4/5/11The non-sacking of a Bishop

The recent announcement of the removal of the Bishop of Toowoomba (Queensland), Bishop Bill Morris, is causing much concern in Catholic Church circles in Australia.  It is also being reported elsewhere - as indicated by   National Catholic Reporter's  item for May 2nd titled Pope removes bishop who expressed openness to ordaining women.    The terse letter from the Apostolic Nunciature in Canberra announcing Bishop Morris' "retirement" can be read on the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference Site .   The message from Bishop Morris to the Diocese of Toowoomba can be read through the link  Pastoral Letter .

Bill Morris has been respected in his Diocese for many years, and deserves better treatment than this. But, like many Bishops, Clergy and Laity,  he has been subjected to criticism from a small number of self appointed liturgical and doctrinal watchdogs who, while generally ignorant of the real meaning of liturgy, church doctrine, and pastoral needs, see it is as their calling to run to sympathetic ecclesiastical authorities with their destructive reports.  Just as we wonder at the motivation behind the extremes of terrorism, it is hard to understand what  distortion of Christianity drives these watchdogs in their efforts to bring down good people.

The situation is exacerbated of course, when ecclesiastical authorities  follow the line of one Archbishop in Australia who sacked someone from a responsible position in the Archdiocese with words similar to "I can't  have someone working here who thinks differently to myself".    Bill Morris is a Bishop who has dared to indicate he is open to some different thinking in addressing pastoral needs - and for that, it seems, he is being dismissed.     To deny others freedom to even  think differently surely smacks of a totalitarian regime.

The above situations will continue in our Church as long as the people who make up that Church are willing to accept it..   As  a Bishop, Bill Morris has spoken out - and paid the price.   It is now up to Lay People, Clergy and other Bishops to indicate their support for him, and their dissatisfaction at the inappropriate and unjust  way he and the Diocese of Toowoomba have been treated.

4/5/11     NCP support for Bishop Bill Morris

BELMONT VIC:   The National Council of Priests of Australia Executuve (NCP)  has issued a Media  Release concerning the forced early retirement of Bishop William Morris of Toowomba.    The statement says in part  - "The NCP executive would like to express its sadness at the forced early retirement of Bishop William Morris of Toowoomba. We are appalled at the lack of transparency and due process that led to this decision by Church authorities. We are embarrassed about the shabby treatment meted out to an outstanding Pastor of this diocese who has faithfully ministered in the Church in Queensland and throughout Australia since his priestly ordination in 1969. We are concerned about an element within the Church whose restorationist ideology wants to repress freedom of expression within the Roman Catholic Church and who deny the legitimate magisterial authority of the local Bishop within the Church..... " [Read full Media Release]

SYDNEY:   Catholic News  headlines for May 4th suggest something of the current internaldifficulties facing the Catholic Church.  The juxtaposition of these three articles has to be more than  ironic:

No anger, just sadness: Bishop Morris

Italian Bishop wears Armani vestments

New Missal can heal divided Church

6/5/11    Papal Power in Toowoomba and Church credibility in public order issues

MELBOURNE:  Andrew Hamilton writes for Eureka Street on May 4 2011 on Papal authority and the removal of Bishop Bill Morris  - Confidence in any governance, including that of the Church, is weakened where there is a lack of transparency and of due process in the making of decisions that cause harm to people. Lack of accountability injures the human dignity of the people affected. Confidence grows when there is due accountability........  Modern societies rightly put much weight on transparency. Its absence is taken to discredit the institutions in which it is lacking. After the forced resignation of Bishop Morris it will be even harder for Catholics to win a hearing on issues that affect the public order.   [Read full article]  

See also:   Advent Pastoral Letter 2006 (Bishop William Morris, Toowomba) .  Note that this is the Pastoral Letter that was the source of complaints from some of the local  "Temple Police" .

8/5/1    Temple police get their man

AUSTRALIA:  The sad saga of Bishop Morris' demise is not being allowed to be swept under the carpet.  On May 7,  The Australian national newspaper has a story titled "Temple  police get their man", with an account of the difficulties faced by the Bishop over many years of trying to deal with the Vatican. The article provides extra details apparently made available by the Bishop's Consultors.   [Read more] 

10/5/11    "The Catholic Church's worst enemy resides in the Vatican"

MELBOURNE: Barney Zwartz, religious affairs writer for The Age, pulls no punches when he writes (May 9) on the Bishop Morris affair in an article titled "The Catholic Church's worst enemy resides in the Vatican."     [Read Article]

