June 12, 2011 – Catechism 893-896

I think because of the power that bishops have over their dioceses, it is even more upsetting when and they are caught in acts that are, for lack of a better term, evil. It is not excusable for a priest to have sins or to act upon them, as in the sex abuse scandals, but the more damaging aspect were the cover-ups or the hiding done by the Diocese under the control of the bishop. As these paragraphs describe, the bishops have an extreme power and are not controlled by the Pope but are supposed to work in communion with the Pope. The Pope can advise them and instruct them, but the Pope is just another bishop in the hierarchy of the Church. So to some extent these bishops of different Diocese are the top of the latter and so for them to abuse their power in such a scandalous and evil way as to hide indiscretions or abuses is much more harmful to the Church overall than the abuses themselves. The abuse done by a priest is a horrible thing and can cause lifelong injury to those personally affected and may even cause harm for extended period of time to a parish that they served, but the Acts of the bishop in covering it up or trying to hide and or allowing the abuse, have had far reaching implications throughout the World wide Church. This is where the real damage has come because these men are responsible for the leadership of entire areas of the Catholic Church, not just singular parishes. Not only that but they are all so a visible representative of the Catholic Church to Non-Catholics. So when they are caught in scandalous or evil acts the rest the world sees that and not what may be going on in the majority of cases or they will lose sight of what the Church actually teaches or is trying to teach.