Fr. Paul Mankowski on CatholicCulture.org.
Here’s a snippet:
The housewife who complained that Father skipped the Creed at mass and the housewife who complained that Father groped her son had remarkably similar experiences of:
- being made to feel that they themselves were somehow in the wrong;
- that they had impugned the honor of virtuous men;
- that their complaints were an unwelcome interruption of more important business; — that the true situation was fully known to the chancery and completely under control;
- that the wider and more complete knowledge of higher ecclesiastics justified their apparent inaction;
- that to criticize the curate was to criticize the pastor was to criticize the regional vicar was to criticize the bishop;
- that to publicize one’s dissatisfaction was to give scandal and
would positively harm discreet efforts at remedying the ills;- that one’s duty was to keep silence and trust that those officially charged with the pertinent responsibilities would execute them in their own time;
- that delayed correction of problems was sometimes necessary for the universal good of the Church.
I have no defense for bishops who do not act like bishops. That being said, I could say pretty much the same things about the executives I work under (my immediate boss excepted). They do the same thing: ignore problems, act like mentioning a problem is a personal insult, treat every problem as if it’s completely manageable, etc.
The problem, as I’ve said, is with human nature. But as Katherine Hepburn said in “The African Queen,” “Human nature is what we were put on this earth to rise above.”
You need to keep going, you haven’t reached #95, yet.
The parallels are indeed breathtaking.
What a parallel to today’s first reading, from Ezekiel 34. “Thus says the Lord GOD: Ho, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the sheep…Thus says the Lord GOD, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my sheep at their hand, and put a stop to their feeding the sheep; no longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them.”
Mankowski is right on. How did he make it into the Jesuits?
Mmmm-hmmmm: What “executives I work under” might you be referring to, Mr. Johnson?
But seriously, the metaphor and comparison Eric is making is precisely the problem. The bishops *are* acting like self-serving bureaucrats, not shepherds (which is why Max Weber, William Whyte and Dilbert all have much more to say about The Situation than all the ecclesiologists in the world).