By Marissa Calligeros and Peter Hardwick
Brisbane Times
May 2, 2011
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/toowoomba-bishop-claims-unfair-sacking-20110502-1e3mi.html
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| Toowoomba Bishop William Morris. |
A Queensland Catholic bishop says he has been forced into early retirement because of his support for ordaining women priests and other liberal ideas.
Toowoomba Bishop William Morris has written in a letter to his followers that he's leaving unwillingly after upsetting the Vatican and Pope Benedict XVI.
Bishop Morris had been the subject of a Vatican review after he released an Advent Pastoral Letter in 2006 in which he suggested ordaining women and married men and welcoming back former priests to counter a shortfall of priests.
The 67-year-old bishop said in a letter he had been denied natural justice during the review.
Through a letter read to shocked congregations at each Mass across the Diocese over the weekend, Bishop Morris explained he felt his position as Bishop of Toowoomba had become "untenable", the Toowoomba Chronicle reported.
Bishop Morris had been the subject of a Vatican review after he released an Advent Pastoral Letter in 2006 which some priests in the diocese had refused to read to their congregations because they believed the document contained controversial issues.
A "small group" who had found his leadership not to their liking had complained to church authorities leading to the review of an Apostolic Visit, he said.
"Some of those who have been disaffected by my leadership have exercised the option of making complaints about me, some of these complaints being based on my Advent Pastoral Letter of 2006 which has been misread and I believe deliberately misinterpreted," Bishop Morris said.
"This led to an Apostolic Visitation (by Archbishop Charles Chaput) and an ongoing dialogue between myself and the Congregations for Bishops, Divine Worship and Doctrine of the Faith and eventually Pope Benedict. The substance of these complaints is of no real import now but 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.
Sister Eileen March said the congregation at St Patrick's Catholic Church in Toowoomba sat in shock as they learned of Bishop Morris's resignation.
"Everyone was very shocked and stunned. I have never heard the church so quiet," she said. "Nobody expected this."
Sister Eileen said Bishop Morris had been misrepresented."This is a case of misrepresentation of what he said in 2006. It's a shame that a small group in our Diocese has caused such problems. It's been blown out of all proportion," she said.
"In the time that I have known him over the 18 years he has come to the convent to celebrate Mass he has never done or said anything that could be construed as going against the Catholic church."
His 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 Bishop Morris would have been seen to be disobeying the Vatican by raising the issues of ordaining women and married men.
"[The Vatican] cannot tolerate any deviation from the mindset if the people in charge of the Vatican," he said.
Brisbane Archbishop John Bathersby declined to comment on the matter this morning.
"I will not be offering any further comment on matters for which I have not received official notification," he said in a statement.
An official statement from the Vatican is expected to be made at 8pm tonight.
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