text: The growing numbers of spiritual but not religious, who seek God and a spiritual community outside formal religion of any kind, and the numbers of people from specifically Catholic backgrounds  forming intentional eucharistic communities indicate that your observations are on target -  your comment, as usual, is delightfully snarky and absolutely true. 
  
  See " Religion does not have a monopoly on faith." by Krista Tippet at the America website.
  
  The early christian communities did not have priests, nor a hierarchy, which evolved over a period of centuries. The sacraments were not formalized and did not require a priest to mediate.  The adoption of the Roman model of hierarchy and the power grab by the clerical class resulted in the church developing into the imperial model that held the church firmly in its grip for 1700 or so years. It is slipping now and its fans are fighting to hold their power, but it seems that Jesus and the gospels may yet triumph over the clerical monarchs.