Years ago, I met an Anglican who had joined the Roman Church. He informed me that when being instructed to be received into the Church, he told was that to be a Catholic meant to accept the Pope in Rome as the supreme juridical head of the Church and that at times he exercised the special charism of infallibility. “Now,” he added, “I see every parish priest claiming supreme and infallible jurisdiction in his parish!” We can dismiss his claim as an exaggeration, or perceive the message he is trying to give us.

Very recently, I was reminded of his claim when, in your Light of Truth, I read the humble submission of a new bishop: “My priority, even in Agra, has always been team work…There are several people who are much more talented that I am in various fields. I find it much more efficient and beneficial to seek their help than struggling to get the work done alone.”

I have met many bishops across the country. I have been a resource person for their meetings at the national, regional, province and diocesan level. I have interacted with some of them while they were studying philosophy and theology. I could be wrong, but I get the feeling that many of them—if not the most— claim supreme and infallible jurisdiction in their diocese. In Hindi we have a saying which literally means: Every dog is a lion in his own lane. The tragedy is that often, in spite of all the scrutiny the Vatican makes, many of them are a bad choice. I am not saying that they are bad persons. They are just not fit for the job.

I have a feeling that the late arrival doctrine of transubstantiation makes many Catholic priests and bishops think that with their ordination or consecration, they undergo a transubstantiation: all their faults and follies disappear, these being merely the accidents of their personality, and they become other Christs. May the Lord give us many more humble and open-minded bishops like the one I quoted above.

Subhash Anand, St. Paul’s School,
Bhupalpura, Udaipur-313001