The paradigm shift from Catholicism to Orthodoxy was hard for me regarding the whole catechism/set in stone approach of Catholicism going to Orthodoxy where your spiritual Father has so much say and input and involvement in morality.
Take one small example:
My children go to a private Lutheran school. My priest and deacon ripped me a new butt because I'm not sending my kids to private school. Both of them are opposed to private school and home-schooling, and extoll the virtues of witnessing to non-believers in the public system. It caused a painful exchange between my godfather (our deacon) and myself for a while. We forgave each other and tried to move on after that.
However, there was a couple that attended our parish for many years who moved back to the Midwest, Illinois. They have a priest who told them that, if humanly possible, they should put their little sons in A PRIVATE SCHOOL, PREFERABLY LUTHERAN!!! He said that he highly respected the Lutheran LCMS schools (the school my kids are in!!) system and that it was the easiest for an Orthodox Christian to navigate through with parental input and adjustments. He recommended going to the EXACT OPPOSITE approach of my priest!
So the question is, how much credibility should we give our "spiritual Father?" We know these guys are only human and subject to sin and bad advice just like the next man. They come with prejudices and opinions. Opinions are like, well, you know, and everybody has one!
Now where to put your children in school is a HUGE decision if you ask me. I am a teacher, and I know a lot about education. I know what to look for with standards and rigor, skills, discipline, leadership, and I know what to avoid. I have confidence in what is right for my children and in how my parenting plays into the equation. Why would one priest have such passionate anti-private and anti-home-schooling sentiments while another priest in the same communion feels the exact opposite with passion?
Fact is, the Spiritual Father aspect is still something that gives me a little pause. My priest, and I adore him incidentally, has given me some political, work, and education advice that I find to be WAY OFF.
For Catholics, things are always more black and white, so converting to Orthodoxy creates some grey areas to be sure.
At some point we have to wonder.
Anyway, my point is that I concur with the OP to some degree that our hierarchs are subject to human failures, so it makes one wonder...