Steve Weatherbe has an intriguing post at Life Site News comparing military incompetence to episcopal incompetence:
Every alternative presents itself as an opportunity for failure. After all, the authoritarian already has reached the top. There isn’t as much upside to defeating the enemy as there is downside to defeat. So the authoritarian—incompetent—general may do nothing at all or he may do too little. He may do a little bit of everything so that no one could criticise him for failing to do anything. He sends some troops north to oppose the enemy but keeps most at home. He doesn’t warn the civilian population to build bomb shelters because he doesn’t want to admit there may soon be air attacks. He wants to be popular. He does not want to win so much as to avoid being criticised. The general who is not motivated by the desire to win is less likely to do so than the general who is.
This makes me think of many bishops. They rose through the ranks when Christians and Catholics were still popular, respected and even powerful. They took their leadership positions in large, military-like hierarchical organizations with the responsibility to preserve these organizations, not risk them—in other words, in peacetime.
For these men, there is no upside, no chance of a decisive victory over evil, secularism or social change—only the downside of unpopularity, criticism and conflict with society’s trendsetters and thought leaders, and quite possibly with civil authorities, quite possibly lawsuits and nasty headlines. If they are in Europe, they enjoy huge salaries on the government’s tab.
These smooth, plump men did not sign on for combat, did not sign on for marches, for vigils, for interrogations in courtrooms or for jail terms. As priests they were instantly deferred to and respected by their own flocks. As bishops they get even more of that from their faithful, plus real palaces. But they now find themselves targets for attacks from society at large. They are tasked with feeding their sheep at the same time as defending Christianity’s politically incorrect teachings on homosexuality, abortion and transgenderism, and Catholicism’s particular teachings on a male-only priesthood, divorce and in vitro fertilization.
We should not be surprised that many balk at the second assignment. Aiming for maximum popularity, in the U.S. some adopt positions identical with the Democratic Party, winning for themselves a few years of media approval but guaranteeing the long-term irrelevance of their once-powerful institutions.
An army or a navy that refuses to leave its base is one that is ultimately ineffective. The generals, admirals – or bishops – who are responsible for such inaction are by definition incompetent. For bishops who desire popularity with the people they should be opposing, this approaches treason.
I have a friend who, when I challenged him on abortion, replied smugly, “I am pro-life and pro-choice.” But all he really meant was, “I wish people on both sides of this issue to like me as much as I like myself.” So for many of our bishops.
Go here to read the rest. Any large bureaucracy always ends up having a large number of careerist “yes men” ending up in positions of authority. These largely worthless individuals specialize in pleasing superiors, avoiding responsibility and the black arts of bureaucratic infighting. They are completely useless in accomplishing the purported goals of the organizations. In wartime up to one-third of officers in the military are found to be totally ineffective and are gradually replaced, often in a high cost in lives, as the enlisted men pay in blood for peace time promotion practices. Unfortunately, incompetent and worse bishops rarely pay any price. The number of bishops forced to resign in any pontificate is usually a small handful. More are shunted into less important positions or forced into retirement. However most stay on year after year, hiding from responsibility and mortally afraid of bad press. Perhaps Pope Francis could address this, after he deals of course with more important issues like youth unemployment, lonely geezers and making sure that Catholics in adulterous marriages irregular unions can receive Communion.
April 3rd of 2014. Life Site News ran a story on IL. Dick Durban and the utilization of Canon 915. Somehow this story crossed my path on June 10th, and in jubilation I thought it to be recent news.
I mention this faux pas because the story is a public story of a public figure being corrected and instructed by priest and Bishop.
My question is this; How many Bishop’s or priests privately go about doing their due diligence and not in the eye of the public?
A few? Many? We are reminded of the Pelosi, Biden Catholics that see no harm in receiving Holy Communion while supporting the license to kill babies in the womb. Where was their correction? Their sheppard?
Ezekiel 34:1-10 – God sees this and He is going to bring judgment on Jorge Bergoglio and the rest of these worthless, useless shepherds.
Are you sure the post wasn’t written by Steve Weatherbe? And that Bishop Lynch isn’t just a “tag” given to the article as an article that mentions Bishop Lynch?
Thanks for noting that DJH! I have made the correction.
What a task! to be a shepherd! Boy do we need to pray for those men.
Saint Peter advises:”Now as an elder myself and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as one who shares in the glory to be revealed, I exhort the elders among you to tend the flock of God that is in your charge ,… as God would have you do it …” 1 Peter 5:1-4
When the Great Shepherd calls a person to a task, He equips him for that task.
Hebrews 13:20, 21 teaches
“Now may the God of peace, who brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, make you complete in everything good so that you may do his will … ”
There’s no excuses. We can’t say we are a product of how we were reared. We are responsible – our faith and confidence in God must be real and deep and effect change.
