It does not occur to anybody to think that the Ordinary either knows, or tries to know, what each friar in his diocese is doing. What he knows about each one is that he is a religious, if he happens to know him, and that is enough. The only one who is conversant with what he is doing, and that not always, is his immediate Superior, unless some scandal has arisen.

What the Ordinary knows about each member of the faithful

Think of the information a bishop has about each member of a pious association, or about each member of Catholic Action. Think also about what he knows about each parishioner’s financial situation. To have all this useless data he would need an immense archive, and a team of archivists, and an exhausting amount of paperwork.

The strange thing, my daughters and sons, is that there are people who even want to know how many hairs we have on our head.