Fr. Richard McBrien, in his weekly column, dreams of bishops who will be permissive in some respects, but outspoken in other respects:

Ironically, what used to be called "the silent majority" during the Nixon presidency is now composed largely of liberals and moderates, not conservatives. The real "silent majority" in the Church consists of mainstream Catholics like Father Hehir, Mayor Menino and the hundreds of other committed lay Catholics who support Catholic Charities and who attended last month's fund-raising dinner in spite of the shrill protests and threats from the Church's far right.

What is most distressing, however, is the failure of church leadership to name what is going on and to stand firmly against it. Instead, too many bishops cave in to these pressure-groups, allowing even an outstanding priest like Bryan Hehir to absorb their barbs and insults.

Umm, Father, you ask too much... News flash: permissive bishops are decidedly non-dogmatic. If the "silent majority" in America is as McBrien describes it, permissive bishops may be a contributing factor. And then he wants these same bishops to have a backbone for heterodoxy? A permissive person champions no one. (Of course, if he's a narcissist, he may give the appearance of being permissive, while being quite dogmatic in practice. Maybe this is what McBrien wants: More clerics like Mahony).

I feel like I'm stating the obvious, but sometimes the most basic concepts need to be explained to the likes of McBrien.

UPDATE: Amy Welborn offers a much more detailed analysis of McBrien's rant. Very rewarding.

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