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	Vigil to Be Held for Ousted Qld Bishop By Kym Agius and Petrina Berry Sydney Morning Herald May 2, 2011 http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/vigil-to-be-held-for-ousted-qld-bishop-20110502-1e4ar.html Catholics in southwest Queensland are expected to hold a candlelight vigil on Tuesday outside the home of a bishop who was forced into early retirement by the Vatican. Bishop of Toowoomba William Morris has been forced into early retirement by Pope Benedict XVI after he questioned whether declining numbers of Catholic church priests could be supplemented by women and ministers from other churches in a letter to his parish in 2006. In an another letter to his parish on the weekend, Bishop Morris said a small group of "disaffected" parishioners "misread" and "deliberately misinterpreted" the letter and made a complaint, and he's now been pushed into early retirement by the Vatican. Advertisement: Story continues below "The... consequences are, that it has been determined by Pope Benedict that the diocese would be better served by the leadership of a new bishop," the letter said. The bishop, who has served in the Toowoomba diocese for 18 years, told the ABC that Rome controlled bishops by fear "and if you ask questions or speak only on subjects that Rome declares closed... you are censored very quickly, told your leadership is defective and threatened with dismissal". He said he wasn't advocating change, but pointing to a local, national and international debate on those issues. During the five-year investigation by the Vatican, Bishop Morris said he never saw the report prepared about the issue. "Without due process it has been impossible to resolve these matters, denying me natural justice without a possibility of appropriate defence and advocacy on my behalf," the letter said. A spokesman for Bishop Morris said the Vatican was expected to confirm the early retirement at 8pm (AEST) on Monday. Supporters of Bishop Morris from the Toowoomba diocese, which spans 35 parishes in the state's southwest, will hold a candlelight vigil opposite his home, in Queen's Park, from 5.30pm on Tuesday. The group will then move in a silent procession to St Patrick's Cathedral, where prayers would be held. "It will be a vigil, a statement of strong support for the Bishop for those who come," the spokesman told AAP. The Anglican Church's Bishop of Queensland's western region, Right Reverend Rob Nolan, said the parish would be upset over the Bishop Morris' retirement. "I'd say the majority of parishioners and priests are upset about what's happened," he told AAP. "They have a great regard for Bishop Morris and a great respect for him, and they will feel that there has been a great injustice I believe." He said the forced retirement was unjust as the letter was taken out of context. He said Bishop Morris was just trying to open a debate about the declining number of priests, particularly in rural and regional areas. "It was more of a general statement rather than a dogmatic one," he said. A retired Catholic priest in Toowoomba, who wishes not to be named, said the parishioners would be meeting this week to discuss how to go forward. "Everyone was shocked," he told AAP. "It will be a challenging time for all of us." Bishop Morris' retirement comes two years after the Catholic Church ousted priest Peter Kennedy from St Mary's parish in South Brisbane over controversial behaviour, including allowing women to preach the homily, using unorthodox prayers, having a Buddhist statue in his church and blessing same-sex relationships. Mr Kennedy said it was not surprising the Bishop Morris was paying such a big price for supporting the ordination of women. "It was John Paul II who said the ordination of women could never be discussed," Mr Kennedy told ABC. "When they become bishops they promise obedience of mind and will to the holy father."
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