“Worry about the negative spirit and potential damage of the Biden administration was unanimous,” Maier reported.
He said that the quality of bishops’ relationships with civil authorities can vary by region. A bishop who moved to the Midwest from the east found his governor to be warm and supportive compared to the “belligerence” of his previous state’s governor.
The cultural and political weaknesses of the Catholic Church gave rise to a common sentiment from bishops, in Maier’s phrasing: “we’re generals without armies, and the civil authorities know it.”
In Maier’s view, bishops enjoy many fewer privileges and face many more demands than they once did.
“The abuse scandal of the last 20 years, the hostility of today’s cultural and political environment, and the toxic nature of criticism within the Church herself have led many men—some claim as many as a third of candidates—to turn down the episcopacy when offered,” Maier wrote. “Mediocre, incompetent, and even bad men still do become bishops. The remarkable thing is how many of our bishops, the great majority, are good men doing their best, and doing it well, as a ‘father and pastor’.”
“The extraordinary fact of Catholic life in the United States is not the few bishops who humiliate us so bitterly, but the many who do the job so well,” he said.
Bishops said that when they first took office, the administrative burdens of their new position in the Church were among the greatest surprises.
“These have a serious crippling effect on their ability to connect intimately with their people,” Maier said. “Doing a bishop’s work well leaves little room for rest, and most outsiders are oblivious to the personal cost. All acknowledged their reliance on the collaboration of lay advisers and staff, and the growing need to develop lay leaders.”
Maier found some frustration with Pope Francis, whose sometimes unconventional approach to his office has generated both enthusiasm and criticism.
“All of the men I spoke with expressed a sincere fidelity to the Holy Father. Many praised his efforts to reshape the Roman curia toward a more supportive, service-oriented posture in dealing with local bishops,” he said. “But many also voiced an equally vigorous frustration with what they see as his ambiguous comments and behavior, which too often feed confusion among the faithful, encourage conflict, and undermine bishops' ability to teach and lead.”
“Francis’s perceived dislike of the United States doesn’t help,” said Maier. He quoted a western U.S. bishop who said “It’s as if he enjoys poking us in the eye.”
The influence of Pope Francis in inspiring vocations to the priesthood is also a matter of discussion.
“When pressed, none of the bishops I queried could report a single diocesan seminarian inspired to pursue priestly life by the current pope. None took any pleasure in acknowledging this,” he said.
Seminarians tend to be “strongly motivated men.” They come from various home backgrounds and states of religious formation, which Maier said makes a seminary’s propaedeutic or spirituality year “vital” for seminary education.
Maier said one recurring criticism from the bishops he spoke with was alleged interference with the selection process of bishops at the level of Rome’s Congregation of Bishops.
“This typically involved an implied, and sometimes quite explicit, distrust of a particular American cardinal who will remain unnamed,” Maier said.
Still, most bishops said they are “deeply satisfied” with their ministry and think the selection process for bishops is “sound.”
While opposing “democratization,” the bishops voiced support for “a wide, confidential consultation in the nomination of bishops involving more well-informed lay faithful.”
Maier aims to hold similar interviews with clergy and religious, then with Catholic laity.
Kevin J. Jones is a senior staff writer with Catholic News Agency. He was a recipient of a 2014 Catholic Relief Services' Egan Journalism Fellowship.