When the shepherds fail

For most of a century the medieval church faced a disorientation entirely of its own leaders' making. First the papacy left Rome for Avignon, settling for decades under the shadow of the French crown, the Bishop of Rome no longer in his own city. Then, in 1378, came the deeper fracture: a disputed election produced two men each claiming to be the rightful pope, one in Rome and one back in Avignon, and they excommunicated each other and divided Europe's loyalties between them. Kingdoms chose sides. The breach, the Western Schism, dragged on, and a council called to heal it managed only to elect a third claimant, so that for a time three rival popes each insisted he alone was the true shepherd of Christ's flock. An ordinary believer of those years could not even know with certainty who his shepherd was, or whose absolution counted, or which voice in the quarrel spoke for God. It was not heresy from outside that disoriented the faithful here. It was the shepherds themselves. And through the prophets, God had long ago declared Himself against shepherds who scatter the sheep and feed only themselves.

Few things disorient faith as deeply as the failure of the very people who were supposed to lead you to God. A heresy you can argue with. But when the shepherd falls, or deceives, or wounds, or splits the flock to guard his own position, the wound goes to the root, because it was through them you learned to trust at all. When the shepherds fail, the sheep scatter, and you may find you no longer know whom to believe. Hear this carefully. Your faith was never meant to rest finally on them. God Himself stands against the shepherds who scattered His sheep and fed only themselves; He says He will require the lost flock at their hands, and He has promised to seek out His sheep personally and gather them. The undershepherd may have failed you catastrophically. The Chief Shepherd has not, and He outlasts every one of them. Do not let a leader's collapse persuade you that God collapsed with him. The voice that first called you was never theirs. It was His, and it is still calling.