For more than 2,000 years, the Catholic Church has been rocked by scandals. Every single scandal seems to arise from problems relating to the hierarchy, that old boys’ network of power-hungry, self-serving prelates whose collective head remains buried in the sands of medieval thought, rituals and rubrics. The hierarchy has consistently been more concerned with controlling church members than leading them forward on a once-in-a-lifetime spiritual adventure.
Today more than ever, bishops are accountable to no one. Each is his own little despot. Unless a bishop grossly misbehaves or becomes a heretic, bishops retain the position for life. Some even make it to cardinal.
It will never happen under the current pope or while the Vatican power-mongers keep their stranglehold on the rest of us, but one system to make bishops accountable may be in the way bishops are appointed. Let priests and laity choose leaders from within each diocese.
Rome hasn’t a clue when it comes to assessing priestly talent on the local level.
Each bishop would serve a specified term of office, which may or may not be renewable. When a bishop’s term is over, he would revert back to being an ordinary priest. This would make bishops more accountable. It would also prevent the hierarchy from becoming entrenched in a system like the present, which has failed everyone.
Canon law is manmade. Men can change it, but they must first have courage to do so.
