Shepherds and administrators

Bishop Wilton Gregory’s address to the US bishops’ meeting going on in DC is online. There’s some good stuff there, but something he said struck me funny.

In his address to the USCCB, Bishop Gregory speaks of the threefold duty of the bishop: to teach, sanctify and govern. So far, so good.

Then he talks about how bishops (should) function:

• as teachers…
• as sanctifiers…
• and—get this—“as administrators of the Church…“ [emphasis in original]

If you’re not struck by the difference between government and administration, you too might be a bishop someday.

It strikes me as typical of how a political liberal sees the function of government. The bureaucracy/apparatchiks are the foundation: “Government of the bureaucrats by the administrators for the unwashed masses.” I would rather my bishop not see himself as an administrator of the Church, but as a shepherd and apostle. I’m pretty sure Pope John Paul doesn’t see himself as an administrator, which, come to think of it, may be why he gets so much criticism for letting “bad” bishops stay in their dioceses.