Many fallen-away Catholics I think are mistaken to be liberal Catholics, because of the doctrines they oppose. But the two men I met recently would be best described as wounded men who are lashing out at anyone who would question or challenge their divorces, or get them to face the damage they've caused, as a first step toward healing.
The one, call him David, was raised by "devout" Catholic parents, but he fell away from the practice of the faith, married, had kids, divorced, and remarried. Somewhere in there he hit bottom, realized he needed faith, and came back through the fundamentalist door. Now it is almost impossible to have a reasoned discussion with him about faith. The elephant in the room is his divorce.
For the other one, call him Thomas, it was the other way around. Raised by shall we say flexible parents on the West Coast, he never really absorbed the faith. He married, had kids, and his wife left him for another man. They divorced, and now he has a live-in girlfriend. Now he thinks the Church is all about politics and capitalism.
Talking faith just yet with these men doesn't seem to be the way. Being their friends does.
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