Francis Of Assisi On Criticizing The Clergy

"Blessed is the servant who has faith in the clergy who lives uprightly according to the rite of the Roman Church.  

"Woe to those who look down upon them; for even though they be sinners, no one should judge them because the Lord alone reserves judgment on them to Himself.  For just as their ministry is greater in its concerns for the most holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which they receive and they alone administer to others, so those who sin against them commit more of a sin than against all other persons in this world." [1]

My first question is to whom was Holy Francis [2] addressing?  I think he was addressing his brothers and not the laity which includes me.  This conclusion ought to be correct, not because I enjoy criticizing men and women of cloth and wish to be exempt from all woes, but because he used the word "servant" in the first sentence and implied it in the second when he wrote "woe to those"  and I am not per se a "servant" of an order committed to serve the Lord .  Secondly, Holy Francis' audience was probably the brothers of his Order who are not priests since the words are "just as [the priests'] ministry is greater in its concerns for the most holy Body and Blood of .... Christ, which [the priests] receive and they alone administer to others." [3]  In other words, it would not make sense for Holy Francis to tell the world that it would be fine for the laity to criticize a brother who is not a priest just because he cannot administer the Body and Blood of Christ [4].

However, Holy Francis could have been deliberately vague in the use of words and would have preferred that no one except the Lord alone to judge men and women of the clergy even though they maybe sinful because they serve to uphold the Church.  Francis of Assisi was of course correct because he knew of the sins of the members of the clergy and if their sins ever became known, the standing of the Church would suffer, and it has, in light of the likely mismanagement of Church funds and property and a number of confirmed pedophiles who abused children sexually and damaged them emotionally.

My dilemma remains: should I stop criticizing members of the Catholic Church in accordance with Holy Francis' wishes, when they are interpreted broadly, or continue to point out what I believe to be the truth, even though I do not know all the facts, when his wishes are interpreted narrowly?

For now, I will stop my negative comments unless I have been allowed to see the absolute truth that only God holds. [5]



[1]  Armstrong, Regis J. O.F.M. Cap. et.al. Francis of Assisi: Early Documents, Volume I, The Saint. Page 136. New York: New York City Press, 2000
[2] Holy Francis is the same person in my writings as Francis of Assisi.  I address Francis of Assisi as Holy Francis rather than Francis to distinguish him from all the people named Francis before and after him.  I have not addressed Francis of Assisi as Saint Francis in this writing because these words were written by a holy follower of Christ before he was declared a saint.
[3] Armstrong, op.cit., p.136.
[4] In order to administer the Body and Blood of Christ, the bread and wine must be transubstantiated and such substantiation is done by priests.
[5] It would not come as a shock to me to find out that God's absolute truth dwells in an eternal reservoir of compassion, forgiveness and unconditional love which can be accessed by exercising one's free will by truly and absolutely repenting all sins.  The love is unconditional because it is readily and immediately forgiving but if one chooses to reject God and accept Satan permanently (the willful and final refusal to repent all sins), there is no amount of unconditional love, however immense, that could change the finality of free will. In other words, unconditional love is for one to move toward to embrace willingly; it does not move toward anyone and force acceptance upon him or her.  Therefore, it would be incorrect to conclude that God's love is conditioned upon the repentance of sins -- it is not.  God's love is here, there and everywhere for anyone who desires it, and for those who reject it permanently in favor of Satan exist forever in darkness and without love.