How does Haight feel about the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church?
Well, first of all, I would say he thinks the hierarchy of the church is a good thing. Haight wants the church to have moral authority when engaging socially and politically in the world. Hierarchy is necessary for such a large institution. If you mean the current, particular occupants of positions within the hierarchy, I think he would express extreme disappointment. Haight affirms the aims of Vatican II, which stress ecumenism and affirm the importance of laity in the church. The current and last papacies are restorationist. They have clearly retrenched on these mandates of the council and are seeking to put back in place what was there before Vatican II. But while Haight would likely express pessimism over the damage caused by the last two popes, I believe he would stress optimism concerning the laity. If you look at Roman Catholicism from the ground up, you see a new educated laity. The whole corps of theologians in the United States will be predominately lay, 80-90%, in a few more
