They go right to the foundation of the Church and the meaning of ordination into Holy Orders, the priesthood of Jesus Christ. If that were the case the Church would have been wiped off the face of the earth centuries ago. No merely human institution could have possible survived the attacks against it from without and the corruption that has weakened it from within were it not something from God, were it only of human making. Their parishioners feel powerless, discouraged and demoralized. Often the leadership of such parishes is concerned more with its own comfort and security than with service the people they profess to serve or with attending to their real needs.
Political parties can die from the same causes.
Fewer Americans, we are told, are voting or even registering to vote. I have shocked myself by finding myself numbered among such folk. St. Francis parish exists as a neighborhood institution that promotes active involvement, cooperation and mutual interdependence over and against individualism, independence and noninvolvement. As such we contribute to the underpinning and support of democracy. Nonpartisans leave political activism to others, all the while thinking of themselves as politically superior to those engaged in party politics.