I know what you mean Brigid. It’s sad really, because so many people view priests (as they should be able to) as experts. But the seminaries have been turned inside out and upside down by every wind of doctrine.
Take heart though. The more liberal the "church" becomes the more liberals and lukewarm Catholics will leave. Not that we want anyone to leave the faith, but when all of the liberals have been assimilated into some oecumenical "faith group" the real Church will go through a renwal. Many will realize that their lives lack meaning, and the renewed Catholic Church will become attractive to them once again.
The Jews of the Old Testament went through this sort of thing all of the time, but God never abandoned them.