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	Dismissed Catholic Bishop Says Vatican Denied Him Natural Justice Digital Journal May 4, 2011 http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/306302 A Catholic bishop in Australia has accused the Vatican of denying him natural justice after he was fired for suggesting the church ordain women and married men. But Bishop William Morris of the Toowoomba diocese, west of Brisbane, has defended his actions, and eight priests have signed a letter in his support. The MSNBC website reports that, in a statement confirming the dismissal of Morris, the Vatican says he has been "removed from pastoral care," which is seen as a strong move. "Morris said he was removed because of a letter he wrote to his parish in 2006 in which he suggested that the church could help solve the problem of priest shortages by considering ordaining women and married men," says the news outlet. After that, an "apostolic visitation" of the diocese was led by Archbishop Charles Chaput, Archbishop of Denver, Colorado. However, Morris says he has not seen the ensuing report. Morris, 67, said this week that he had only wanted the church to keep an open mind on the matter of ordaining women and married men, and had not specifically advocated it. He has sent an open letter to his parish, in which he says a handful of people who are unhappy with his leadership used the 2006 comments in order to generate a complaint to the Vatican, which then launched an investigation. One of Morris's motives in seeking the ordination of married men was to address a shortage of men coming forward for ordination. Morris's 2006 statement was seen to be in defiance of an apostolic letter by Pope Benedict's predecessor, Pope John Paul II, called Ordinatio Sacerdotalis (On Ordination to the Priesthood), which talks of reserving priestly ordination to men alone. In his letter to parishioners, Morris says that it's "been determined by Pope Benedict that the diocese would be better served by the leadership of a new bishop." Ageing clergy A report in the Australian says parishioners were "amazed and shocked" about the letter. The Australian expands on Morris's 2006 letter: "In that letter, he argued that with an ageing clergy the church should be open to all eventualities, including ordaining women, ordaining married men, welcoming back former priests and recognising the validity of Anglican, Lutheran and Uniting Church orders." The paper says the style of his departure "is unprecedented in that he has made his disagreements with the Vatican so public. In previous years, bishops who fell from favour have usually resigned on the grounds of ill health, or no reason has been given for their departure." Meanwhile, the Toowoomba diocesan website is inviting visitors to send a message of gratitude to Morris. "No personal replies will be issued, however your thoughts and prayers will be passed on to Bishop Morris." In his letter to parishioners (PDF), he says: While I have tried to deal with all people fairly and to involve all in the ministry and mission of the diocese I have not always been able to succeed. 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. This led to an Apostolic Visitation 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 is has been determined by Pope Benedict that the diocese would be better served by the leadership of a new bishop. He says he has "never seen the Report prepared by the Apostolic Visitor, Archbishop Charles Chaput, and without due process it has been impossible to resolve these matters, denying me natural justice without any possibility of appropriate defence and advocacy on my behalf."
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