You’ve got to love how all the time, especially now seemingly, opponents of the Church bring up polls that say Catholic women heart contraception by a massive majority. Ergo, the Church should change its “policy.”

They bring up polls as if the shifting whims of uninvolved nominal Catholics changes something. Here’s what they don’t understand. Truth doesn’t change. God’s word trumps popular opinion, as Archbishop Jerome G. Hanus recently said, according to EWTN:

“According to Jesus’ words, a leader in the manner of Peter must be solid as a rock, he cannot be fickle, he cannot change with the winds of popularity, he must subject himself to God’s word,” the archbishop said at St. Peter’s tomb on March 7…

Archbishop Hanus preached about Matthew 16:18, in which Christ proclaimed “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church.” He noted how “Jesus assigns the leadership responsibility to Peter only after Peter proclaims his faith in Jesus,” adding that “any leader must begin service by professing faith in Jesus.”

He also said that the way Peter “did not choose to be a leader” is still the way leadership is given in the Church today. It still comes as “a gift, a call from Christ.”

In terms of the papacy, “what Jesus entrusted to Peter is entrusted to the successors of Peter – the bishops of Rome – and in our day to Pope Benedict XVI,” he explained. This is because since the days of the early Church “someone had to decide” on matters of faith and morals.

“According to the meaning of today’s Gospel, that responsibility of ultimate decision was given by Jesus to Peter and his successors.”

This is why Christians, and particularly Catholics, have always “understood that Peter’s leadership role in the Church is so essential, it is an essential component of the Church,” he said.

This may come as a shock to all the theologians filling so many theology departments at Catholic colleges everywhere. But quoting polls at bishops like they’re assemblyman is beside the point and shows a drastic misunderstanding of the faith.

I would prefer that more Catholics stood with Church teaching. But inevitably what we hear when we hear of a disconnect between Catholics and Church teaching is that the bishops need to reconnect with regular ordinary Catholics. But in truth, it means that regular Catholics must reconnect with the Church.