Even if there were false prophets and slacker priests, the people should have known better. The people should have been able to recognize idolatry and apostasy when they heard it.

A capable hierarchy isn’t built from the top down, but from the bottom up. We get the bishops and priests we need from faithful homes, schools, and parishes.

But the reality is that there are not enough priests to do the explaining that needs to be done, and even if there were enough, priests don’t have access to all the places where the explaining needs to happen. It isn’t just in Sunday School, but even more importantly at dinner tables, schools, and workplaces – all the places where people don’t understand what Jesus has said, or think they understand, but are dead wrong.