Should I be obedient to a disobedient priest?

[aodonnell23]

Help me with my internal struggle. My parish has a priest who, unfortunately, has shown us over the last two years that he does not believe in the True Presence of the Eucharist, does not believe Jesus was God, and will flat-out tell us that he doesn’t believe in everything the Church teaches, but says the “rules were written by guys with gray beards in Rome.” Many people have written to our bishop and asked for help, but we have been told that our priest is our spiritual leader and we need to be obedient. I feel that I need to be true to my faith, and that I can’t follow this priest or obey this bishop right now but there’s always part of me that’s conflicted because I love the Church, I believe in apostolic succession, and I do want to be obedient. What do I do?

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

Please see Leon J. Suprenant’s article linked below. This response to his article, by an American bishop, may also be helpful:

An American bishop kindly took the time to write to us regarding Leon Suprenant’s article, “How to Talk to a Bishop” (January ’07). The bishop acknowledged that Mr. Suprenant had many wise observations but wished another point had been made: Those who question a bishop’s actions often lack all the information necessary to make a sound judgment about the situation. The bishop also lamented that humility is often lacking in ecclesial debates and he prays that all of us be more humble in our dealings with one another. We thank the bishop for his salient observations (source).

Recommended reading:

How can I complain about a bishop?
How to Talk to (and about) a Bishop by Leon J. Suprenant
The Church Militant or the Church Belligerent by Fr. Paul Scalia
A Crisis of Saints by Fr. Roger Landry
Problems in the Church by Jimmy Akin