Dorothy Day: "Popes and bishops... seem to have been blind, power-loving and greedy."

In 1968, when the Catholic sociologist and peace activist Gordon Zahn

(who had brought the story of Franz Jägerstätter to the attention of

the English-speaking world) was having a serious crisis of faith over the institutional church, Dorothy reassured him that “as a convert, I never expected much of the bishops. In all history, popes and bishops and father abbots seem to have been blind and power-loving and greedy. I never expected leadership from them. It is the saints who keep appearing throughout history who keep things going.” However, she told Zahn, “What I do expect is the bread of life and down through the ages there is that continuity”—the sacraments and tradition. “The gospel is hard,” she continued. “Loving your enemies, and the worst are of your own household, is hard.”