We lay people have a responsibility speak the truth in love to our priests and bishops. Please God I need courage and guidance.
Anzlyne.
Great comment.
They, the Religious, are target #1 for the minions who delight in confusing and frustrating these men. They are under more attacks and it is our duty to fight for them!
Prayers might seem weak to some, but they are the armor and weapons to aid these Holy men. When we shrink from our duties to pray for priests, we damn well better not judge them. I’ve been offering most of my daily Rosaries for Pope Francis. He is in great need. He is Satan’s trophy if he, Satan, succeeds.
And boy is he trying his all to win that trophy.
I’ve often thought that one of the few modern innovations that the Church might
actually apply to Her benefit is the idea of performance reviews for Her bishops.
We’re all so tediously familiar with bishops who rule over imploding dioceses
while they do little or nothing to turn the tide. There seems to be no stigma
in being the bishop of a failed diocese. I can think of several whose fame and
influence among their brother bishops seem to be unaffected by the pitiful
demographics among their flocks back home.
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What might Catholic demographics look like today if, say, bishops had quotas
to make? For example, if a diocese didn’t produce a minimum number of
seminarians/priests per capita per year, or if there weren’t a minimum number of
converts brought into the Church, then the bishop should experience some
… unpleasantness.
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I don’t think that unpleasantness should take the form of a coadjutor bishop
brought in to take the reins from the ordinary– that is a punishment rarely used,
and rightly so. Rather, i think it should be something along the lines of forfeiture
of voting rights at the USCCB. After all, if a bishop is doing a lackluster job
shepherding his own flock, why on earth should he have a say in setting policy
for the Church nationwide? Similarly, to sit on one of the USCCB’s myriad
committees a bishop should first demonstrate that the demographics in his
diocese are healthy or at least improving.
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It always baffled me that the voices of men like Fabien Bruskewitz, now
Bishop Emeritus of Lincoln, Nebraska, were so little heeded by their brother
bishops. While Bishop of Lincoln, His Excellency was each year routinely
ordaining more priests for his little diocese than were many archbishoprics.
Similarly, his parochial schools were filled while others’ were folding. Yet for
some reason his brother bishops never seemed curious either to find out the
secret to his success or to try it for themselves. If bad Catholic demographics
in one’s diocese were to became a career liability however, then perhaps
some of those smooth, plump men would forego their rounds of golf and
rediscover a zeal for souls.
Great comments, by Steve Weatherbe. “These smooth, plump men …”
…
Jeremiah 5:28:
“They have become rich and powerful
and have grown fat and sleek.
Their evil deeds have no limit;
they do not seek justice.
They do not promote the case of the fatherless;
they do not defend the just cause of the poor.”
….
Pardon me for thinking of many of the bishops I see, smooth, sleek, well-cared for, no concerns about their personal safety, their health care nor their retirement. I think in particular of one very clever, very smooth, very plump episcopal leader right now in the SF Bay Area (all right: NOT Cordileone, hardly: EVEN LESS SO, Bp. Barber, a former Navy chaplain: but someone else), who has little concern except for identity groups supporting his self-congratulory agenda. I happened to see him in person again 2 days ago at a function, and must now be closing in on 350 lbs —he is at LEAST 300 lbs now…Too many self-congratulatory diocesan dinners. I was shocked, even more so. Now, some people will take this the wrong way and consider it “too personal”: but this gets back to spiritual basic training.
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Sorry, but as a spiritual leader, St. Basil and many others (S. Benedict; S. Ignatius) always considered self-control with regard to food intake as a first step in the journey of the spiritual life. Not coincidentally, the same smooth bishop is also a big gun control advocate—who usually has an armed security accompany him to certain visits, as he did at a facility I was working at, 2 years ago. Never know when one of the CNA’s might go postal on him, ya know.. He also thinks the minimum wage should be $15/hour. Or $20. Or whatever.
…
“”They have become rich and powerful
and have grown fat and sleek.
…they do not seek justice.”
Steve – Yes. I remember reading St. Frances de Sales writing about eating. He said that it’s better to eat too much than too little, because it was more easily corrected. Fine, I said. But then I thought about it. When he said that eating too little was a situation that could be hard to correct, he was talking about fasting to the point that a person does physical damage. Those are the parameters he’s thinking of. not the “no second milkshake” mentality I have.
Nor, Pinky, do I want to appear that I am in any way castigating those who are a bit plump (at the present time I am not: but depending on work, sedentary occupation, etc there can always be a little leeway, exceptions). However, since those to whom I refer are so much into “optics”, one would think a little true solidarity with the poor would be a concern. And now, he is frankly killing himself…softly.
