Well, Willie, I wasn't actually brought up to respect priests and nuns. I was brought up to be discriminating, to trust the ones who deserved trust and distance myself from the ones who didn't. I found many priests and nuns who were wonderful people and who had a wonderful effect on my life when I was growing up. I found a few bad ones, too. I've always let them know if I held them in contempt.

My mother was a tough cookie, educated in a convent school and unafraid of priests and nuns (my dad was an engineer, and was far more respectful). When my mother was mad at the priests in our parish, we went to the nuns' motherhouse for Mass and stayed away from the parish.

What DOES distress me is when I find the bad ones taking the balance of power. In my lifetime, I've found 65 percent of the nuns I've known to be admirable, and 30 percent tolerable, and maybe 5 percent deplorable. Of priests, 50 percent admirable, 30 percent tolerable, and 20 percent deplorable. Of bishops (judging more from reports than personal knowledge), 25 percent admirable, 50 percent (barely) tolerable, and 25 percent deplorable. Of bishops I've known more directly, maybe 50 percent admirable, 25 percent tolerable, and 25 percent deplorable.

Bishops don't rate very high in my book. I have higher "admirable" marks for the ones I've known personally, because the deplorable ones are too snooty to expose themselves to mere laymen - so I didn't get to know as many of them.




-Joe-