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| Archbishop Chaput is now the Chief Scribe of the Global Catholic Gestapo. Oh wait, I mean Official Temple Police. |
The National Catholic Reporter has issued an update on the situation in Australia with Bishop William Morris. It seems Australian priests have had their fill of the Australian Church being dictated to by the Australian version of the Vatican Gestapo. I have not lost sight of the fact that Archbishop Chaput has his own college campus version of Vatican Gestapo and that he was the visitator assigned by the Vatican in this situation in Australia. I can't help wonder how Pope Benedict, who had to have seen how utterly ugly the Gestapo were in Germany, can be part of resurrecting this kind of thing in Catholicism. But then maybe he and his were not intimidated by the thought of the Gestapo knocking on their door.
Australian priests offer support for deposed bishop
Tom Roberts, National Catholic Reporter, 5-3-2011
A national organization of priests in Australia issued a statement May 3 supporting Bishop William Morris of the Toowoomba diocese, while also decrying the influence of those who maintain a “restorationist ideology” and apparently agitated for the bishop’s removal. (The Australian Church has truly been plagued by self proclaimed 'true believers'. They have been totally supported by Cardinal Pell.)
According to a letter Morris wrote that was read at all Masses in the diocese May 1, Pope Benedict XVI forced him to retire following complaints by a group of dissidents in his diocese who took issue with a 2006 pastoral letter that dealt with a severe priest shortage facing the Australian church. (I often wonder if these Australian true believers would be quite so vocal if they lived in the Australian outback instead of cities with parishes and priests.)In the pastoral, Morris had listed some options, including ordination of women, that he noted were being discussed throughout the church. He said in the pastoral that the church might have to be open to such options as ordination of married men and women if the “primacy of the Eucharist” is to be maintained as a distinctive element of Catholic worship. Numerous accounts about the pastoral note that Morris conditioned the alternatives with “if Rome would allow.”.......
........“We are appalled at the lack of transparency and due process that led to this decision by church authorities,” said the statement released by the National Council of Priests of Australia.
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I am uplifted that Australian priests are standing up for one of their own. I hope and pray it's a sign of things to come. I have never for once believed the vast majority of priests were pedophiles or narcissists, but I have to admit I was slowly coming to the conclusion that a lot of them were terrified of acting on the demands of their priesthood when it came to their bishops. Priesthood is a commitment which goes beyond saying Mass. If one takes it seriously as a personal challenge, it really is about being 'in persona Christi'. Christ took on His own version of the temple police and the institutional priesthood. He had to because He came to demonstrate what they could be but were not. They too could have done what He did, but they were either afraid of the price, or unable to understand what in the world Jesus was talking about. It is always much easier to take the safe and very traditional path.
Roman Catholicism will continue to die if all of it's leadership opts for the safe and traditional path. I can see it might live on life support for quite awhile longer, but it's becoming more and more obvious that Roman Catholicism has little to do with Christianity and a whole lot more to do with control. More and more I think of myself as a Christian Catholic, and not a Roman Catholic. More and more I'm beginning to wonder if Roman Catholicism really is Christian.
