What Are Catholics to Do When Our Clergy Let Us Down? – Part 1

Christ gave us shepherds to point us to truth and encourage us to “be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect.” Distressingly, some of our shepherds are not particularly good shepherds.

It seems that for every “A+” cleric who understands his job description (e.g., a Bishop Joseph Strickland or a Cardinal Robert Sarah), there is another one who earns an “F” in how he shepherds, and two others who, at best, might earn “C”s.

God tells us that our fundamental task is to love the Lord above all things and that we must take the singular path to God which leads through a narrow gate. We unfortunately do not hear these same words of truth and wisdom from a sizeable portion of our Catholic clergy.

We appreciate the many priests and bishops who are brave, honorable, and faithful.  These men sincerely strive to give their best to the people of God.

Sadly, some clerics keep mum about our essential task and about our call to be in the world but not of the world. Still others do speak out, but mainly to preach inappropriately by spreading theology which is erroneous, blasphemous, or downright heretical.

This 3-part series of articles is about these other clerics – the ones letting us down. It is not my intent to throw stones at these shepherds. Rather, by pointing out that there are failing men who improperly wear the collar, it may help us recognize and value the upright ones who properly wear the collar. Additionally, perhaps if the “bad” ones are “outed,” they may change their ways.  Perhaps they will transform into “good” authentically Catholic leaders whom we can applaud for proper and dynamic pastoring.

Good and Not So Good Shepherds

As Catholics, we must not blindly follow clerics who refuse to act as guardians of the faith. Instead, we must expose them to the disinfectant of the light. Paraphrasing Our Lord, when we separate the sheep from the goats (Mathew 25:32), we can easily identify which specific priests gravely need us to pray for them to repent and return to the path of righteousness.

The Latin word for “pastors” is “shepherds.” Our pastors (priests and bishops) are our shepherds called by Christ, the Good Shepherd (John 10:11), to lead us. Jesus fittingly referred to the people as His sheep.  Sheep are a unique type of livestock who require much guidance, care, and attention.  Catholic clerics are supposed to lead, feed, and protect their flocks.

Contrasted with the honorable, brave, and faithful shepherds who guide and guard our souls, we all too often come across dishonorable men of the cloth. They are characteristically of two types – either cowardly shepherds or wolf-like shepherds. The former type are too weak and passive to pick up their staff entrusted to them by God. The latter type may have happily grabbed the staff but only to improperly lead their sheep on the wrong path.

Catholic flocks are “like sheep without a shepherd” (Mark 6:34) when they are under the care of this first category of dishonorable priests – the silent or laissez-faire spiritual shepherds, AKA cowardly clergy. These cowards are akin to a shepherd seeing a wolf approach, being too scared to confront the danger, and running away, leaving the sheep in harm’s way. A pastor who is silent is not shepherding.  He is not feeding his sheep with the truth found in Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition. Thus, he leaves his flock open to error and subject to casualty.

Creating Puzzlement

Homilies by cowardly priests are frequently pabulum. They refuse to talk about traditional Church teaching on sexuality, marriage, and divorce.  They also refuse to speak about the dangers of going along with modern society’s implausible belief in so-called gay marriage, transgenderism, or women priests.

This reticence creates puzzlement among the faithful about what should be a Catholic’s priorities and about what path to take. A weak, passive priest who won’t take a stand vocally might think he is showing charity by not hurting feelings. But he is actually allowing his flock to live in danger.

Thomas More supposedly stated that silence meant consent.  As such, a leader’s followers perceive his toleration of dissent as approval.

What will a congregation that never hears about the horrors of abortion, the evil of sexual depravity, or the reality of hell, conclude?  The average Catholic-in-the-pew will assume that the culture’s views on abortion (“my choice”), sexual mores (“love is love”), and the afterlife (“there is no hell”) are correct, or at least are not sinful.

Proclaim the Word

Laissez-faire pastors are not doing their flocks any favors by playing the “go along to get along” game. These type of clerics – which unfortunately make up a large slice of priests and bishops in the 21^st Century – have forgotten a critical teaching.  Christ told us, through His apostles, that admonishing the sinner and instructing the ignorant are spiritual acts of mercy.

Saint Paul said this to a young pastor named Timothy:

“[P]roclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching. For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine but, following their own desires and insatiable curiosity, will accumulate teachers and will stop listening to the truth and will be diverted to myths.  But you, be self-possessed in all circumstances; put up with hardship; perform the work of an evangelist; fulfill your ministry” (2 Timothy 4:2-5).

For some pastors who fail to fulfill their ministry, their cowardly silence and weak inaction is out of fear of upsetting the more liberal members of their congregations by bringing up so-called hot button issues. For other members of the clergy, the refusal to mention these issues is basically due to them not believing in what the Church teaches.

Many of our prelate and clerics were also too spineless during the covid-19-era.  They refused to challenge authorities who told them to lock up their churches and stop administering sacraments. Others defiantly won’t take a stance in refusing Communion to Catholic politicians who actively work to promote abortion.

It Gets Worse

It is definitely detrimental for Catholics to sit in the pew and never hear their pastors boldly speak the truth. Not having brave, counter-cultural bishops leading their dioceses is just as detrimental.

There is, however, a worse situation. There is a second type of failing cleric who is more dreadful than the silent, passive ones.  The forthcoming Parts 2 and 3 of “What Are Catholics to Do When Our Clergy Let Us Down?” will be about identifying this shameful category of pastors.  They also delve into what faithful Catholics should do about this thorny problem.

The post What Are Catholics to Do When Our Clergy Let Us Down? – Part 1 first appeared on Catholic Stand.