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Who watches the watchers?

“Sed quis custodiet ipsos custodies?” asks Juvenal,[1] “But who will watch the watchers themselves?” And so I ask myself the same question, when I see countless clergy at every level.

The whole Church sits by and watches when said clergy destroy their flocks – the reference to Ez 34 should not be missed – and those in positions to do something about it, well, do nothing. The corruption of the clergy is a problem that maybe has never been far from Catholic life, but there are ages such as our own where the corruption is so titanic that it’s hard to excuse it as “just a few bad men.”

Well, let’s not just pick on the clergy. Indeed, the clergy involve many of the laity, either in parish offices or in diocesan posts who more than happily collaborate in the ecclesial dilapidation.

As a religious I was astounded to witness the bottomless well of pride and abuse exercised by those who were in posts of authority – oh, wait, didn’t they tell me that their manifestations of pride were “God’s will for me”? – and for that reason alone I could never, at least now, turn to a religious order. Why throw myself into the hands of wicked men, for them to nurture their conceit? If all religious superiors were like St. Anthony in the Desert or St. Benedict, that would be another thing. Not surprisingly, neither Judas nor Stalin had religious subjects, as wicked men are not worthy of trust. Today’s religious superiors demand trust, and blind obedience, but they don’t earn the trust they demand.

Let no one think such things are limited to religious orders today. We have witnessed entire dioceses crumble and melt, to the detriment of countless souls… Bishops who publicly proclaim Eucharistic heresies, demand women or married priests, dissent against Humanae Vitae, offer communion to pro-abortion statesmen, solicit unchaste favors from their own seminarians, and join their priests in the most heinous liturgical abuses… And Rome and the other bishops either do nothing or congratulate them. If a priest would ever challenge a pro-abortion priest, it is his own bishop who would silence him in support of the pro-abortion priest; and then promote the latter to monsignor.

But what tool is there for Rome to use? Excommunication? Well, that’s old fashioned. Remove a dissenting bishop from his post? That would be politically incorrect. And there’s no real tool, what the civil world might call an “executive branch,” in the Church. And so Juvenal’s question stands: Is anybody – hello out there! – is anybody watching the watchers?

Two Last Words

Incidentally, “bishop,” in old Greek is “episcopos.” Epi-, “over,” and “skopeo” to see or watch. By definition, the bishop is the one who watches over the sheep. But the bishops, and all priests, are both pastors and sheep. The clergy form a flock who seem to wander with no shepherd. Who will save the clergy from the wrath to come? I just hope they like fire.

Curiously, Juvenal is discussing the case of immoral guards who attend to a corrupt woman. This is curious, given the recent renowned cases of impurity among the custodes.