Exiit qui seminat
The Promise of Obedience: Priest to Bishop
When I was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Camden, I made a solemn promise of obedience to the bishop and his successors. It's often the most misunderstood of the promises/vows that priests and religious make and, in reality, it's one of the most difficult to live out. Obedience to one's superiors is not blind fealty. Obedience is not a Catholic form of "Simon Says" either. At the heart of obedience is the submission of one's will to the will of God and to the person or persons that the Holy Spirit deigns to place in authority. It is an act of humility and surrender of one's will for the sake of Christ and the Church. It can be hard sometimes, especially when, as a priest, you may not personally or wholeheartedly agree with the choices and decisions that a bishop makes. For a parish priest, when the bishop speaks as the shepherd of the diocese and, more importantly, as his spiritual father, a priest has to take very seriously what is asked of him. There has to be a fairly important and even grave reason for a priest to say, "No" to his bishop. It is not a decision that is taken lightly or lackadaisically. Nor should disobedience be celebrated for it means that there is a fracture in the unity of the Church herself, a unity that Christ longs for His Church to have. Ideally, there should be a respectful and constructive discussion about the issue at hand between the priest and his bishop to reach a mutually acceptable solution. But if that solution doesn’t happen, it doesn’t give a priest license to do what he wants regardless of the will of the bishop. Sometimes we have to acquiesce to the will of the bishop as a successor to the Apostles. The only time a priest can validly disobey a bishop is when the priest is asked to do something immoral, illegal or sinful. Just like the world in which we live, there is a lot of disunity in the Church both universally and locally. Satan is certainly trying his best to pull the Church apart at the seams and stoke to fires of unhealthy pride. The only way to combat disunity is to focus on charity, humility, sacrifice and, of course, obedience to the will of God.
