I had a radio discussion with Pat Kenny (and the abuse victim Andrew Madden) a couple of weeks ago in which Pat accused me of being an ''a la carte Catholic'' because I'd said I didn't think that bishops were the be-all and the end-all in matters of faith: the people's faith is at the heart of the faith.
Pat's analysis of the Catholic Church struck me as rather the way he might see the management structure at RTÉ; if you don't go along with what the suits upstairs tell you, you're in trouble.
Granted, bishops are expected to give leadership, but history also shows that quite often the faithful, or members of the faithful, can lead the hierarchy - even the Pope - rather than the other way about.
Consider the forthcoming canonisation of Mother Mary MacKillop, who is to be made the first Australian saint. Mary MacKillop was a nun from a Scottish background who dedicated her life to the education of the poor. But she clashed with the hierarchies, and was even, at one point, in 1871, excommunicated for insubordination.
Conflicts
Indeed, some of the most admirable saints - and great Catholics - experienced conflicts with the Vatican, or were disapproved of by the official Church. Bernadette was treated for a time like a fraud and Therese of Lisieux had to battle with ecclesiastical authority.
One of the greatest Catholic thinkers - Lord Acton, who died in 1902 - had tremendous conflicts with the Holy See and the higher echelons of the Church. John Acton advanced the importance of conscience in any moral consideration, and was censured by Cardinals Wiseman and Manning, among others.
His movement of liberal Catholics in Britain was quashed, and yet, before he died, the Vatican recognised Acton's great integrity, and the important point he made about conscience. His other great principle - of upholding liberty against totalitarianism - was enthusiastically embraced by later Popes, most notably John Paul II.
Acton's dictum "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely'' is now regarded as a vital wisdom in all governance.
Another Catholic who fell out with the Holy See was the excellent Agnes McLaren - another Scotswoman - who fought for missionary nuns to qualify as doctors and attend women in childbirth.
She was repeatedly rebuffed by the Vatican, who ruled that it was inappropriate for consecrated virgins to attend to obstetrics. But some years after her death in 1914, the Medical Missionaries of Mary was established with the full blessing of the Holy See.
Being a Catholic - even a saint - doesn't mean being a yes-man or yes-woman. Sometimes it's the rebels who change the Church rather than the other way about. Because the Christian project can sometimes be advanced by the test of adversity.
There is hierarchy in the Catholic Church, yet, in the long run, it is not necessarily a top-down operation. The grass roots of the Faith, and the individuals who are sincerely guided by goodness, have a symbiotic effect all the way up to the top.
Empires were not all bad
There was much criticism of Gerry Adams's religious programme on Channel Four last Sunday night, in which he journeyed to the Holy Land on a Biblical quest.
The criticism asked was it appropriate for a man who had been associated with political violence to preach, virtually, about the message of the Gospel.
Yet I found the programme thoughtful, and in some respects, almost a gesture of repentance, in the way he emphasised forgiving our enemies.
There was an implied parallel, in his viewpoint, between the Roman Empire and British Imperialism, both being wicked and oppressive. There are dangers in making such parallels, as in the epic question ''What did the Romans ever do for us?'' (''Apart from the sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh-water system, and public health.'') Empires are not always all bad.
Give Tiger the benefit of the doubt
Tiger Woods, by contrast, was certainly performing an act of public repentance. Interesting how adultery has become stigmatised once more - it's called ''cheating'' now, and no one likes a cheat.
Was he genuinely repenting of his cheating, asked the commentators, or was he trying to recapture his financial ''brand'', which has earned him an immense fortune? Brand Tiger Woods bought into steadiness, reliability, integrity. That doesn't go with cheating.
Give the guy the benefit of the doubt. He was repenting. His Mammy saw to that, anyhow!
Fr Tierney illuminated all of our lives
It is a source of much sadness that Father Martin Tierney is no longer well enough to contribute to these pages. He has illuminated our lives and brought many blessings to all of us, and all his readers will be with him in spirit as he goes on the pilgrim journey we must all undertake.
