Vatican II has endorsed a Church that is humble and listening as called forth by the spirit of aggiornamento. When the Catholic Bishops’ Conference made its official stand against the controversial Reproductive Health Bill, pro-RH Catholics of goodwill interpreted this as a deviation from the spirit of dialogue which fired up the Council Fathers. The article problematizes the anti-RH stand of the bishops within the larger framework of presumed clerical superiority over the laity embedded in the hierarchical apparatus. The way out is by overcoming institutional inconsistencies, correcting power imbalances in the Church, and removing clericalism. Genuine initiative for reform and renewal towards a Church of co-equals must come from critical communities of faith that have touched and are touching base with the peoples’ rough grounds of existential questions and concerns.