How can lay Catholics spur bishops into action?

By Phil Lawler ( bio - articles - email ) | Aug 20, 2026

“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel… The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the crippled you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd; and they became food for all the wild beasts.” [Ezekiel 34: 1, 4-5] (1st reading at today’s Mass)

Those powerful words from Ezekiel, proclaimed at Mass on Wednesday, hit me with a special impact. Earlier in the week I had met with several friends who were organizing a political campaign, discussing their plans for a special effort to reach Catholic voters. Almost immediately, after we had introduced ourselves, the conversation took a turn that was all too familiar to me: we began talking about how we might persuade our bishops to take the lead, rallying Catholics to vote for pro-life candidates.

Here in Massachusetts, the time would be ripe for such an effort. Our state legislature has just passed a bill that allows for abortion, for any reason, up until the moment of birth. Photos and videos of the ceremony at which the governor signed the bill into law, surrounded by gleeful women who were laughing and cheering, provoked a ripple of outrage when they circulated online. How far had we fallen, in this once-Catholic community, when our political leaders actually celebrate the destruction of human life?

In theory both the governor and many of the lawmakers who supported this legislation are Catholics—as are many of the voters who put them in office. So a stern warning from the hierarchy, reminding Catholics that support for abortion is a grave sin, might have some real impact—in theory.

But, as I told my friends at that organizational meeting, it’s not going to happen. Our bishops may issue statements denouncing the new law (as they have already done), but they will not discipline the Catholics who authored and supported the legislation. When I urged my friends not to waste their time trying to elicit more active support from the bishops, they asked me: “What would it take to get them involved.” I had to answer: I don’t know.

Again and again, for 40 years or more, I have been involved in the same conversation. What will it take to prompt our bishops into decisive action? When will they respond to the pleas of the faithful? They did not respond to complaints about clerical abuse, until lawsuits and sensational headlines forced their hands. They have not responded to reports of liturgical abuses, or reports of heterodox teaching in Catholic schools and colleges. And with rare exceptions they have not responded to the scandal caused by self-identified “proud” and “devout” Catholics who support the culture of death. What will it take? I don’t know.

Pondering and praying about the question for the umpteenth time, I asked myself, once again, what a faithful layman should do. What should a dutiful son or daughter do, when the father’s negligence endangers the family? (Here I am assuming that a bishop thinks of himself primarily as a spiritual father, rather than as an organizational administrator. One could question that assumption. But never mind.) If the father’s negligence is evident, and the damage is manifest, an adult child faces three options*:

1. He can leave the home, slam the door, abandon his family, and never come back. Except in the most extreme circumstances, I think we can agree, that will be the wrong choice.
2. He can swallow hard and submit to his father’s authority. But if the situation is objectively harmful, and the damage is serious, that too is probably the wrong choice. The child has become a passive accomplice in the father’s negligence.
3. He can reason with his father, plead with him, remonstrate with him. He can enlist other family members, perhaps even neighbors and friends, to stage an “intervention.” He can protest, urging appropriate action, and keep protesting—respectfully but persistently, not challenging the father’s authority but insisting that the father should use that authority.

The same logic applies to lay Catholics who wish for more effective episcopal leadership. We should be respectful, but demanding; polite, but persistent. Unfortunately some bishops surround themselves by staff members who shield them from lay activists. Just as unfortunately, some loyal Catholics treat their bishops with exaggerated deference, even flattery, rather than speaking to them boldly and honestly. We owe our bishops the service of honest criticism.

Ironically, in today’s climate our bishops seem most sensitive to criticism from Catholics who reject the authority of the Church, and least inclined to hear out the complaints of those who uphold Church authority, and wish to see that authority exercised. Nevertheless, we loyal Catholics must continue our efforts, not allowing setbacks to discourage us. Some Catholics suffer for the Church, and others suffer from the Church. In either case, suffering borne with grace is redemptive.

*These three options reflect the analysis of the economist Albert O. Hirschman in his fascinating book, Exit, Voice, and Loyalty, which studies the way an unsatisfied member can respond to problems in any institution.