Bishops who take the lead—in the wrong direction

By Phil Lawler ( bio - articles - email ) | Sep 14, 2011

Point #1: Retired Bishop Edward Daly of Derry, Ireland, believes that the Church should relax the discipline of clerical celibacy. OK; that’s a plausible argument. Priestly celibacy is not a matter of doctrine. But at a time when so many people are making the same argument for all the wrong reasons, it might be more prudent to make the case quietly, in discussion with other bishops, rather than in a book issued for the mass market.

Point #2: A reader on Mark Shea’s blog reports that Bishop Blase Cupich of Spokane, Washington, has told the priests of his diocese not to be involved with the 40 Days for Life campaign, because he doesn’t want them to be identified with the “extremists” of the pro-life movement. (Exactly the same report came to us separately, from a reliable source.) You know: the “extremists” who pray quietly outside abortion clinics, and try to save unborn babies from slaughter. If secular editorial writers in Spokane characterized those pro-lifers as extremists, it would show the need for more effective Church leadership in the city, to give people an accurate understanding of how real Christians behave. But if the bishop himself thinks they’re extremists, it’s a sad certainty that sort of effective leadership won’t be coming from his chancery.

Point #3: It’s Bishop Daly again, letting his readers know that he found the Traditional Latin Mass “lifeless and somewhat meaningless.” When a bishop of the Catholic Church can say that he finds the Holy Sacrifice “meaningless”—in any liturgical form—we have a major problem.

Point #4: Bishop Daly thinks that it’s time to revise the criteria for selecting bishops. Now that sounds like a good idea. For a few persuasive arguments in favor, see Point #1, Point #2, and Point #3.