The sacred office of a bishop deserves reflection. He is, above all, a shepherd of souls, not merely a member of a group or a committee. As Canon 381 tells us, a diocesan bishop has “all the ordinary, proper, and immediate power required for the exercise of his pastoral office.” He is a successor of the Apostles, entrusted with the care of his flock, and answerable to Christ and to His Vicar.

Canon 381 §1 states clearly: “A diocesan bishop in the diocese entrusted to him has all the ordinary, proper, and immediate power required for the exercise of his pastoral office, except for cases which the law or a decree of the Supreme Pontiff reserves to the supreme authority or to another ecclesiastical authority.”

Bishops’ conferences, described in Canon 447, exist for “pastoral purposes” and “to foster cooperation.” They are meant to help unity and shared work among bishops, not to replace the authority given to each individual bishop.

Canon 447 says: “A conference of bishops, a permanent institution, is a group of bishops of a given nation or territory who together exercise certain pastoral functions for the Christian faithful of their territory in order to promote the greater good which the Church offers to humankind, especially through forms and programs of the apostolate fittingly adapted to the circumstances of the time and place, according to the norm of law.”

Yet in many places, bishops’ conferences have begun to act more like corporate boards. Bishops risk becoming mere administrators instead of true shepherds. But the Church stands on the foundation of apostolic succession, not on decisions made by groups or majority votes. When bishops feel forced to follow the opinion of a crowd, where will we find the brave and clear voice that speaks the truth?

It is important to remember that the 1917 Code of Canon Law did not speak of bishops’ conferences in the way we know them today. Back then, governance rested on the individual authority of each bishop, who was seen as a direct successor of the Apostles, exercising full jurisdiction within his diocese under the supreme authority of the Pope.

This change, where conferences now hold great influence over diocesan decisions, leads us to a serious question: Do bishops’ conferences weaken the personal responsibility of each bishop? Did the Church thrive more when bishops led their dioceses independently, guided by the Holy Spirit?

Consider the example of Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas (now Bishop Emeritus). He bravely proposed to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) that abortion be recognized as the preeminent moral issue. His righteous proposal was met with silence, perhaps because the conference relies on funds from groups that promote ideas opposed to Catholic teaching. We now know this to be true, as it has come to light that the Catholic Church in the United States once received funding from USAID, an organization that has no interest at all in the salvation of souls.

Here in the Philippines, a similar problem exists. I have it from a reliable source that around 80 percent of Filipino bishops privately believe the Lipa apparitions deserve respect and deeper study. Yet because of the influence of a few powerful figures in the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), this phenomenon has not received the fair consideration it deserves.

In Europe, faithful bishops are often silenced. Their rightful authority is limited by conferences that bow to modern ideas under the name of “pastoral sensitivity.”

However, bishops’ conferences are not beyond hope. They can still serve a noble purpose when they stay faithful to radition and true Catholic teaching. A bright example is the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM). They courageously rejected Fiducia Supplicans, defending the sanctity of marriage and refusing to compromise Church doctrine.

Therefore, while bishops’ conferences were first intended for good reasons, many of them now stand as obstacles to the true authority of individual bishops. Unless these conferences are made up of truly saintly bishops who care only about the salvation of souls, they risk becoming tools for political games and worldly concerns.

Let us pray that our bishops will be true shepherds, guided by the Holy Spirit, and that they will carry out their God-given authority with courage and fidelity.