You feel the Catholic church has not tried to align itself with power? For centuries the church and nobility were aligned and practically interchangeable. Isn’t a cardinal considered a ‘prince’ of the church?
More recently the church has curried favor with primarily the Democratic party in its efforts for social justice.
These same bishops supported ObamaCare. They’ve supported illegal immigration. For decades they made sure non-believers had no access to contraception. Did you know that years ago you could not even buy condoms in some states?
They’ve aligned themselves with power to promote their agenda. Now they’ve been betrayed by the very people they’ve been supporting.
Think you’ve got some of this backwards. Royalty was far more concerned about aligning with the Church than the Church ever was about aligning with royalty. Take the Crusades, for example. Then look at Henry II & Henri IV, and even Henry VIII. Then look at the French Revolution where, indeed, priests, nuns, bishops were slaughtered along with aristos. Then take a look at Cardinal (”Prince,” as you say) Mindszenty, among countless other examples of standing up to power—royal or not.
And, as Aquinas (FR name) mentions, there are good and bad bishops, as there are good and bad politicians, kings, presidents, teachers, etc. How certain bishops behave or react has nothing to do with the tenets of their Church.