Politicians or Apostles?

In recent years we have seen bishop after bishop, priest after priest, caught up in the middle of the sexual (primarily homosexual) abuse scandal. Cover-ups, lack of discipline, and a loss of faithfulness among the clergy are the rule of the day. It is true, as has been pointed out in other blogs, that the societal attitude and swiftness of dealing with abuse suspects has changed much in the last several decades. However, the laws of the Church and God have not changed. Priests and bishops have always been called to a higher standard, therefore, the lack of societal recognition of the problem of abuse 50 years ago, did not abrogate the Bishops and priests from their duty to recognize evil and sin and act appropriately.

So, why did the Bishops fail to act until the recent past, and only when the public scandal had become too great to bear? In my opinion, it is the fault of the laity as much as the bishops. We in the Church have accepted a form of clergy "honor" that is neither practical, scriptural, nor logical. How many of us have stood aside quietly while church "politicians" have been appointed to the bishoprics, rather than servants of the people. How many of us have demanded, much less expected, our bishops to preach the Gospel before lobbying congress? How many Bishops do we see leading our priests down on the streets to preach to those most in need of the knowledge of Christ and His saving love?

No, our idea of bishops largely mimics the commonly used term, "Princes of the Church". We allow them to rule, but don't expect them to preach the gospel to the world. We allow them to lobby for political ideas, but RARELY do they lobby in our parishes. These men do have power, they do have authority, yet their focus is too often focused away from their flock, and more on administration. How many bishops personally handle the process of vocational discernment with a possible priest? Often they relegate it to another priest, or a nun, or a lay person. How then, can we expect them to really know our priests, when their contact with them is minimal?

Unfortunately, many (although not all) of our American Bishops have become simply, Church Politicians, or administrators who are busy covering up "scandal", lobbying congress, meeting with dignitaries, and too busy for work among their people. But, we have allowed it and we have reaped what we have sown an increasingly secular clergy, among an increasingly secular laity.