Everyone, who wishes, has a relationship with God. How we address that relationship is entirely in our own control. Adherence to liturgical rites is one way to express that relationship but so is living a pious life with deference to the "Great Commandment". Many clerics know this intuitively but will dissuade the faithful not to become independent. The mission, it seems, of the cleric class is to keep the faithful on the reservation and limit our freedoms to worship God in a way which resonates with our understanding and therefore promotes our sense of peace in Christ. I am edified that +Francis is the first Pope to recognize this.