“...and the American bishops have for decades ignored Vatican directives they found to be objectionable.”
Nope. It indicates that many Bishops are disobedient, some perhaps to the point of being schimatic and/or heretical. Holy Mother the Church was created by Our Lord and guarenteed by Him to be proof against even the Gates of Hell. Flawed mankind is another story. None of us is certain of Heaven, only by the unmerited Gift from God can we obtain that.