Laurie Goodstein

The sanctions — essentially limiting the Episcopal Church’s participation in Anglican Communion affairs — do not call for any change in policy by the American church..

The meeting has exposed deep fault lines between traditionalists focused on shoring up doctrine, and those who want the church to be more open to Catholics who are divorced, gay, unmarried with children or cohabiting.

The Roman Catholic Church that Pope Francis will encounter on his first visit to the United States is being buffeted by immense change, and it is struggling — with integrating a new generation of immigrants, with conflicts over buildings and resources, with recruiting priests and with retaining congregants. The denomination is still the largest in the United States, but its power base is shifting.