DO THE BISHOPS NOT REALLY GET IT?

For the most part, American Bishops just don’t get it.


At least, it seems that way to me.


The past several weeks have been times of sorrow and anguish for many faithful Catholics, laity and Priests alike.


The lack of accountability and communication that allowed years of abuse and cover up to go unaddressed by the hierarchy have aroused a level of anger and frustration I never before seen or heard.


And yet, Bishops have continued to be largely unresponsive, seeking to put great distance between themselves and the scandal which has befallen the Church.  


That may have been a winning strategy in days past, because the folks in the pews were largely kept ignorant of the failures of their Bishops to safeguard and protect them. 


 And, while the faithful may have been content (perhaps too eagerly) to remain in their ignorance, the latest scandals and the reactions to them can no longer simply be disregarded and diminished by the lack of response from the Bishops.


Can the hierarchy truly not be aware of how disheartened and upset Catholics really have become with the leadership of the Church?


In response to the Grand Jury Report, the Bishop of Greensburg, Bishop Edward C. Malesic, has prepared a video homily  which will be played at all Masses this weekend in  the Diocese’s 78 parishes throughout Armstrong, Fayette, Indiana and Westmoreland counties.


In the homily which I previewed today, Bishop Malesic denounces those Priests who abused minors, offering apologies to their victims for their evil deeds.


Yet not once does the Bishop denounce his predecessors who failed utterly to protect the People of God from these serial rapists, choosing instead to ignore the allegations of victims or seeking to silence them by forced confidentiality agreements extorted in the process of agreeing to financial settlements.


Perhaps, in the greatest display of denial I have yet to witness concerning the shameful and despicable conduct of Church leadership, Bishop Malesic states:  “The grand jury report describes the Church of 30, 50, even more than 70 years ago,” Malesic said. “It falls far short of describing the Church we love and support. It does not paint an accurate picture of the Church in which we pray and find comfort today.”


The catastrophe, dear Bishop Malesic is that you and the Church have yet to own the failings of the Church of 30, 50 or even more than 70 years ago and still make excuses for it or seek to deny it altogether.


For his part, the day before the Grand Jury Report was realeased, Cardinal Wuerl penned a letter to the Priests of Washington, DC, which amounts to a disclaimer that, during his time as Bishop of Pittsburgh, he never failed in his duty to punish the abusers and provide comfort and compensation for victims.


Yet, the Grand Jury Report contains the most serious allegations that then-Bishop Wuerl on more than one occasion re-assigned abusers within the Diocese or provided for their assignments or transfers to other dioceses around the country.


Good Catholics, devoted to the Church, faithful members who have contributed time and treasure to building up and remaining steadfast, find that they can no longer defend the indefensible and defer to Episcopal authority which continues to be silent in confessing their failures or condemning the failures of their predecessors.


Not only are the faithful no longer willing to be persuaded that no one among the hierarchy knew anything.  


Bishops foolish enough to do so strain the credibility of those entrusted to their care.  


And now, the People of God are insisting that there be a reckoning.


Ever since the McCarrick scandal broke, I have been warning that a storm is brewing.  And if the Bishops think the storm will pass, they are sadly mistaken.


Priests are now beginning join the ranks of the laity in demanding that the Bishops be held to the same standard of accountability to which they themselves are bound.


Already, faithful, concerned Priests and lay people have indicated that they will gather at the General Assembly of the United States Conference of the Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in Baltimore in November to demonstrate their anger and disaffection with the Bishops.


Already, there are serious calls by concerned and faithful Catholics to refuse to contribute to local Bishops’ appeals as well as national collections sponsored by the USCCB as the only way to really get the Bishops’ attention.


The Bishops have brought this on themselves and continue to do so by their lack of candor.  


Faithful Catholics are righteous in their justified anger and in their insistence that Bishops be held accountable  to something more than symbolic gestures and promises of future policies which will bring about reform.


The people want to see their Bishops honestly admit their failures, accept the consequences of those failures and atone publicly by resigning their positions of authority and trust, and even be removed from the Clerical state if warranted.


If the Church is to experience this reform and revival, then the Catholic faithful will have to accept the burden of bringing it about.


Church history tells us very clearly that revival always comes from the flock and not the shepherds.


The moment for such is upon the Church.  


And it appears clearer and clearer to me that the once-unhealthy deference  to the Bishops which allowed them to shirk their responsibilities is dead and, hopefully, gone forever.


In that effort may both God’s People and the Bishops be inspired by the Holy Spirit to re-establish trust in the Episcopacy and in the mission of the Church to touch this world with the redeeming grace of the Lord Jesus.


May God bless those of us who still care about the Church to become angry and be willing to ask the Lord for a conversion of minds and hearts.