John Greenleaf: What if We Wrote a Consumer Report of U.S. Catholic Bishops?

John W. Greenleaf brilliantly asks how the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops might fare if we Catholics (and others) looked at the USCCB and the church the bishops pastor as an organization vending goods to the public.  How would the USCCB and its customer service appear if most Catholics were allowed to write a consumer report on the corporation's marketing effectiveness and treatment of customers?

Not so well, Greenleaf expects.  Not with four people now leaving the Catholic church in the U.S. for every one who joins it.  And with 10% of American adults now showing up in various demographic studies as former Catholics.  

As Greenleaf concludes, 

American Catholic customer service is slipping and customers are increasingly unhappy. There is a great hunger for more effective worship, better responses to spiritual needs, and greater pastoral creativity.

And then he adds: 

If I were to write a consumers’ report for the USCCB, I would underline these issues: The shortage of priests. The fatigue and pessimism of older priests. The arrogant and oldfashioned Catholicism of far too many younger priests. Celibacy. The role of women in the church and their ordination. Transparency and consultation in church governance at every level, from the parish to the Vatican. Continuing revelations of sexual abuse and its coverup by more than a few bishops. The strong arm role of the hierarchy in Catholic higher education and health care. Monitoring of Catholic theology. Abortion, same-sex relations, and now once again birth control…. and the even more combustible demand that Catholic citizens and civic leaders be answerable to episcopal judgments about laws regarding these matters (bold-face in original).

Greenleaf wonders if His Eminence Timothy M. Cardinal Dolan is going to return from the gala events in Rome at which he was given the purple honors and roll up his sleeves, get down with some Catholic Martha Stewarts, and start baking bread.

Since it's bread and not stones that Catholics are hungry for.  Because we've been given a whole lot of the latter under the current crop of "pastoral" leaders.

And very little of the former.

Meanwhile, predictably, Michael Sean Winters of National Catholic Reporter continues to find the "famously gregarious" new cardinal just the best thing since sliced bread.  Just a regular guy who knows how to talk to other regular guys.

Who's only looking, like every other guy in the world, for a big win in his dealings with the Obama administration about women's health care needs.