C
Cathoholic
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13pollitos . . .
I have already talked about prayer, fasting, etc. (here) but you are asking about what we can do on a natural level too (not just the supernatural level).
At least I think that is what you mean here.
Bishop Wilton Gregory himself talked about holding the bishops publicly accountable via bad publicity back after the 2002 crisis and “reassured” people that’s why this would NOT reoccur.
Now that it is still occurring, and we have found out that some of the bishops themselves were in on it (against not just children, but even against our Catholic seminarians and priests – the obvious example being Mr. McCarrick and to a certain extent those who knew about him, but FAILED to warn the flock), we as laity are not left with many natural options to add to our supernatural pleadings.
I don’t think Wilton Gregory was “suggesting” the Bishops have their reputations ran down either. I think he was just pointing out the inevitable result.
And his point was that the Bishops were so intimidated by that bad publicity, that this public discrediting of them would keep them all in line.
He was wrong.
So what are we as laity left with (on a natural level)?
Information sharing and vigilance.
So if our sons are interested in the priesthood for example, a given good bishop’s diocese may be a better option for that young man than other dioceses.
Laity may want to send a portion of their tithe to a good bishop and look for other financial destinations rather than give to an “iffy” bishop’s diocese.
Open and honestly carefully discussing this with people considering converting to the Catholic faith can be helpful too. Why?
Because if you don’t tell this to a potential convert, they may think you are attempting to whitewash the Church’s problems.
Then if they find out on their own about some of the bishops (and they WILL find out), they might think you attempted to deceive them for the sake of “conversion”. They may feel manipulated.
But if you are up front, and just tell them the Church has ALWAYS had nominal bishops, and go over yesterday’s Mass reading from Acts 20 about bad bishops (episcopae or “overseerers”), they will be appreciative and be able to see beyond the shenanigans.
I am personally working with a person considering the Catholic faith right now and have already been up front about this.
So he/she is prepared for “the newspaper” attack against Catholicism. He/she has already been proverbially “immunized” against “shock” that will occur when reading about the antics of some of these confused and duplicitous men who are in episcopal positions of authority (or their subordinates who they place).
Those are just three “natural” examples I can think of off hand.
Hopefully that helped.
Great question 13pollitos.
I have already talked about prayer, fasting, etc. (here) but you are asking about what we can do on a natural level too (not just the supernatural level).
At least I think that is what you mean here.
Bishop Wilton Gregory himself talked about holding the bishops publicly accountable via bad publicity back after the 2002 crisis and “reassured” people that’s why this would NOT reoccur.
Now that it is still occurring, and we have found out that some of the bishops themselves were in on it (against not just children, but even against our Catholic seminarians and priests – the obvious example being Mr. McCarrick and to a certain extent those who knew about him, but FAILED to warn the flock), we as laity are not left with many natural options to add to our supernatural pleadings.
I don’t think Wilton Gregory was “suggesting” the Bishops have their reputations ran down either. I think he was just pointing out the inevitable result.
And his point was that the Bishops were so intimidated by that bad publicity, that this public discrediting of them would keep them all in line.
He was wrong.
So what are we as laity left with (on a natural level)?
Information sharing and vigilance.
So if our sons are interested in the priesthood for example, a given good bishop’s diocese may be a better option for that young man than other dioceses.
Laity may want to send a portion of their tithe to a good bishop and look for other financial destinations rather than give to an “iffy” bishop’s diocese.
Open and honestly carefully discussing this with people considering converting to the Catholic faith can be helpful too. Why?
Because if you don’t tell this to a potential convert, they may think you are attempting to whitewash the Church’s problems.
Then if they find out on their own about some of the bishops (and they WILL find out), they might think you attempted to deceive them for the sake of “conversion”. They may feel manipulated.
But if you are up front, and just tell them the Church has ALWAYS had nominal bishops, and go over yesterday’s Mass reading from Acts 20 about bad bishops (episcopae or “overseerers”), they will be appreciative and be able to see beyond the shenanigans.
I am personally working with a person considering the Catholic faith right now and have already been up front about this.
So he/she is prepared for “the newspaper” attack against Catholicism. He/she has already been proverbially “immunized” against “shock” that will occur when reading about the antics of some of these confused and duplicitous men who are in episcopal positions of authority (or their subordinates who they place).
Those are just three “natural” examples I can think of off hand.
Hopefully that helped.
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