10/5/11    Swiss Bishop in favour of discussing women's ordination

LONDON:  The Tablet reports on May 6, 2011 - Bishop Markus Büchel of the Swiss canton of St Gallen said the Church "must seek ways which lead to women's ordination", adding that ordaining women as deacons "could be one such step". Speaking to his diocesan newspaper Pfarrblatt Bishop Büchel, 61, said women's input, dedication, commitment and perseverance in pastoral work in Switzerland today were "incredible". Earlier this week the Vatican forced from office Australian Bishop William Morris of Toowoomba who suggested the Church discuss ordaining women and married men to address the country's shortage of priests.  (Source: The Tablet, May 6, 2011)

11/5/11    Michael Whelan SM:  A Reflection apropos the sad case of Bishop Morris

SYDNEY:  Fr Michael Whelan SM,  Principal of Aquinas Academy in Sydney, reflects on Bishop Morris' early retirement -  ".......The only people who seem to know why this has happened are Pope Benedict and – presumably – some of his intimate advisers in the Curia. Perhaps we should include Archbishop Chaput OFM Cap of Denver, Colorado, USA in that group, as he was appointed by the Vatican as Apostolic Visitor to write a report on Bishop Morris and his teachings and activities in the diocese of Toowoomba. (Chaput, born on September 26 1944, was consecrated bishop at the age of 43 on July 26 1988.)  I do not know too many more hard facts about Bishop Morris and his enforced retirement. It seems that Bishop Morris himself does not know too much more either since he was not given the opportunity to read the report by Chaput. However, at the very least it does not look good. In fact, it looks very much like shabby treatment of a bishop by Rome......".   [Read More]

Read also:  Thought for Second Week after Easter (28/4/11, Michael Whelan SM writes on "Structures")

12/5/11    John Cleary:  Deposing a Bishop

AUSTRALIA:   On Sunday May 8th, John Cleary interviewed Bishop Bill Morrison on ABC Radios "Sunday Nights".    The Programme can be found through the link  SUNDAY NIGHTS -  though there seems to be some difficulty with the links provided  - or you can go directly to the audio of the programme through the link   Deposing a Bishop,   You may have to listen to some music for about two minutes before the audio of the programme begins. 

National Catholic Reporter comments on the interview in an article for May 10 titled Forced Retirement is message to all Bishops, Morris says .  In the interview, Bishop Morris indicates he would like the report from Archbishop Chaput to the Vatican published. [Read More]

13/5/11   The Bishop Morris Affair - who is leaking what to whom ?

ASHFIELD NSW:   On May 11, 2011, under the heading Bishop Morris was warned by Vatican, says news report, CathNews writes   -  An internal report leaked to the Australian media "offers a unique glimpse into the workings of the Vatican's disciplinary process" and indicates the Vatican had tried since late 2006 to get Toowoomba's Bishop Bill Morris "to correct his abuses of Church doctrine and liturgy", reports the Catholic News Agency.

 In reading either the item from CathNews or the report from Catholic News Agency, a couple of points need to be made:  

 1.    The “internal report” referred to by Catholic News Agency was hardly “leaked” to the media. That document and another one referred to in their report were distributed widely and published on websites.  They can also be read on this website through the links Summary and Reflection  .  We might as well classify the recent devastating floods in Queensland and Victoria as being a “leak” !  

2     The so-called “leaked” document might not only offer a unique glimpse into the workings of the Vatican's disciplinary process, but might also show how authoritarian and opaque it is.

3.    Catholic News Agency is a site that is based in Engleton,  Colorado,  in the US.   Engleton CO is part of the greater Metropolitan Area of Denver CO    It is, of course,  a coincidence that the Archbishop of Denver is at present Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, the Archbishop who made the Apostolic Visitation of the Tooowomba Diocese from which Bishop Morris was removed, and whose report was not made available to Bishop Morris.  Note too, that Catholic News Agency, in its own wording, focuses on "giving particular emphasis to the words of the Holy Father and happenings of the Holy See..”   In the “Document Pages" of the same site  are to be found many items from Archbishop Chaput himself.  It is good to know the background of the sources from which we draw information. !

There are many more things that could be said about this report from Catholic News Agency, such as the slanted terminology used, but there is not enough room here.

Tim Williams CM

13/5/11    Letter to Bishop Finnegan from Australian Catholic Bishops Conference

NORTH SYDNEY:   Now posted on the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC) Site is the letter from Archbishop Philip Wilson,  President of  the ACBC  to Bishop Finnegan who was appointed as Apostolic Adminiostrator of Toowoomba Diocese following the removal of Bishop Bill Morris.   The letter, while acknowledging Papal Authority, leaves no doubt as to the respect and regard of the Bishops for Bill Morris.   A nice touch at the end is invoking the guidance of two women -  Mary of the Southern Cross and St Mary MacKillop !   The letter is issued from the shrine of  St Mary of the Cross in North Sydney.   [Read Letter]

16/5/11    Australian Religious express distress at Bishop's removal

ANNANDALE NSW:  National Catholic Reporter wrtes on May 13, 2011 - Religious orders in Australia weighed in today on the ouster of Bishop William Morris, expressing their members' distress at the loss of a pastor who had a deep connection with his people and asking pointed questions about the process that led to the pope's decision to force him to retire.  The assessment -- which came in a letter signed by Josephite Sr. Ann Derwin, president of Catholic Religious Australia, and sent to the country’s apostolic nuncio -- says that members of religious orders, many of whom work in Morris' diocese of Toowoomba “are especially distressed at the loss of their pastor, a man they believe to be solicitous of all Christ’s faithful entrusted to his care -- especially the needy and marginalized.”   [Read More]

Picture of Sr Anne Derwin RSJ is taken from a screen shot of the Sisters of St Joseph Site  .

