"Straddling Liberalism and Conservatism"

Readers might be interested in this profile in the New York Times of Fr. Benedict Groeschel.  A bit:

The church’s views on issues like abortion and homosexuality put Father Groeschel on the opposite side of the political spectrum from many who support his work for social justice.

“I used to be a liberal, if liberal means concern for the other guy,” Father Groeschel said. “Now I consider myself a conservative-liberal-traditional-radical-confused person.”

His old friend Mrs. O’Keeffe doesn’t see any contradiction.

“If you knew the man all along, you just see a human being developing from one place to another,” she said. “His basic simplicity, intelligence and love of people has never changed. He’s still clothing the poor and feeding the hungry.”

A minor complaint:  Do we have be hear, yet again, about Pope John Paul II's "strict faith"?  Is that even close to being the best, even a fitting, word to describe it?