LittleBear,
Your post reminds me of a number of those highly-touted (by the bishops) abuse oversight committees that were formed to 'restore trust' in the bishops.  Quite a number of them quit en masse when they realized that their bishops were simply going around them: not submitting all the cases to them, handling new stuff "on the side," etc...

Earlier, I spoke of the wisdom that comes from our life experience, as perhaps the real source of the Divine in the church today.  The problem (as ATF and others have pointed out), there is virtually nothing in the church that solicits that wisdom.  Worse however, is that to even be able to, under the current setup, requires money.  How many of the poor have the wherewithal to fly to Rome, or even take a day (or night) off to attend a meeting?  Just like is the case in politics, for the most part the system is rigged in favor of the more affluent.  

You're right about the power of a local pastor to control or ignore parish councils, etc.