Writes Mark Higdon:

…and the American “Catholic” (so-called) bishops understand its language, perhaps better than any other.

Family and friends, let’s speak to them in that language.

Personal background: Decades ago, my checkbook slammed shut for any contributions to any Catholic episcopal-based cause at any level. Anything from Peter’s Pence down to the local “Bishop’s Annual Appeal” elicited at most an empty envelope from me with a note enclosed. The reason? Episcopal-based contributions have been and continue to be used in whole or in part to support organizations and activities that are unholy, un-Catholic, unjust and/or downright evil. This has long been true.

As I write this, bishops in most of our American dioceses have ordered all churches closed, which effectively denies the Mass and Sacraments to all but the best-connected and most-resourceful among us. The pastors have fled from guarding their flocks, leaving them at the mercy of all kinds of wolves prowling about these days. What makes this betrayal of the people so much worse than betrayal by their governments is that most of the latter have exempted churches and religious gatherings from various “plague-based” restrictions and closures. Or, to put it another way, wherever the governments refrained from persecuting the Church, the bishops stepped in and voluntarily did it for them, under little or no duress.

Back to how we respond to this massive, unspeakable injustice.

1. If you haven’t already, withhold indefinitely any and all contributions to anything episcopal-connected. Continue to do so when (if?) churches are reopened.
2. As long as your parish church remains closed, withhold all financial support from it.
3. This one’s a bit more complicated. Whenever (if?) the churches reopen, compute your weekly contribution thus: Figure what you would normally donate, find out what percentage of pew donations your parish carves out in “tax” to its diocese, subtract that percentage from your pew donation AND BE SURE TO TELL YOUR PASTOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE, WHY AND HOW MUCH IT COST THE PARISH.

(I realize that your reduced contribution will be taxed anyway. That’s why your explanation is so important to communicate. The alternative is total withholding. I would never presume to call for that as long as a church is open for business.)

Because, as I said, the American bishops first language is not Latin or English; it is $$.

The bishops didn’t have to do this, nor do they have the canonical authority. On the other hand, they are flouting their canonical duties. Parish priests are not bound by obedience here. Lex iniusta non est lex. “Obeying an unjust and illegal order is not virtuous.”

Final word on our prelates: “A crisis does not build character. It only reveals it.”