Sacked Toowoomba Bishop Decries 'Inquisition', by Michael McKenna, The Australian, May 3, 2011

Sacked Toowoomba Bishop Decries 'Inquisition'

By Michael McKenna
The Australian
May 3, 2011

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/sacked-toowoomba-bishop-decries-inquisition/story-e6frg6nf-1226049095750

Catholic Bishop William Morris in the Toowoomba Diocese Office.

THE sacked Catholic Bishop of Toowoomba has accused the Pope of running a latter-day inquisition into allegations of doctrinal disobedience against him, with the Vatican controlling outspoken bishops through fear, humiliation and threats of dismissal.

Bishop William Morris, who last night took "forced retirement", said the Pope was immovable and had denied him a defence to the allegations, sparked by a 2006 letter he had written raising the option of ordaining women and married men and recognising the Anglican, Lutheran and Uniting Church Orders.

Hours before a formal Vatican announcement of his departure from the Toowoomba diocese after 18 years, Bishop Morris said the Vatican was imposing increasing constraints over discussion of controversial topics.

"I believe there is creeping centralism, a creeping authoritarianism and fallibility in the way the church operates and discusses issues," he said. "It is not just Pope Benedict: it is the whole Curia (Vatican bureacracy), with Benedict as the leader."

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After meeting the Pope in May 2009 over the allegations, Bishop Morris said it was obvious the head of the Catholic Church was determined to sack him. "It was like the Inquisition. He was immovable. There was no dialogue," he said.

Bishop Morris said he had never been shown a 2007 report of an internal investigation, led by Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver, Colorado, and that, unlike priests, bishops were not allowed to appeal dismissal.

He said he had only raised the option of ordaining women and married men for discussion.

In a letter to priests in the diocese, Bishop Morris is scathing of the treatment of his peers in the clergy. "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," he said.

Jesuit priest and lawyer Father Frank Brennan yesterday said the sacking was a "heavy-handed exercise of ecclesiastical authority".

Father Brennan said questions had been raised about the orthodoxy of Bishop Morris after his ordination as bishop 18 years ago. In a widely circulated letter, Father Brennan said he had first known the bishop when he was secretary to Archbishop Francis Rush in Brisbane and at the time "a very successful parish priest of the huge Gold Coast parish". But Catholic lawyer and chair of the Ambrose Centre for Religious Liberty, Rocco Mimmo, said the sacking was right: "Diocesan bishops criticising the teachings and direction of the Catholic Church and challenging the authority of the Holy Father damage the Catholic faith of their people."