“Qualifications of church leaders and what should be done when Catholics priests are “bad men.”
a conscientious Catholic is OBLIGED to work towards the correction of any leader who behaves in an errant manner, or who instructs other to behave likewise...for instance, priests known to be distributing communion to facilitators of abortion should be targeted and writings made to his bishop to stop his misbehavior...should a catholic have knowledge that a priest is diddling little boys, that Catholic should refrain from attending his Mass celebrations, and if this cannot be avoided,under no circumstances should he receive a sacrament, as accepting the priest’s validity to dispense the sacraments violates his DUTY to work towards correcting or removing the offender...
If, after attempting to get the errant priest’s superiors to dispose of the offending behavior comes to nothing, or if they themselves are found out to be complicit, there remains the obligation to kick the can higher up, until a resolution is found through church channels...failing that, there is no option but to seek worship elsewhere...
As in most cases, you can’t fight City Hall, and worship then comes down to individual action...but, IMO at least, a conscientious Catholic must not allow known, unabated sinfulness from the Church infrastucture to prevail...if it means leaving the Faith, so be it...
Well, thanks for your response.
Is this official guidance? Is this process documented someplace? Is it local or regional? Is this a process that comes from tradition? Is it just speculation on your part? In other words, is it what you would hope to see happen?
I am curious because it is so different from what Paul prescribes in Mt 18.
Does it matter to you how the process you describe aligns with scriptural guidance for church discipline?
I am not being sarcastic at all.