The Catholic Bishops of the United States need to accept reality and face the facts. The following seven are among the most important.
Fact One: the Catholic Church in the United States exercise no discernible political influence whatsoever. There is no discernible “Catholic voting bloc” to garner the attention (or fear) of politicians in establishing public policy regarding the right to life, the funding of Planned Parenthood abortion advocacy, euthanasia, same sex marriage, transgender legislation, and other perversions of the moral order.
Catholic Bishops and the Catholic faithful are powerless in effecting any meaningful legislation reflecting moral values. The Church seems to have retreated from publicly witnessing the Faith and is largely apathetic in its challenges to the contemporary amorality universally apparent in American culture and society.
When the Bishops do voice objections to proposed or actual legislation they deem to be contrary to the teachings of the Gospel and the doctrines of the Church, they are largely and rather successfully portrayed to be whining defenders of values and virtues irrelevant and meaningless to the exigencies of life in the modern world. Curiously, they don't seem to object to that characterization, but rather acquiesce to it.
Quite simply, the public square does not look to the Catholic Bishops for inspiration or leadership on matters affecting American citizens.
The Bishops need to stop pretending that their political clout is non-existent and stop diverting their attention, energy and resource to push for legislative or governmental solutions to societal problems stemming from a lack of moral discipline and acceptance of personal responsibility.
Fact Two: commitment to established institutions has all but vanished. Americans’ relationships with the Church tend to be tentative and utilitarian. Affiliations with political parties are equally so, with most people identifying themselves as “independents” rather “establishment Republicans or Democrats”.
Research shows that the number of practicing Catholics in America (and worldwide for that matters has drastically decreased). Moreover, mounting evidence suggests that people are open and willing to switch religious affiliation at least twice in their lifetimes. Some studies suggest that there is a significant number who will switch among church denominations three times or more.
The Bishops need to accept the fact that the Church no longer enjoys the “spiritual hold” it once had over its membership. Bishops can no longer depend upon their self-proclaimed authority over their flocks to keep members within the fold.
Fact Three: the ecumenical movement, inspired by the Second Vatican Council, has succeeded in eliminating old suspicions and grudges. Pope Francis especially has been keen to encourage an abandonment of negative feelings toward persons of other faiths.
As a result, there is a growing trend among Catholics to succumb to a certain “indifferentism”, that is, the belief that it does not matter what religion a person professes, he or she can be saved nonetheless (a heresy soundly condemned by the Church).
Thus, the very idea of leaving the Catholic Church and joining another Christian denomination or even adopting a non-Christian faith tradition is no longer an anethema in the opinion of most Catholics today.
Fact Four: for those most part, Catholics are fiercely loyal and supportive of their local Pastors and parishes. They are less so of the Bishop and the diocese.
In truth, the relationship of the parish to the diocese may be described very well as a form of “commonwealth” in which affiliation with and allegiance to the Bishop is admitted and accepted, so long as the Bishop treats the parish with “benign neglect”.
Bishops need to recognize and admit that their authority over parishioners within their dioceses is always attenuated by the condition that they do not interfere with or disturb the internal affairs within those parishes.
Fact Five: diocesan bureaucratic structures are needlessly strangling the vitality and financial security of parishes.
Bishops need to recognize and admit that immense diocesan bureaucracies they have created are quickly becoming the object of mission rather than the agents of mission within the local Church. Diocesan agencies are now laying claim to more and more of the limited resources of local parishes with little benefit to the either the diocese or the parishes.
More and more, Pastors and parishioners view diocesan structures and policies as invasive, restrictive and wasteful of precious parish human and financial resources.
As one Pastor put it: “The best days are those when we receive nothing in the mail from the diocese!”
Fact Six: the center of gravity of American Catholicism has shifted (with the full and enthusiastic support of the Bishops) from the so-called “first world” to the “third world” in the numbers of immigrant (legal but mostly illlegal) Latinos who have entered the country.
Bishops need to admit and understand that their unconditional support of illegal immigrants flies in the face of the Catholic faithful who expect the Church and the Bishops to be respectful and observant of the rule of law.
Bishops need to recognize that this new wave of immigrant membership provides little support and, in fact, puts greater strain upon the limited resources available to parishes. Bishops further need to understand that the vast majority of Catholics view this “cultural globalism” as a threat to the American way of life not only religiously, but in the public square and workplace.
Bishops who are unaware of these facts or unwilling to admit them risk further alienating and disenfranchising the Catholic faithful entrusted to their pastoral care and service. Theirs is and remains the daunting task of proclaiming the Gospel of the Lord in its fulness in a way that inspires confidence, trust and fidelity to the Church.
The Bishops need our constant prayers to the Holy Spirit to inspire them in the work of shepherding God’s Holy People. God help them, be with them and bless them in all their effort and sacrifice.
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