So our parish is being forcibly merged with another -

[hedgehog]

mainly due to the lack of priests in this diocese. I think we're cutting the number of parishes in half all across the diocese, so just about every parish is being disrupted this way. The priest keeps preaching that we should stop complaining because "this is God's will". Should I perhaps correct his notion that the bishop is God?

[tjwmason]

1. Too many Catholics have fallen for that line too many times.

Yes we believe that Episcopal governance is part of God's plan for His Church - but a simple glance at history will show that many many Bishops (and not a few Popes) have made idiotic decisions at times. It is both a right and a duty of the Catholic Faithful to speak against bad decisions.

That said, the Bishops are not in an good position - the shortage of Priests is very severe and papering over the crack using 80 year-olds who have long-since retired is not a viable solution. The Faithful should engage in a constructive discussion with the Bishop - neither merely sitting and moaning nor blindly following.

[hedgehog]

2. Discussion implies an exchange of views between equals looking to

learn from each other. I'm sad to say that most of our bishops stopped listening to anyone except Vatican bureaucrats years ago!

How do we bring our Church back to life when our current structure places all power in the hands of a few? I wish I knew the answer.