What Are Catholics to Do When Our Clergy Let Us Down? – Part 2

In Part 1 of “What Are Catholics to Do When Our Clergy Let Us Down?,” we discussed how our cardinals, bishops, and priests are the shepherds of Christ, endowed with power from our Lord to teach and lead those in their care. Whereas most of these pastors throughout history are brave, honorable, and faithful, regrettably some men of the cloth are ineffectual at best and shameful at worst. In this Part 2, we will dive deeper into pointing out the most undesirable type of shepherds – those who don’t merely fail to feed their sheep with the truth found in Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition, but consciously leave their flocks open to getting lost or becoming fatally tormented.

Along with the silent, laissez-faire type of shepherds who are too cowardly to speak out about provocative topics like abortion, sex, and hell, and thus possibly putting their flocks’ eternal souls at risks, we have a second category of tainted clergy who loudly and rebelliously deceive, putting the faithful in even great spiritual danger. These men of the cloth seem to have lost sight of the Church’s mission statement to save souls since they spend their days promoting modernism and pushing social justice issues like illegal immigration and so-called climate change.

This tainted type of clergy are acting like wolves in shepherd’s clothing. They are ordained to protect and guide their flocks with God’s commands, but they turn out to be wolves who put their people’s souls in danger, leading them on the wrong path. By vocally pushing erroneous and evil thinking instead of sharing enduring, orthodox Catholic truths, these wolf-like priests, bishops, and cardinals sow confusion and bring about despair instead of offering hope to their flocks. 

Let’s look at some examples of clerics who are wolves in shepherd’s clothing, purposely preaching falsehoods contrary to the perennial teachings of the Church and wantonly confirming people in their sins. We can start with examples of two in the hierarchy who have aggressively demanded that Catholics stop a posture of adoration that has been normative throughout most of Church history and instead obey unorthodox orders for how to receive the Eucharist. Bishop Mark Brennan and  Cardinal Blase Cupich have both refuted tradition and common sense by stipulating that one should not kneel in the Mass both a few minutes before and during the act of the reception of Holy Communion. These wolves disrespect Catholic religious tradition when they direct their flocks to water down their reverence given to the Body of Christ. It is if these clergy upon meeting Jesus would proudly say, “I kept people from kneeling to You!”

Cardinal Cupich presented another example of wolf-like behavior when he was loudly vocal in promoting the allowance of improperly remarried or actively homosexual Catholics to continue receiving Communion, and in insisting that Catholics who are publicly promoting abortion should continue receiving Communion. These stances he is outspoken on are in conflict with Church teaching, and Catholics who follow Cupich’s instructions are being led to sin.

Another example of a wolf-like shepherd is Bishop John Stowe who consistently speaks counter to Catholic doctrine regarding sexual disorders and is infamous for issuing a “prayer” card that celebrated homosexual “pride.” He endorsed modernism when he commented that Church teaching is “dated,” and he went against God when he said, “LGBT persons did not choose their identity…[and] cannot and should not change.” Additionally, Stowe approved the idea of blessing so-called same-sex couples, saying, “A blessing can still hold great significance to queer couples because they act as prayers for God’s presence and help. It almost signifies God’s approval.”

Then there is Cardinal Robert McElroy, who when a bishop a few years prior to his promotion went out of his way to praise the parishes in his diocese who openly flew rainbow flags (and not the type connected with the story of Noah). McElroy also publicly endorsed known, active homosexuals employed in diocesan ministries, including one who ran the cathedral’s faith formation program for children. The secular culture may approve of these actions, but the Church definitively does not.

We recall how the majority of bishops during the period of the Covid-19 pandemic submitted to government leaders without a fight immediately after being told to close up all their churches and stop distributing Communion or conferring sacraments. One can only assume they did this because they agreed with secular leaders that, unlike the Costcos, Home Depots, and liquor stores that could keep their doors open, churches were not “essential.” 

Currently, we are seeing that most U.S. bishops have abandoned the Church’s stated goal that abortion is the preeminent issue when it comes to political matters and our consciences. This is evident in how there was no uproar from the majority of bishops when our Catholic President Biden funded and forcefully pushed abortion rights, which was a definitely scandalous act according to Church doctrine. But the bishops rapidly and rabidly responded in opposition to our non-Catholic President Trump when he created an illegal immigration policy and halted the funding of non-governmental organizations connected with Catholic-run charities, even though these are considered acts using prudential judgment and thus not considered the Church’s preeminent issue. (Some thoughtful explanations of this controversy can be read here and here or listened to here.) 

All of the above cases of shameful shepherds could cause us faithful Catholics to throw up our hands in disgust and resignation. But what we must remember is that the Catholic Church through its 2,000 years has always had disordered and erroneous prelates. Even the first pope betrayed Christ at the moment it counted most when he insisted three times, “I do not know the man!”

Despite having cowardly priests, awful bishops, confused cardinals, and even bad popes, the Church and Her truths have been able to survive – a testament to Catholicism’s resilience. While we are to believe in the divinely-established Church and the Office of the Papacy, we can also acknowledge that both have been harmed and degraded by mortal men.

We faithful are not to base our faith on men wearing collars. We are not in the Catholic Church for the clerics. Both current times and past history have taught us they can be unreliable if not downright unfaithful. When one places one’s faith in men, one will sure to be disappointed…as well as eventually lose said faith.

In the forthcoming, final Part 3 of “What Are Catholics to Do When Our Clergy Let Us Down,” we will discuss what Catholics must do after realizing we have ineffectual, morally-ignorant, and/or insurrectionist-like men of the cloth among us.