I recently heard two talks given by Catholics. One was at a local Faith on Tap event by Dr. Joseph Varacalli. The talk he gave is available at the Catholic Social Scientists website: The Cultural And Political Impotence of Catholics In Contemporary American Life. A quote:

"...herein lies one important incongruity between an orthodox understanding of the faith and the vision of secularists and most present day Catholic “liberationist” and “progressivist” thinkers for whom an all-consuming this-worldly political involvement represents a be-all and end-all of human existence. To the contrary, the reconstruction of society along authentic Christian principles and lines at least compatible with Catholic social thought, while a good in and by itself, nonetheless is not the raison d’etre of the Catholic faith. Rather it is a lesser good; it is both secondary to and derivative of the primary mission of assisting individuals in the quest for eternal salvation. "

The other lecture was on Friday night, and was by Dr. William Donohue of the Catholic League. The speaker who introduced him said "I hope he comes out of his shell and tells us how he really feels" which got a good laugh from the crowd. He spoke on the controversy surrounding Mel Gibson's The Passion of The Christ. He did an excellent job in pointing out the anti-Catholic nature of most of the criticism. He recounted some of the worst examples and then reviewed some of the stories of people, who as a result of viewing the film, turned themselves in for crimes they committed . He did raise the issue of Mel's traditional Catholicism and how that affected some of the controversy. This was something I had hoped would be raised. He also stated he never asked what Mel's exact situation with the Church was. People were able to write questions down after the talk and Dr. Varacalli, who moderated the discussion, then chose the most critical questions for Donohue to answer. I thought the questions were fair and Dr. Donohue did a decent job responding to the questions, although there were time constraints that made it impossible for full, complete answers. Some of the questions and concerns raised by people showed the vast gulf between those Christians and Jews who watched the film, and seemed to see totally different things.