We can no longer characterize this divide as "unspoken." Events, and the efforts of civic-minded people up and down the state, ensure that it is getting spoken about more often, more openly and more constructively. And that, in our view, is a good thing.

Less than a year after The Tribune published its report, there occurred a protracted and sometimes bitter airing of this sensitive issue during the court battle over the public easement through the downtown Main Street Plaza owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A common-sense compromise settled the matter, but not before a great deal had been said and written (often in these pages) about the role of Utah's predominant faith in religious and public life.

Mayor Rocky Anderson's first "Bridging the Religious Divide" forum at the Salt Lake City Library Wednesday night was partly a response to the divisive plaza debate. It was a modest success in that it got people speaking civilly and frankly about their religious and cultural differences and commonalities. The themes were familiar to all.

The "elephant in the room," as several participants referred to the LDS Church, is viewed by many in the minority population as the too-dominant religious, social and political force in Utah. That perception feeds feelings of powerlessness and resentment among those who see the church and its members as aloof, judgmental and controlling.

Practicing Mormons are understandably sensitive to these and other criticisms and to the negative and often nasty stereotyping that goes with it.

Church President Gordon B. Hinckley has, to his credit, publicly recognized a tendency toward standoffishness among the LDS in Utah and has frequently urged the faithful to be more sensitive to, and accepting of, neighbors who are not fellow adherents.

Also, Hinckley's recent decision to open the Tabernacle on Temple Square to an evangelical Christian philosopher, the first time in 105 years a preacher from another faith has spoken from that pulpit, was part of a commendable initiative by both faiths to find respectful common ground after decades of antagonism.

Such efforts by Anderson and Hinckley and the evangelicals - among many - are encouraging small steps. But three years ago, Catholic Bishop George Niederauer captured the enormity of the challenge when he said he wanted to change the way "Mormons talk about Catholics when only Mormons are in the room, and the way Catholics talk about Mormons when only Catholics are in the room."

Hearts and minds. Nothing less.