This summer I read “Early Christianity in North Africa,” a book about Christianity in North Africa at the end of the Roman Empire. North Africa was heavily Christian before the Muslim conquest, and it produced great saints and martyrs like St. Augustine, St. Cyprian, Saints Perpetua and Felicity.

When we read St. Augustine, we may imagine him presiding serenely over his Diocese of Hippo Regius. The reality is not so serene. When Augustine was named bishop there, faithful Catholics were outnumbered by a break-away dissident church known as Donatists. When the Roman emperor tried to settle the division at a council in the year 411, there were 286 Catholic bishops in attendance and 284 Donatist bishops! Augustine also had to deal with the powerful “New Age” movement of his time — Manichaeism — which promised “to free the spark of light in human beings and so deliver them from matter and darkness.” There were also major theological controversies about the doctrine of grace, and disciplinary problems among the clergy as well.

So let’s not think that dissent, division and turmoil are something new or unprecedented in the life of the church. Another lesson is that we should not build our faith on Christ’s all too human representatives! Bishops, priests and deacons are, as St. Paul says, only “stewards of the mysteries of God,” not the masters. In the ministry of Word and Sacrament, it is Christ who is the unshakeable foundation and minister of the graces conferred through those who represent Him.

St. Augustine insisted that Christians avoid two opposite extremes: leaving the church because of the scandal provoked by unfaithful shepherds, on the one hand, and putting trust in good shepherds instead of Christ, on the other. He writes: “Whatever we are like, your hope must not be in us … Your hope must not be in our humanity. Whether good or bad, we are ministers. If we are good, we are faithful ministers and truly servants. Pay attention to what we administer. If we are bad, we do not cease, for that reason, to be a dispenser of the Gospel. That is why Jesus says: ‘Do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example.’ ”

When we clergy are faithful to the promises of our ordination, when what we teach corresponds to the doctrine and discipline of the church in communion with the Successor of St. Peter, when we conduct ourselves with moral and spiritual integrity, then we are good stewards despite all our human imperfections and sins. If, however, by word or deed we willfully sow the seeds of scandal, error or disunity, then we are accountable to the church and to God.

The vast majority of clergy exercise their ministry in accordance with the solemn profession of Catholic Faith that they made at ordination and which they renew when appointed as pastors. Giving people “the benefit of the doubt” is the charitable thing to do, and this benefit should not be denied to the clergy, whose words and actions are subject to interpretation by a wide variety of people.

Being a faithful steward is not always easy in a world filled with dissenting and discordant voices. Many “hot button issues” — ordination of women, for example — are a constant refrain in certain circles that ultimately call into question the validity of every authority — not only of the pope and bishops, but even of Scripture and of Christ himself. It is no wonder that many people today, including some clergy, are confused or seriously misled by the claims of dissent or private judgment against church doctrine and discipline.

Like every bishop I sometimes receive letters, or I get questions on my radio program, about things that this or that cleric has allegedly said or done contrary to the doctrine or discipline of the church. If the complaint proves to be true, then it is my responsibility to deal with it according to the law of the church for the good of priests and people alike.

For your part, the Catholic faithful also have an obligation in charity to speak personally and respectfully to a cleric whom they believe has advocated something contrary to church doctrine or discipline. Sometimes it is just a misunderstanding; other times not. What is important is that we love, respect and pray for all our priests, including those who may be experiencing difficulties or doubts. I want to commend to you the following beautiful prayer that St. Therese of Lisieux is said to have prayed every day:

Eternal God, Look upon the face of Thy Christ, and for the love of Him, Who is the Eternal High Priest, have pity on Thy priests. Remember, O most compassionate God, that they are but weak and frail human beings. Stir up in them the grace of their vocation which is in them by the imposition of the bishop’s hands. Keep them close to Thee, lest the enemy prevail against them, so that they may never do anything in the slightest degree unworthy of their sublime vocation.

O Jesus, I pray to Thee, for Thy faithful and fervent priests; for Thy unfaithful and tepid priests; for Thy priests laboring at home or abroad in distant mission fields; for Thy tempted priests, for Thy lonely and desolate priests;  or Thy young priests; for Thy aged priests; for Thy sick priests; for Thy dying priests; for the souls of Thy priests in purgatory.

But above all, I commend to Thee the priests dearest to me: the priest who baptized me; the priests who absolved me from my sins; the priests at whose Masses I assisted and who gave me Thy Body and Blood in Holy Communion; the priests who taught and instructed me or helped and encouraged me; all the priests to whom I am indebted in any other way, particularly [name a particular priest of your choosing here]. O Jesus, keep them all close to Thy heart, and bless them abundantly in time and in eternity. Amen.