The crisis of priesthood has two recognized levels on the surface: the outrageous and criminal behavior of some priests and the now manifestly irresponsible managing of those priests by some bishops. Sadly the faces of those individuals have become the face of all priests and all bishops in the news. That darkens the brow of many. No wonder the Harris Poll reports a 26-point "drop in confidence in the clergy." But those factors constitute only the clouds. The deeper darkness is the way priesthood is conceived and structured in our community of faith.

That's too big a topic to address in a Christmas letter, but it boils down to a clericalism deeply woven into the constitution of the Catholic community. Jesus was, after all, a layman and he gathered a group of lay men and women as servant-leaders for his disciples. His relative Zecharias was a priest and played a role in preparing Jesus' way, but Jesus did not include a single member of the Jewish priestly class among his closest helpers. Yet early on and over the centuries, especially after Constantine and the Reformation, servant-leadership in our faith community became priesticized and clericalized to the point of excluding the laity from both priesthood and decision-making. Vatican II called for a correction of that concept and structure, but we are still largely in the dark. This year's crisis manifests how dark it is.