The Eight Habits of Highly Effective Bishops

Mary Jo Anderson has written an article for Crisis Magazine, titled, The Eight Habits of Highly Effective Bishops. She discussed this article last night on the EWTN Program, The Abundant Life.

Several bishops are listed as examples of those men who possess certain qualities which enable them to be effective bishops. Of course, our own Archbishop Burke is included in this survey as a man of courage and conviction.

Notwithstanding the sex-abuse scandal that has buffeted the Catholic Church in the United States, Catholics genuinely admire bishops whose courage and dedication have made a difference in their dioceses. Adversity tends to sharpen the contrast and clarify the picture of Catholicism in America. And the recent presidential election added another dimension to any reflection on the American Catholic identity, as many of the most crucial issues intersected Catholic teaching on the sanctity of life, sex, and marriage.
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There were many other examples of this kind of public episcopal leadership. Dorothy Walker, a Florida catechist, cited Archbishop Raymond L. Burke of St. Louis "for his courage and the extremely well-thought-out defense in his recent pastoral letter that Catholics must vote" for the sake of their contribution to the common good.

Also named was our former Auxiliary Bishop, Most Rev. Michael Sheridan:

Bishop Sheridan also refused to be intimidated by CNN's Anderson Cooper over the matter of the worthiness of pro-abortion politicians to receive the Eucharist. When a hostile Cooper suggested that Bishop Sheridan's stance pushed Catholics away from the Church, the bishop replied, "[A]s a bishop I have the mandate to speak the truth."

A MANDATE to speak the truth! And we have a mandate to accept and adhere to the Truth as given to us by Christ and His Church!

This is an excellent article and well worth the taking the time to read it. We are quite fortunate to have been blessed with some very good bishops in recent years. We should continue to pray for them that our Lord will continue to bless them and give them the courage and faith to proclaim the truth with love and conviction and that He will protect them from the forces of evil!

A link to the article at Catholic Culture is here.