@Pseudodionysius: Well - I didn't want to go through every single aspect, but I was hoping that Mr. Rahe would have at least mention something about that Council, because it was really was jet fuel of the fire of liberalism that led to the "smoke of Satan" (as Paul VI said) being injected into the Church.

Mr. Rahe,

Absolutely brillant piece, but you skipped over one critical piece of history that really amped up the problems: The Second Vatican Council from 1962-1965. The Council unleashed an even bigger genie of liberalism into the church, especially here in America due to the liberal bishops taking the ambiguous documents that came from the Council, and interjecting more social justice into the church. If you would like to know more information, I would gladly contribute. (just to prevent you from having to pour through mountains of documents from the Council)