Catholic Sensibility

Bishops mired in messes of their own making   Sex abuse and cover-up might be making headlines from Scranton to Austria, but the real idol taking a beating is the Almighty Altar of Pseudo-Orthodoxy. Bishops from left coast to right are taking quick action on lay people. Liturgical ministers sign pledges in Oregon. Women's ordination advocates are fired almost before the print on the installation invites are dry. The average person in the pew yawns. Since when were communion ministers a danger to children? Since when were members of the Women's Ordination Conference shuffling sex predators from diocese to diocese? And that's after they signed a charter agreeing not to do it. Take a poll, my friends. Ask your Catholic neighbors who's more dangerous: a bishop exporting predators to Dallas or a woman wearing liturgical vesture? What's more scandalous: a bishop's screaming fit in court or a European ordination cruise? New bishops emerge like rabbits from Rigali's red hat. But do all the cardinal's men have what it takes? It's an old song, but it needs more airplay, no doubt. It is essential, absolutely essential for a bishop to have pastoral experience before ordination. A profile of insufficient pastoral experience: serving as a weekend rent-a-priest while riding theological shotgun at the chancery, backed up by advanced degrees  in Rome and the favor of a prince of the Church. A bishop may have the potential to be a good pastor without ten or twenty years in a parish. But the modern system seems to be little better than on-the-job training. With all the hits the bishops are taking, you'd think well-tested and proved leaders would be slotted to lead dioceses. You'd think St Paul's advice would be well-heeded. Wouldn't you think? But this orthodoxy-at-all-costs approach is just burying us. You can tell how bad it's getting by how deep they've gone to find priests who fit the magical episcopal profile. Before a person can become a bishop, maybe he needs to write a few essays: "Why is accountability important to the Catholic faithful?" "Why it's a very bad idea to ship predators off to another diocese." Those are the kinds of publications that will arouse interest from the pew. What do you think?