Predictably, their efforts were met with a fiery response from both the more liberal and conservative wings of the church. Proponents of same-sex marriage, abortion and a more liberal church denounced the conference statements on contraception and homosexuality as muddled and out-of-step with the 21st century; their conservative counterparts chastised the conference for being unorthodox and caving to a secular agenda. But the bishops addressed these issues head on because they see them as central to the problems facing American society today. They have also been sobered by the sexual-abuse scandal that broke out in 2002. American Catholic leaders say they realize that something went terribly wrong in their stewardship and are determined not to allow such shaming of the church to happen again.

As this week's statements show, the difficulties of the past few years have also resulted in an important shift in the mindset of the bishops themselves. This new mindset is more traditional and unafraid to reassert the church's teaching in the face of widespread opposition. The kind of bishop who embraces this traditional point of view believes that many Catholics are enormously confused and that he can no longer sit quietly and let people's commitment to faith  erode. His growing presence in the American episcopacy was made evident this week in the conference votes: the bishops were overwhelming in their support for each statement. "The old guard are passing from the scene," says Russell Shaw, a Catholic writer and former press secretary to the U.S. bishops (he attended all the meetings). "They were hardly heard from at the meeting, they're now in the past and we're entering a whole new era."

Vatican officials, who have sometimes lamented what they consider the spinelessness of American bishops and priests to preach on these issues, are generally pleased with the outcome of the conference. Some particularly welcome the reaffirmation of the church's teaching on homosexuality (that a homosexual person is not considered wholly disordered and retains his or her intrinsic human dignity and value) and its strong condemnation of violence against gay men and lesbians. However, there was some unease at the Vatican that the bishops had singled out homosexuality. Succumbing to “homosexual temptation” is one of many sexual sins, said one Vatican official who asked not to be named, so why not address others as well?

The challenge for the American bishops now is to convince a skeptical flock of Catholics of the rationale behind their teaching. For that, they will have to depend largely on persuading their pastors to bring these statements to the pulpit and the confessional. They may or may not succeed in doing so. But clearly they're going to give it their best shot.