Why do so many Catholics defy the Catholic bishops?

[Exalt]

We need to answer this question not simply as individuals, but as members of society, called to work for the common good. If same sex marriage were legalized, the result would be a significant change in our society.

Is this just another way of saying, “we oppose gay marriage because it means homosexual relationships and families will become more accepted in society”?

If so, what concern is that to the bishops? How come they’re interested in using government regulations to influence the opinions of people outside of their parishes?

 

[Charlemagne_II]

**Is this just another way of saying, “we oppose gay marriage because it means homosexual relationships and families will become more accepted in society”?

If so, what concern is that to the bishops? How come they’re interested in using government regulations to influence the opinions of people outside of their parishes? **

The bishops are also American citizens with the right to vote and to be heard, just like you. They did not give up that right when they became bishops. Why is that a problem for you?

 

[John21652]

John

The Bishops are supposed to be leaders within the Church. If they allow moral laxity to permeate the rank and file of Catholicism, then they lose the respect of Catholics as leaders. That said, many Catholics will view the lack of leadership from the Bishops as licence to interpret the rules as they see fit, ot to even make their own rules. The Bishops need to step up to the plate, show some moral courage and start leading by enforcing some basic rules.

There is an Italian proverb that seems to agree with your analysis.

“The fish stinks from the head.”

I agree that leadership is always the problem. When there is a crisis in any institution. Look at the trouble our economy is in. It isn’t the people who racked up trillions of dollars of debt to themselves. It’s the politicians.

An earlier poster said this is nothing new. I beg to differ. That poster did not live in or before the 1950s when bishops and priests were highly respected in American society. Even the Protestants were glued to the tube when Bishop Sheen was lecturing every Tuesday night. I know because my grandfather, who didn’t even go to church, tuned in religiously to Bishop Sheen.

Catholic did not defy the Church or its bishops the way they do today. I think it’s as you say. There isn’t so much to admire and a great deal to be disappointed in.

This could turn around, but it will take a brave new world of bishops and priests to do it.

The seminaries are not turning out many priests. Maybe that’s a good thing for now, as the cleansing of the priesthood is a great deal more important than the numbers.

One of the big problems in todays world is what we call “information overload”. I think it was PatrickSeabast in an earlier post who mentioned the goings on in the secular world which drown out the message of the Church. I accused the Bishops of a lack of leadership. In a sense, what they need to do is find a different way to lead. They need to overcome the “information overload” that we are all prone to in the modern world and ensure their message is heard over and above the ‘noise’ that modern society generates.

One way I personally think this can be made to work is by getting Parish priests to turn their theological sermons into homilies which are more related to what the ills of society actually are. In other words, get the priests to verbalise what it is people intuitively know is wrong in the world about them. To put it bluntly, they need to get relevent. The Bishops should have every priest preaching against, say abortion on one particular Sunday and then every priest on another topic the following Sunday and so on. That would giove the Church a “mass media” type approach to issues.

This would soon get everybody onto the ‘same page’.