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Shawn,
One thing great about Catholicism
is that one's holiness depends on
following Christ, not His flawed
minister. An evil or sinful priest
can not affect a parishioner negatively
in his or her religious journey on
the supernatural level because Christ
will still make His Divine Life present
through the sacraments and in His
Word — despite the sin of the
priest.
In addition, the Magisterium, which
is comprised of the pope and the
bishops in union with him, will still
enjoy the gift of infallibility on
matters of faith and morals regardless
of their personal sinfulness.
As
long as the priest has the intention
of the Church in administering the
sacraments, their sin does not get
in the way of them being valid. To
use an absurd hypothetical, just
to make a point, if all clergy around
the world including the pope were
to become grave sinners tomorrow,
although their own salvation would be
in jeopardy the sacraments would
still be valid and Catholic dogma
would still be infallible. Christ
uses ordained persons as His instruments
in this respect for the sake of His
Body, the Church, regardless of their
own personal holiness.
Having said all that, it's safe
to say that most priests and bishops
are good, holy men who love God and
His Church.
Peace,
Paul
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