Nice summation!
Let us say you are a father. May we conclude that, in your family, if there are things going on over which you do not presently have the kind of control that you would like to have as a parent, it must stand to reason that you have not controlled them because a) someone unseen has a gun to your head or b) you really want the things to happen.
Whether or not you agree with the bishops, this comment is way out of line.
Er, not really true. The bishops themselves are. The bureaucracy they’ve created and the inferior hires they have made are NOT.
I have a LOT of problems with some of the things that the **leaders **of the USCCB do. (I should have been more clear in my previous post…many of the clergy within this organization are good & faithful men. Those who have had leadership positions during the past 40 years are not.)Joe 5859;3825434]This seems like a tad cynical view of the USCCB. I’m not sure why the USCCB continually gets raked over the coals for two lousy movie reviews (one of which they adjusted the rating to “morally offensive” and the other of which they pulled entirely). And yet it remains a perpetual mainstay of canon fodder to be used against the bishops whenever anyone, anywhere, for any reason has a problem with something they do.
BRAVO!! We as parents & grandparents are not totally guiltless as to the state of the Church in the U.S.
Thank you for the clarification. My question is, if you are primarily upset with these few leaders of the USCCB, then why trot out the argument about the USCCB movie reviews?
I think the examples you give in your post make much more sense than a few iffy movie reviews made by a couple of guys who aren’t even bishops.Thank you. I second this. Making specific charges or complaints against specific bishops, specific employees of the USCCB, or specific policies can accomplish something. If done correctly, it builds up the Church rather than tears down. It is not as if the USCCB is above criticism or feedback of any kind.Thank you for the clarification. My question is, if you are primarily upset with these few leaders of the USCCB, then why trot out the argument about the USCCB movie reviews?
I suppose I was thinking of the USCCB as a whole and what that entails (as per canon law on local bishops conferences). The local bishop conference in and of itself doesn’t really have any more power than the bishops who make up that conference. It’s not like Congress, for example, that can pass laws as a group that each of its members, in turn must support.
Certainly, some of our bishops have made poor leadership decisions, but I think that we should avoid generalizations that would make all the US Bishops seem guilty of the actions of a few. I’m sure that wasn’t your intent, but that’s how your first post came across. That can serve to sow seeds of discontent with episcopal authority in general, which I don’t think is a good thing.
Still, in the business world the CEO’s are respsonsible for those that they hire & I think that this should apply to the USSCB. Iwould LOVE to know who, within the leadership of this bureaucracy called the Bishop’s Conference, actually hired Harry Forbes & who is respsonsible for keeping him in a position of reviewing movies for Catholics. The endorsement of the Golden Compass has now been pulled, but not before much damage was done:Joe 5859;3827859]Thank you for the clarification. My question is, if you are primarily upset with these few leaders of the USCCB, then why trot out the argument about the USCCB movie reviews?
This is true, Thank God & finally some of the hierarchy who are faithful to the Pope are speaking out. They will be accused of abusing the collegiality of the American bishops & will be treated by some their fellows as traitors, so please pray for those with the courage to speak out. I was AMAZED when Archbishop Burke was considered for the presidency of the USCCB. He & Bruskewitz & Chaput have long been an embarrassment to men like Skylstad & McCarick. (forgive the missing titles. Time is of the essence for me this morning.) It is coming…the triumph of fidelity over novelty, the realization that morality can accompany compassion & that one CAN love the sinner while hating the sin, the knowledge that Catholics are to be in the world, but not OF the world. I just hope that it won’t be too late.
Fair enough. I’m certainly not arguing that the USCCB has a perfect staff (nor an impeccable taste is conference speaker selection). I think that, in order for there to be this greater unity in liturgical issues, the USCCB would actually have to have more power, not less. The answer to the OP’s question (“Does anyone else here believe that the USCCB has too much power over the liturgy here in the U.S.?”) would then be that the USCCB does not have enough power over the liturgy.
Certainly, the bishops are responsible for who they hire, but it gets a little hairy at the national level. There are hundreds of people working in the dozens of different departments within the USCCB. The bishops certainly don’t have the time to vote on who gets hired (nor does an individual bishop necessarily have the ability to get someone fired). As for people like Forbes, I suppose we’ll never know who hired him.
It may not even have been a bishop. Even if whichever bishop was the Office for Film and Broadcasting’s episcopal liason at the time gave the final stamp of approval, it’s possible that some other USCCB staff member(s) did most of the screening and made a recommendation. I don’t even know how a staff member (particularly one who is “head” of a particular department) could get fired from the USCCB. Who makes that decision? Your guess is as good as mine!I am glad that you are optimistic about the future. I think it’s important to always temper any criticism of an action of an individual bishop with a message of hope, lest we despair over our current situation. And even when an individual bishop’s action makes me go
, I try not to extrapolate out of this that they are diametrically opposed to the Pope or the Church. Even those bishops that make poor decisions are often trying their best to do what is right. They have given their very life in service of the Church (and are successors to the apostles and all that). I’m sure they’re not intentionally trying to bring the Church down from the inside! 
The USCCB has only the power that the Pope and Magisterium allow and that is very little. They have NO TEACHING AUTHORITY and so they are required to always adhere to the teachings of the POPE and MAGISTERIUM. They cannot change teachings and MUST deliver the Teachings as prescribed by the POPE and Magisterium.