The Bipolar Priesthood

The Bipolar Priesthood

Priests are like many conspicuous people. You love ‘em or hate ‘em. But the “saint or sinner” and “love or hate” view of the priesthood has overheated over the last several decades.

September 26, 2023 Father Jerry J. Pokorsky The Dispatch 12Print https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2023/09/26/the-bipolar-priesthood/

Decades ago, a pastor returned to the rectory, discouraged. He lamented that some people treat their dogs better than their priests. As every pastor knows, the priest had a point. He was faithful, irascible, ornery, and seldom apologized. In other words, an ordinary guy. He was not unlike many priests with a choleric temperament.

People who are bipolar suffer from manic/depressive extremes. An analogous bipolar view of the priesthood has been with us for centuries. Priests are like many conspicuous people. You love ‘em or hate ‘em. But the “saint or sinner” and “love or hate” view of the priesthood has overheated over the last several decades.

Church documents recognize the dignity of the priesthood. A bishop is a successor of the Apostles. The priest participates in the Orders of his bishop. He is “in the person of Christ the Head of the Church.” In Jesus, he offers Mass and celebrates the Sacraments. Regardless of his spiritual state, he forgives sins with certainty. He is a witness to Jesus. He holds a sublime and exalted office. His soul carries the indelible character of the priesthood for eternity.

The Scriptures reveal the weaknesses of the clergy. All the Apostles fled after the arrest of Jesus in the Garden. (As one wag put it, the first collegial act of the body of bishops.) John alone returned and joined Mary at the foot of the Cross. Peter, the first of the Apostles, denied Jesus three times. Judas betrayed Him. Saint Paul—and many saints after him—warned of the sins of bishops.

The medieval poet Chaucer held up monks as examples of hypocrisy. His Canterbury Tales descriptions weren’t schismatic, just realistic. Saint Thomas More humorously wrote in his “Utopia”: “There are very few priests in Utopia…” explaining, “but they are of exceeding holiness.”

This historical bipolar priesthood is acute in our time. Many people deify priests and view them as god-like models of holiness. The laity often approach the clergy as if they are oracles of wisdom. (Indeed, priests who live sinful double lives expertly disguise their vice to maintain this narcissistic supply.) But when events reveal the sins and weaknesses of priests, the balloon of respect bursts, and the laity quickly (and in extreme cases, correctly) scorn the priests as scoundrels.

The simmering abuse cover-up narrative places great weight on the “sinner” and “subhuman” view of the priesthood. Most priests (ordained for several years) know variations of the same story: Many disagreements in pastoral encounters—or the ordinary flaws of priestly character—justify hatred of the priest. Need evidence and a closing argument? “Priests abuse children.” QED.

The bipolar view of the priesthood extends to the higher clergy. During the years of John Paul II and Benedict XVI, faithful Catholics tended to hang on to their every word. Every phrase was a notable quotable. But in recent years, chaotic, ambiguous teachings and vindictive actions have led many traditional and faithful Catholics to dismiss news from the Vatican with disdain.

Sound bites can contribute to the bipolar view. Some slogans are true. Pope John Paul II spoke of the “culture of death.” Then-Cardinal Ratzinger lamented the “dictatorship of relativism.” The Catechism of the Catholic Church and the 1993 papal encyclical, “The Splendor of the Truth,” presented remedies. The divide was clear. Faithful Catholics took refuge in the papacy. Others went the way of “diversity, equity, and inclusion.”

Contemporary ambiguous papal soundbites (such as “accompaniment”) shattered the clarity of the divide. The most recent slogan: Those who oppose migration reveal their “fanaticism of indifference.” Like previous papal soundbites, the phrase is memorable. But unlike the clarity of the papal assertions of John Paul and Benedict, the Vatican slogans are ambiguous. The new sound bites fail to distinguish between the plethora of motives, types, and causes of immigration, so-called climate change, and LGBTQ ideology.

Incoherence in teaching the faith has contributed to a multi-polar priesthood. High-ranking Church officials flaunt Church teaching with LGBTQ activism and the ordination of women. The sheep—including priests on the front lines—scatter. Vatican intimidation silences faithful bishops. Among priests, another “elephant in the room” is Vatican dissent from Catholic teaching. Very few are willing to say the emperor has no clothes.

A result of the multi-polar priesthood is the confusion of prophetic witness. It is safe to indict those who oppose unrestricted immigration, “accompany” LGBTQ activists, promote female ordination, and take a knee in solidarity with Black Lives Matter. But faithful ecclesiastical pushback is mostly absent.

Priests sense the “tyranny of ecclesiastical political correctness” (to coin a phrase). The uncertain teachings emanating from the Vatican paralyze evangelization and demoralize the faithful. The papacy and the Vatican bureaucracy no longer have our backs. Consequently, we rarely have the wits or the confidence to impart the hot-button teachings of God’s law, thus risking the salvation of souls.

Occasionally, a daring voice cries out from the wilderness. Cardinal Gerhard Müller, Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, recently asserted:

The Pope has no authority from Christ to bully and intimidate good bishops modeled on Christ the Good Shepherd who, in accordance with the episcopal ideal of Vatican II, sanctify, teach and lead the flock of God in the name of Christ, just because false friends denounce these good bishops to Francis as enemies of the Pope, while heretical and immoral bishops can do whatever they want or who bother the Church of Christ every day with some other stupidity.

Priests represent the cross-section of an increasingly confused culture. Priests, bishops, and popes are not gods. They are mere men, the subject of Chaucer’s epic poems or Dante’s Inferno. Few are saints. All are sinners. But these weak and sinful men are not subhuman, either. Their teaching is forever bipolar: faithful to Christ or unfaithful.

Saint Paul’s indelicate remarks always apply: “Even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we preached to you, let him be accursed” (Gal. 1:8). Walk away from any given priest to protect your faith. But never walk away from Jesus and His Catholic Church.