Catholic Clergy: Making Themselves Irrelevant

The beliefs of the Catholic Church are defined by two thousand years of careful writings and a slow process of understanding the revealed truths. This has brought us our Catechism, our Creed, encyclicals such as Humanae Vitae, and other solid references which provide a foundation for living well, especially in stressful times. One role of the clergy is to guide us Catholics in these teachings.

The Church is not defined by whatever a priest in Paducah happens to say on Tuesday, and its faithful are under no obligation to take direction from misguided clergy. But how do we determine when to ignore? For Catholics using their rational minds and their God-given free will, it’s been happening for centuries. Some (unfortunately) leave the church altogether, some walk to the next parish over, and some simply ignore the bad advice and view their priest as just a delivery vehicle for the sacraments. Sadly, what we’re seeing now is an unprecedented amount of incompetence, and it exists at all levels of the church.

Let’s start at the top. Pope Francis continues to astound the Catholic faithful with his ridiculous, fact-denying comments, from global warming as the world’s most pressing problem, to his undying support of soul-deadening socialism/communism, to his purge of pro-life advocates within the Vatican, to his intentionally nebulous writings on serious matters of faith, to his most recent act of squelching the U.S. bishops in their efforts to address the child abuse problem within their ranks. Some could argue we’re expecting too much from this man, given the stellar theological minds which occupied his position the prior 30 years. But I disagree -- we’re simply asking for several logical statements, based on fact, not feelings, which can hold up to the scrutiny of an intelligent high-school senior. His inability to hit this low bar drives Catholics to ignore him.

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