“If the gates of hell will not stand against us, what are a few wayward bishops?”
There are roughly 200 dioceses in the United States. I doubt the ordinaries of more than 10 are worth more than a bucket of warm spit.
As well, these are supposed to be our shepherds. Sadly, nearly all of them behave like hired hands. And they lead many, many laity astray.
I’ve told this story at FR before, but it perfectly illustrates my point, so I’ll repeat it.
I’m a Past Grand Knight of my Knights of Columbus council. One would think that folks in the Knights would all be solid, pro-life Catholics. And many are. But a horrifyingly large number are not.
One of the wives of one of our members worked closely with me on any number of council projects. We were doing a pro-life program, and we were chatting, and she revealed that she’s pro-abort.
I was stunned. I questioned her, “How can you be a pro-abort? How can you think abortion should be legal and be a devout, involved, active Catholic?”
She said, “Well, I believe in a woman’s right to choose and that the government should keep their hands off women’s bodies.”
“But don’t you believe in the teachings of the Catholic Church?” I asked.
She said, “Yeah, for the most part. Especially the important ones.”
“But the Church has made crystal clear that there can be no right to abortion, that abortion is always the killing of an innocent person, and no Catholic can be in favor of laws granting a license for abortion,” I replied.
“They don’t really mean that about abortion,” she said.
“How can you say that?? They have EMPHATICALLY said these things,” I said.
“They don’t really mean them. If they did, they would have excommunicated Ted Kennedy [he was still living then] years and years ago,” she concluded.
What could I say? She was right! If the bishops, the hierarchy were serious about the life issues, they’da started excommunicatin’ folks a long time ago. That they have not has given scandal, in the Catholic sense of the word, and has led many Catholics right off the cliff into gravely objective evil. The bishops have induced millions into committing the matter of mortal sin. They have caused millions, potentially, to commit spiritual suicide.
It’s difficult for the laity to do the New Evangelization thingy when the bishops are leading roughly half of us to Hell.
sitetest
The history of the Church is that it doesn't act until it is smacked in the face by something, this is no exception.
I was shocked at how poorly so very many Catholics had been catechized. It was everywhere I looked, Nuns, Priests, DREs, Catechists, lay ministers, KofC, parents, kids, former, lapsed and failed Catholics, everywhere. It was only when I studied the heresy of modernism that it struck me; Vatican II had opened the door to modernism and it has literally taken control of much of the US Catholic Church.
You see, the Church and the Clergy is comprised of what I call "Huggers", "Shruggers", and "Sluggers". I, like Jesus' choice to establish His Church, am a slugger. I made it my mission to do what I could do to turn things around, to re-Evangelize the Church every way I could. I teach adults in Faith Formation, with special emphasis on parents of children in "late start" catechism. I am in Diaconate Formation and have unequivocally established my role as the head of my domestic Church. I will not fail my Church when she needs me most. I encourage everyone to do the same.
Peace be with you.
While that's a very good summarization of the issue, the sad reality is the Catholic Church is far from alone in suffering that problem.