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| Bishop Tobin leaves Twitter because the faithful call him to account. Ironic, eh? Bishops have the duty to call their brother bishops to account. Do your duty, Bishop! |
When I read this mom's article this morning, my heart started vibrating like the strings on a violin. Beverly Stevens' editorial on the sorry state of our U.S. bishops resonates with me and, I'm sure, with millions of other Catholics who are absolutely fed up with the old boys' club.
It isn't just the evil and criminal bishops who should be castigated and, in many cases, should be in jail. It's the greater number of "nice guy" bishops who enabled and expanded the evil by their silence and complicity. Look what happened to England as a result of complicit bishops -- an entire country left the faith and martyred hundreds of faithful Catholics. How different things might have been if the bishops had ALL joined St. John Fisher and gone to the scaffold!
But sometimes silence would be preferable to what bishops say. Bishop Thomas Tobin of Rhode Island tweeted earlier this month:
Despite the egregious offenses of a few, and despite the faults and sins we all have, I’m very proud of my brother bishops and I admire and applaud the great work they do every day for Christ and His Church.The response he received from this was so negative (all the comments I read were courteous), that he ran for the hills deleting his Twitter account and making a childish statement that, "If you find a perfect church out there somewhere, by all means, join it. But remember, the moment you join it, it will cease being perfect."
What a clever rejoinder...for a twelve-year-old!
Christopher Altieri at Catholic World Report responded with An Open Letter to the bishop calling him and the other bishops to account:
You, personally, and all your brother bishops have failed Christ’s faithful. You have failed our children. You have failed our clergy. You have failed the people searching for the Lord, who have a right to the Gospel and therefore a right to the Church as Christ intends her to be, rather than as you have made her; you have failed us all.Amen!
We need leaders who will not mislead us and scatter us. We cry out for shepherds who will shepherd us, so that we need no longer fear and tremble.Again, Amen!
Is it any wonder that Catholics are flocking to bishops like Athanasius Schneider who, like Jesus, "speaks with authority" defending the faith vigorously and with charity and cares for the flock all over the world? Whenever I hear he'll be in my area my heart lifts up.
In the meantime, none of us should give one penny to our local diocesan bishop unless he is speaking courageously in defense of the faith and ACTING like he means it. As my mom often said, "Actions speak louder than words." If your bishop attacks Trump's immigration policies, defends open borders, and promotes community organizing groups in his diocesan newspaper (like my bishop does), not to mention those who enable homosexuality and family destruction, cut him off! There are plenty of ways to support the Church without joining the network of scandal with your financial support.
Mary Ann Kreitzer, you are correct; cut off all money to feckless and mendacious bishops. Their sexual predations, whether direct or indirect, have left their sheep to be slaughtered. More importantly, though, is their pride in erecting a NewChurch Catholic faith, one that is remade from the implementation of Vatican II. No institution can succeed while it reviles its own history, its own DNA.
ReplyDeleteThe institutional Church must return to Her Tradition. The Mass of All Time has been perfected over the centuries. Assisting at this Mass carries untold graces. While we can attend the Novus Ordo and believe, through the Doctrine of Indefectibility, in its acceptance to God, we must be mindful of Lex Orandi Lex Credendi, Lex Vivendi. Using the "modern" versions of sacraments, and the Novus Ordo, has left Catholics ignorant of the Faith, and of its faithful practice.
We need to demand more from the institutional Church. Its bishops (with a few exceptions) need to become unemployed. The men who have ignored their flocks for so long, cannot be expected to simply change their stripes if a few dollars are absent from the collection basket. They need to go.
You said it very well! Let's keep praying that the evil bishops will be exposed and the decent bishops will acquire a backbone and defend the faith!
ReplyDeleteNothing will change unless the money runs out. Most Catholics are lemmings so they will keep on giving. The sad truth is the "Lavender Mafia" is in complete control.
ReplyDeleteWe need to move the abortion pickets to the bishops residence. No justice, no peace until HV is preached in every parish every mass every week. For 50 years. Preach it or get out of the way.
ReplyDeleteI'm fed up as well. Excellent post.
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