….
Funny story: When he came to the skilled nursing facility where I assist for the annual Mass, he entered the chapel area, and one of the elderly residents exclaimed when she saw him, very very loudly in a stage whisper of which Shakespeare would be proud, so everyone heard her: “Is THAT the bishop? My, he is a BIG man!”
We all nearly died laughing.
….
But one of my elder friends used to say what impressed him about the Catholic priesthood he encountered in the 1940’s, and what drew him from the Episcopal church to the Catholic Church, was the ascetic appearance of all the Catholic priests he met, and their dedication to prayer and fasting. He also used to describe his Ulster brother-in-law, who used to exclaim when meeting an obese person, “Why, he is fat as a priest!” (= Anglican clergy didn’t miss many meals, not even during war time.)
…
It made an impression on him to convert, that the Catholic priests lived the scriptural injunctions.
“We’re all so tediously familiar with bishops who rule over imploding dioceses
while they do little or nothing to turn the tide.”
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Last night in the local paper was a letter to the editor written by a gentleman from the local Voice of the Faithful group. He noted that since 2005 to present, there had been a drop of 37% of Catholics going to Mass in our area.
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Interesting that they choose the year 2005. That was the year our diocese welcomed (if you want to use that word) a “good conservative” bishop, who replace the very, very “liberal” bishop who had passed on.
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Perhaps they only had stats back going to 2005, but I’m pretty sure they could have gone back to Vatican II if they had really wanted to. Under the “liberal” bishop, priests being ordained had dropped badly (I am assuming that continued a trend under the two previous bishops, of whom I know nothing). Ordinations recovered somewhat after the new “good” bishop came to town. That bishop was assigned a few years ago to another, larger diocese, and another fairly good “conservative” bishop took his place. Again, I think that ordinations under him have been better than under the former “liberal” bishop.
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Numbers of Catholics are quite probably down, however, due to people leaving the area, dying off, no birthrate.
I saw the linked piece linked elsewhere the other night, and I thought, aha! now I understand what’s wrong the with the Republican Party
Bishop Bruskewitz did things “the right way”, to use a quote from Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan. The Bishop Emeritus of Lincoln was NOT concerned with currying favor in the local or national media. His concern was/is saving souls. Bishops with their own agendas don’t like what the Bishop Emeritus of Lincoln did.
My diocese, the Diocese of Pittsburgh, is shrinking. The average age of priests is rising. The number of priests is declining. Older parishes are, again, consolidating and/or closing. Older, faithful Catholics are dying off. Young people continue to either move away or drift away.
it all begins with the liturgy. Poorly celebrated liturgies with bland music inspire nobody. Poor catechesis leads to young people who think religion is not necessary -and if one is led to believe everybody is good and goes to heaven when they die, who needs religion?
“Any large bureaucracy always ends up having a large number of careerist “yes men” ending up in positions of authority.”
..
Ja, aber: It was our understanding at the outset of this pontificate that this pope’s emphasis against what he called “careerism” was that yes-men and the ambitious were not to be advanced to higher positions in the Church, but instead were to be content with conscientiously guiding their diocesan flock.
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Yet, we know (ex. Abp. Blasé Cupich, who did all the right things to get ahead; Card. Schonborn, who has supplanted Card Muller for all intents and purposes; Dont overlook Card. Dolan “the weathervane”, either) that hasn’t at all been the case with this pontificate. Great choreography. Ever seen the little song and dance episode “Step in Time” from the musical “Mary Poppins”:
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4I-b_GJ4ltk
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“Cmon, Laddies, step in time, never a reason, never a rhyme!”
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Even though Bp. Robert Lynch of St. Petersburg, FL is age 75, his attack on Catholics as (at least partly) to blame for the Orlando shooting, struck me as his effort to try one last time to get some important appointment before he cashes it in.
My bishop has been very active, active campaigning against guns, supporting illegal immigration, and promoting luke-warm pro-life activism, e.g. “We will not find victory politically or courts. The only victory is in the hearts and minds of the people.” Sounds warm and fuzzy. I guess he would have been against the Civil War too. Dear Bishop, how about all the above?
When I read this, I thought of Pope St. John Paul II, who lived his faith through Nazi and then Soviet occupation. He did not rise during peacetime, in a comfortable position. He was a man whose leadership grew out of adversity and persecution. He received a battlefield commission of a sort. He was tested under fire.
I keep seeing articles in social media that say Pope Francis is allowing Muslim prayers & Kiran readings in the Vatican. That is the height of incompetence if true. Can anyone tell me for certain one way or another, please?
Muslims believe that where ever their prayers are heard that the territory has been claimed for Islam.