Catholic Church sacks progressive voices

May 13, 2011
Issue 
Bishop William Morris.

The Roman Catholic Church has sacked the bishop of Toowoomba after 18 years of service for his belief that women can be priests.

In his 2006 Advent pastoral letter to priests in his diocese, Bishop William Morris questioned the practice of sourcing Catholic priests from Africa, and suggested the shortage of Catholic priests in Australia would be better addressed by considering admitting married men and women to the priesthood.

Morris met with Pope Benedict in 2009 about his views. He is now taking “early retirement” at age 67. The usual retirement age for bishops is 75.

In Morris’ resignation letter, read out in all the churches in his diocese, he specified that Pope Benedict had instructed that “the diocese would be better served by the leadership of a new bishop”.

Morris was quoted by The Australian on May 3, as saying: “It has been my experience and the experience of others that Rome controls bishops by fear, and if you ask questions or speak openly on subjects that Rome declares closed … you are censored very quickly, told your leadership is defective … and are threatened with dismissal.”

This is not an isolated incident. Maryknoll Father Roy Bourgeois was sacked and excommunicated in 2008 for his views on women’s ordination. Now, he is being expelled from his religious order.

On May 8, Bourgeois joined other supporters of women’s ordination in a sidewalk demonstration outside the Vatican embassy to the US.

In an April 8 article in Religious Dispatches Magazine Catholic feminist theologian Mary E. Hunt said: “As a senior official for Pope John Paul II, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger envisioned a leaner, meaner church, with conservative doctrine and compliant faithful.

“Now that he is Pope Benedict XVI, his dream is coming true. Other senior churchmen, apparently unaware of the scandal that pedophilia and episcopal cover-ups have wrought, go blithely about their business of disciplining priests, nuns, and theologians.”

[Pastor Karl Hand is an ordained minister in the Metropolitan Community Church, and currently pastors CRAVE MCC. Visit: http://cravemcc.com/ .]

Comments

Let us hope that Bishop Morris, Fr. Roy and all those that support women can form a Catholic Church that is filled with joy rather than punishment, secrets, fear, and hiding.
Well Bishop Morris and his liberal lot should know that the Church cannot change her faith and morals according to the popular opinion of times or the wimps and fancies of some nor according to the private opinion of a few. Women's ordination is one of these issues. As the guy has said above leave the Church and find their own Churches is the respectful option.But I am sure a Church based on private interpretation or popular or expert opinion is doomed to fail.The situation of liberal protestant Churches in particular and protestantism in general is a witness to what I say.
The Catholic Church teaches truths; and truths, by their very nature, cannot and do not change with the times. Women cannot be ordained priests; men cannot give birth.
If you take the time to read your Bible, you will see that your religion also supports the owning of slaves. These 'truths', as you say, are written in the Bible and, "by their very nature, cannot and do not change with the times". If you believe this, you must also believe that adulterers should be stoned to death (but only if they're female), and that homosexuals should suffer a similar fate (but only if they're male). A quick read of Leviticus will reveal that poly-cotton underwear is sinful (specifically, the combination of the warp of one yarn with the weft of another is proscribed). In the same book you will also find a list of forbidden meats - pork, of course, but also crustaceans. While you've got the Good Book out, you may like to reread the ten commandments. One of them specifically requires you to worship on Saturday. The switch to Sunday was introduced in the Roman Empire, to accommodate the sun-worshipers. How many of these "truths" do you support?

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