Sunday, July 28, 2019

All organisations must listen to the people

It was on July 28, 1965 that US President Lyndon Johnson announced  his order to increase the number of US troops in South Vietnam from 75,000 to 125,000.

There are many reasons why the Americans lost in Vietnam but one imporatant factor was that the people back in Washington were not listening to what the troops in the field were telling them.

And it was the same with the South Vietnamese Army, the people in Saigon knew best, better than the  people in the villages and towns.

A breakdown between people and leadership spells ruin.

Last year in the diocese of Würzburg, one of Germany's most Catholic areas, 40 percent more Catholics left the church than in 2017.

Würzburg is in Bavaria, which is a predominantly a Catholic state.

In 'The Irish Catholic' this week the  new auxiliary bishop in Armagh Michael Router is reported to have said that the role of female laity must be enhanced.

The Irish Catholic Church is a clerical organisation and seldom listens to the people.

Isn't it a rule of thumb that bishops and provincials  'know best' even  if they are incompetent and witless?

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