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The recent Vatican decree that put a bishop in charge of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) ought to be viewed as a radical measure -- because it is. Critics might allege that this is episcopal revenge for how these and other Catholic organizations undercut the effort of the bishops to prevent the passage of the Affordable Care Act. The official decree has a jumble of assertions alluding to heresy, including one that says the LCWR had been taken over by “radical feminists.” Whether or not such claims are true, we can be certain that the takeover is based on the totalitarian conception of episcopal power.

Cardinals and Bishops attend John Paul II Beatification Ceremony held by Pope Benedict XVI on May 1, 2011 in Vatican City, Vatican. (Franco Origlia - GETTY IMAGES) The trial of Msgr. William J. Lynn, secretary for clergy under a late Philadelphia cardinal, exposes every day what Pope Benedict XVI has called “the filth of the church.” As the New York Times explained, Lynn is “the first Roman Catholic supervisor in the country to be tried on felony charges of endangering children and conspiracy — not on allegations that he molested children himself.” If the allegations that Lynn ignored child sexual abuse are true, file the Philadelphia case as another clerical cover-up that will have irrevocably stained the church’s image.

If this major scandal were not enough, other Catholic news haunts the conscience: According to a report by Reuters, JP Morgan closed the Vatican’s bank account for “lack of transparency.” Catholic nuns in America, who power the nation’s Catholic hospitals, schools and social service organizations are under attack from the Vatican. Pedophilia has put mighty Irish Catholicism “at the breaking point.”

Facing the scope of these stories, Catholics can legitimately ask: “Is the church corrupt?”

The answer to that question depends on perspective. If people join the church as sinners in order to become saints, human failures are no big surprise. If most priests and faithful live the Gospel, why label the whole institution as “corrupt”? Haven’t we heard this charge many times in history?

Although Catholicism has reformed itself in the past and is the world’s largest Christian church, the corruption question can’t be dismissed by platitudes, especially when Catholicism is looked at sociologically. In fact, today’s scandals might be of less concern than what can be called “structural deficits.” The routine dissent from church teachings by church-going laity – use of contraception, divorce and remarriage outside the church, unwed couples living together, etc. – represents the loss of a trusting base. Dwindling church membership, the graying of the remaining faithful, the closing of schools and hospitals, diocesan bankruptcies, a shrinking number of clergy, a persistent refusal to include married men in the ranks of the clergy -- these are realities that spell institutional doom, pushing believers to separate devotion to Jesus from faith in the church. In purely human terms, the Catholic Church seems condemned to inevitable decline.

Reverend William E. Lori, Roman Catholic Bishop of Bridgeport, Conn., gestures while testifying on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012, before the House Oversight and Government Reform committee hearing: "Lines Crossed: Separation of Church and State. Has the Obama Administration Trampled on Freedom of Religion & Freedom of Conscience." From left are, Lori, Reverend Dr. Matthew C. Harrison, President, The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod and C. Ben Mitchell, Graves Professor of Moral Philosophy Union University. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) (Carolyn Kaster - AP)

The Catholic Bishops’ statement of April 2012, “Our First, Most Cherished Liberty,” is an ambitious undertaking with much to recommend it. Based on what people in the pews are saying, however, I think it is dead on arrival.

Instead of a unifying pastoral message, this effort is political and divisive. It might be right on theology, but its tone is off-key. The USCCB’s earlier Faithful Citizenship urged lay Catholics to engage in an admittedly imperfect democratic process to make things better. This document instead promotes protest and civil disobedience against the American government.

It is common to hear calls to “Put Christ back in Christmas,” but not so common to ask the same for Easter. Yet Easter has been more profaned and commercialized than Christmas. With bunnies, decorated eggs, jelly beans and songs about bonnets, there is scarcely mention in common culture of Christ’s Resurrection from the dead, let alone sales of items commemorating the same. Despite the proliferation of snowmen and red-cheeked Santas at Christmas, the season features the Child Jesus, with Christmas carols about the stable and angels from on high. Where in popular culture does the Easter bunny share space with the Risen Savior?

For almost as long as we have been a church, Catholic ritual for Palm Sunday has dramatized that people who greeted Jesus with “Hosannas” and palm branches on his entry into Jerusalem were in the crowd calling for his crucifixion days later.

Holy Week reminds us that religion can as easily distort consciences as illuminate them. This year, the entry of the Affordable Care Act into the Supreme Court invited Palm Sunday-like displays of acclaim accompanied simultaneously by dark threats of rejection. The final court decision is not on a par with Jesus’ passion, nor is Obama to be confused with the Messiah, but just because we consider ourselves God’s friends we are not exempt from the sin of distorting the Gospel message.