinnati, Ohio, 3,200.

- Pittsburgh, Pa., 1,400.

- Worcester, Mass., 1,200.

Worldwide, the biggest gatherings in the history of humanity have been at World Youth Days with the pope:

- 1995, Manila, 5 million.

- 1997, Paris, 1.2 million.

- 2000, Rome, 2 million.

- 2002, Toronto, 800,000.

- 2005, Cologne, 1.2 million.

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Tom McFeely, based in Victoria, B.C., Canada, is a contributing editor of National Catholic Register.