05/27/2026
Here is a reason you should avoid speaking ill of priest/Religious, even when they are wrong.
There is a gift of the Holy Spirit we are slowly forgetting today: piety. It is more than prayer or religious routine. It is that quiet respect inside a person that teaches us how to treat what belongs to God. It shapes how we see priests and religious, how we handle sacred things, and how we behave in sacred spaces. It is the instinct that says, “this is of God, so I must be careful.” Let us focus on priests and religious.
Priests and religious are not perfect people. They are human like everyone else, with weaknesses and struggles. But they are also consecrated. That means their lives are set apart for a mission that is not ordinary. The Catechism says the gifts of the Holy Spirit help the faithful become open and responsive to God’s guidance (CCC 1831). Where piety is alive, people do not rush to destroy others with words. They pause. They think. They respect.
But today, something worrying is happening.
A priest makes a mistake, and it spreads everywhere. A homily is taken out of context and becomes a joke online. A religious sister is misrepresented and turned into content for laughter.
Before long, thousands have seen it, shared it, and commented on it. And slowly, something sacred is treated as something ordinary. Or worse, something to mock.
Yet Scripture gives us another way.
David had King Saul right in front of him, vulnerable and exposed. Saul had hurt him and chased him unjustly. Still, David refused to harm him. He said, “Who can lay hands on the Lord’s anointed and be guiltless?” (1 Samuel 26:9). David was not pretending Saul was perfect. He simply understood that not everything that is wrong should be destroyed, especially when God is involved.
Jesus also showed us how correction should be done: “Go and tell him his fault between you and him alone” (Matthew 18:15). St. Paul adds a warning: “Do not accept an accusation against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses” (1 Timothy 5:19). In other words, truth should be handled with care, not turned into public entertainment.
The Catechism also speaks clearly about this. It warns against detraction, which is damaging someone’s reputation without a serious reason (CCC 2477). It also explains scandal as anything that leads others to wrongdoing or weakens their faith (CCC 2284). That means our words can do real spiritual harm, not just social damage.
We see it today. When priests are constantly insulted, some people begin to lose trust in the sacraments. When religious life is mocked, young people quietly lose interest in it. When the Church becomes a place of endless criticism online, some struggling believers begin to step away from their faith entirely.
This does not mean wrongdoing should be ignored. It should never be. But there is a difference between correcting a fault and publicly humiliating a person. Not everything true needs to be posted. Not every mistake needs to go viral. Not every weakness should become entertainment.
Piety is what helps us hold that line. It does not silence truth. It simply refuses to destroy people in the name of truth. It teaches us to correct with respect, to speak with care, and to remember that God still works through imperfect people.
David spared Saul because he feared God more than he wanted to prove a point. That kind of reverence is rare now, but it is still needed.
The real question is simple: Are we helping people grow in truth, or are we slowly training hearts to lose respect for what is holy?
Because once reverence is gone, faith does not stay strong for long.
🔥 Holy Spirit, renew the gift of piety within us. Teach us to honor what belongs to God with clean hearts and careful words. Deliver us from speech that wounds faith and destroys reverence. Lead us to truth that builds up, not truth that tears down. Amen.
