It is no secret that in the Church today it is not easy to come by a bishop who is not only orthodox but also forthright in his opinions and actions in the Church and society. We have become so accustomed to bishops who seem to tolerate error and sacrilege—even if they don’t privately support such things—that many of us have in some ways stopped expecting anything overtly positive from our bishops.
In most cases, we never even meet our bishops in person, which in some ways isn’t really their fault as they must oversee a diocese that expands across a large geographical area. For instance, it would take about three hours to drive from the south tip of my diocese of London, Ontario, to the northernmost part. It is worth noting that my area of Southwestern Ontario is not some remote area in northern Canada; it is a decently populated area with many midsize cities and big towns.
As a result, most of the interaction we have with our bishops, if any at all, will be at confirmation—that is unless he has assigned an auxiliary or a priest to do so—or when the bishop makes a public statement via a letter that is read at a parish for this reason or that. If we are lucky, we might see our bishop at a pro-life march or some fundraising event. The bishops never seem to be absent from the fundraising events…
Continue reading at Crisis Magazine