17/5/11    NCP MedIa Release on ACBC  letter highlights  dialogue and lawful diversity

BELMONT VIC:  In a Media Release dated May 13, 2011, the National Council of Priests in Australia writes -The NCP executive would like to communicate its support for the Australian Catholic Bishops letter addressed to the people of the Diocese of Toowoomba in which they express their sadness at the retirement of Bishop Bill Morris. As co-workers with the Bishops we wish to work with them as they exercise their "ministry collegially as pastors of Christ’s flock, as teachers of the apostolic faith and as moderators of the sacred liturgy" to build up the body of Christ in Australia.   [Read More]

23/5/11    A Bishop that had to go ?

On May 18, the online version of The Record, a publication of the Catholic Archdiocese of Perth in Western Australia, posted to its website the item  Editorial : a Bishop that had to go.  Unlike a recent letter from the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference,   the Editorial saw fit to present what could be regarded as a very biased  and inaccurate view of  Bishop Bill Morris and the process that recently brought about his removal as Bishop of Toowomba Qld.  This piece of writing, appearing as it did in the Catholic Media of an Archdiocese,   initially stirred me to write some scorching comments  concerning the bias and inaccuracies contained in it..  However, with further consideration, it seemed to me that if I responded in a tone similar to that of the Editorial, then I would be no better than the author of this Editorial who appears to find meaning in delivering trenchant criticism of Bill Morris.

The Scripture Readings from the Fifth Sunday of Easter (Year A) offer some more positive thinking, and this is surely what our Church needs at the moment.  The first reading (Acts 6:1-7) speaks of the difficulties confronting the early Church in regard to neglect of the Hellenist (Greek speaking) widows.  The problem was resolved  through initiative, adaptation to the real world, and concern for pastoral care.  The Gospel (John 14:1-12) , among other ideas, speaks of Jesus as the Way, the Truth, and the Life. And so it is clear that a focus on Jesus Christ is essential in our Church.

In much of the negative discussion concerning Bishop Morris (including the Editorial referred to above),  the idea of the Church adapting to the real needs of the times, and a focus on Jesus Christ as the centre of the Church, have been put aside.  Instead, authority, discipline, and  orthodoxy have been  dominant.

So, we might well ask, while we reflect on the Scripture Readings of the Fifth Sunday of Easter : How important do we consider a focus on Jesus Christ and the needs of the times -  as compared with a focus on authority, discipline and orthodoxy ?

Tim Williams CM 

Note that the comments above are not made on behalf of the Vincentian Priests and Brothers, but are the opinion of the webmaster of this site writing as an individual. 

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25/5/11    Is Christopher Pearson right about Bishop Morris ?

SYDNEY:  Recently, Journalist Christopher Pearson launched an attack on Bishop Bill Morris in The Weekend Australian (May 23-24 2011). He raised some serious matters that deserve closer attention.  On May 23rd, Michael Whelan SM of the Aquinas Academy offered a further reflection on the Bill Morris Case.  He questions the accuracy of some of the remarks made by Christopher Pearson, and  comments on the Vatican's view of the the vision of the Church presented in the Second Vatican Council.  [Read More]

30/5/11    Does the Vatican recognise human beings' natural rights ?

SYDNEY:   In a reflection posted on the Aquinas Academy Site on May 29, Fr Michael Kelly SJ,   founder of Jesuit Communications and Church Resources, and currently Chief Executive Officer of the Asian Church media group UCA News based in Bangkok,  comments on the lack of due process in the removal of Bishop Bill Morris.   He concludes - "Simply put, Bishop Morris didn’t get a fair go, the whole situation is a mess and the event has been deeply discouraging for most people involved in or aware of it. And it had to be so if there was no transparent and accountable structure in place to handle the matters."  [Read Full Reflection] 

18/6/11  Bishop Bill Morris responds to The Record

PERTH WA:   In the June 6 issue of  The Record (a publication of the Catholic Archdiocese of Perth WA),  Bishop Bill Morris has responded to the Editorial and an article in the May 18 issue of the paper. [Read More]

Screenshot above taken from The Recorda