I spent the better part of last week at a conference at Georgetown University dedicated to overcoming polarization. We didn't achieve that goal. But we sure walked out of there knowing some new people and perspectives.

There were a few powerful moments, among them one involving Princeton professor Robert P. George and Father James Martin, of the Jesuit magazine America. The two men have some disagreements, and important ones, too, on some significant issues of our time. For lack of a better way to put it, they probably fall on different sides of the political spectrum. Pope Francis has lamented that Confirmation has become the sacrament of "So long," meaning that young people view it as the end rather than the beginning of their church lives.