Oh if only that were true!
Dowd's biggest self-contradiction here is that she advocates "grayness" in virtually all areas of the faith. She's right to criticize the waffling and dishonest application of standards in the American cardinals and bishops. But her remedy seems to be to shift their waffling into areas where she'd like to see it, rather than to return to a firm moral standard in ALL areas.
The cardinals chose defiance over deference to the expectations of their devastated flock, which thought that celibacy, women priests and married priests might be discussed.
She is incapable of understanding that these "remedies" will exacerbate the current homosexual problem in the Church.
I skimmed her article (thats as much time as I can devote to her silly screeds with getting sick to my stomach) and noticed that she did not touch on the "root cause" of the problem - homosexuality in the priesthood. Rather, she goes out of her way to talk about her Catholic homosexual friends!
I dare say the overwhelming majority of Catholics do not have homosexuals whom they consider friends! They know some, to be sure and some may even be family relatives but to say they are amongst one's circle of friends is outlandish - except for Dowd and her ilk.