Bad Shepherds, by Rod Bennett, # 4708

Shocked to find corruption widespread in the ranks of their shepherds today, too many good Catholics are tempted to leave the Church, unaware that ever since the days when Jesus’ own treasurer, Judas Iscariot, had his hand in the till, the Good Shepherd and His faithful followers have regularly been betrayed by bad shepherds.  

In these eye-opening pages, Church historian Rod Bennett introduces a number of those bad shepherds, including Bishop Eusebius of Nicomedia, who regularly sold out the Church to the Roman emperor; Pope Stephen VII, who so hated his late predecessor that he had him dug up, put on trial, and flung into the Tiber; Benedict IX, who bought and sold the papacy (twice!); and Pope John XII, whose debauchery rivaled that of the corrupt emperor Caligula.

Those were very bad shepherds indeed, but while they did the Devil’s work, good Catholics not only survived — they thrived.

They outlasted their bad shepherds, preserved in their ranks the Faith of our fathers, and served in each instance as the foundation for a cleansing of the House of God and a vigorous renewal of the Faith.

These enlightening pages demonstrate that  it can happen again!