I considered just taking Columbus Day (or Indigenous People's Day, take your choice) off today, but an article in the morning news caught my eye. So I decided to instead run two extended clips -- one I wrote a while ago, and today's news from the Vatican.

The Catholic Church is contemplating some rather big modernizations, led by the charismatic Pope Francis. How far-reaching such changes wind up being remains to be seen, but so far the indications are that Francis intends to significantly move the Church's direction on a number of subjects. Today's news is a preliminary move toward this new direction (which we'll get to in a minute).

When Francis was named Pope, I wrote an article suggesting that if change was going to come to the Catholic Church, it would be a collaborative effort. A year and a half ago, I wrote:

But while the Catholic world rejoices with the news of a new Pope, many voices are also being raised over the subject of modernization of Church dogma on various subjects. While, obviously, the child abuse sexual scandals are still a problem that has not entirely been dealt with (and which the new Pope will have to address in one way or another), these suggestions go beyond damage control or dealing with past sins within the Church. Innovative proposals are being spoken of on such issues as allowing priests to marry, allowing women into the priesthood, revising Church doctrine on birth control and/or abortion, and even addressing the status of gay people in a more modern light.

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But anyone who is expecting Pope Francis I to wake up one morning and announce to the world that celibacy will no longer be a requirement for the priesthood (or any other such sweeping reform) is going to be sorely disappointed. The Catholic Church doesn't really lend itself to such overnight changes. Big, fundamental dogmatic changes are simply not going to come from one man, even the new leader of the Church.

I have no information about the new Pope or where he stands on any of these issues -- even where he stands on the need for any changes in the Church whatsoever. But even if he turns out to be a radical reformer of the Church, what will have to happen for any fundamental changes in Catholicism is for a large group of Catholic leaders to come together and debate the issues fully and over a long period of time.

In short, what would be necessary for the Catholic Church to modernize would be a "Vatican III" assembly. Or, in full, a "Third Vatican Council."

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For one reason or another, perhaps it is time for the Third Vatican Council. Because Vatican III is going to be the only way sweeping change will ever take place within the Catholic Church. Pope John XXIII announced the Second Vatican Council only three months after he was elected Pope -- which came as a great surprise to many. It would indeed be interesting to see Pope Francis I make just such a stunning announcement to begin his papacy.

Since that time, Francis has not announced a Third Vatican Council, but he did convene a synod which may wind up being the same sort of collaborative force for change as a Vatican III would have been. Today, this synod released a draft document which has stunned much of the Catholic world with its inclusive and welcoming language. The Washington Post has an extensive article on this document, and what it may soon mean for the Church:

A top Vatican panel assisting Pope Francis went further than the Church has gone before in affirming non-traditional relationships, saying Monday that the Church must "turn respectfully" to couples such as those who live together unmarried or are of the same-gender and "appreciate the positive values" those unions may have.

The comments blew away some longtime Vatican experts because they put the Catholic Church -- the world's largest -- squarely in the middle of the mainstream public discussion about sexuality and marriage, rather than in one corner focused mostly on unchanging doctrine. What changes to doctrine or practice might follow from the suggestions, if any, weren't at all clear.

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The document is a kind of jumping-off point for discussion. It will be rewritten again when the synod closes this weekend and is meant to launch a year of conversations and reflections among Catholics. In the fall of 2015, Pope Francis has planned a second synod at which actual pastoral changes could be proposed.

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Longtime Vatican reporter John Allen wrote that the document could offer a perspective on family and sex akin to the one that the landmark Second Vatican Council did on ecumenism -- or the Catholic Church's relations with other parts of Christianity.

As I wrote when Francis became Pope, the Catholic Church, being what has been called "the world's biggest bureaucracy," does not change quickly. Bringing institutional change to such a large organization is going to happen slowly, on the scale how fast political changes happen. But on the Church's own scale of time (spanning millennia), Francis is moving quickly enough.

The new Pope has made some headlines on the subject of how the Church treats gay people before, but they were largely off-the-cuff comments and not formal statements of Church policy. This is different, though, than some cheerful comment caught by a reporter on an airplane. The document that emerges from this synod (they're still working on the final draft) will not in and of itself change the Church. But you'll notice that Francis is going to give everyone a year to think things over and then call another synod which may indeed change a few Catholic doctrines.

The Catholic Church has changed significantly over the centuries. Old doctrines have been laid aside as the world has changed. Catholics may now be at the start of a time of such sweeping changes. It'll be interesting to hear the discussion within and without the Church over the next year. And it will be fascinating to see what real changes are made in the second synod, after everyone has had time for such conversations to take place.

-- Chris Weigant

Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant