“In the end, the Church provided a place for the aesthetics of the late 1960s, but without liberalizing in any other sense. Compared with Episcopalians, say, or Methodists, the Roman Catholic Church’s official stands on other matters changed the least: Neither abortion nor birth control would be approved, and women never became priests.”

“Because Vatican II had given the folkies permission, aesthetic changes were almost entirely decoupled from politics. The hierarchy retained its tight, conservative control on what Roman Catholics were supposed to believe, even as the iconography of liberalism — the sandals, guitars, and hugging — seized the day, easily.”