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Bishop Bill launches tell-all book tonight
By Chris Calcino
THE long-awaited launch of former Toowoomba Diocese bishop Bill Morris' tell-all book Benedict, Me and the Cardinals Three will happen tonight at the Empire Church Theatre. The behind-the-scenes and often-secretive machinations of the Catholic Church will be thrust into the limelight, with Emeritus Bishop Morris going into detail about the Vatican dealings that led to his dismissal in 2011. "It relates, from my perspective, the dealings I had with various congregations of the Vatican's Curia, and with certain cardinals and officials, as well as with Pope Benedict XVI, regarding pastoral activities and a letter I wrote to the diocese in Advent of 2006 while the Bishop of Toowoomba," he said. "The book details the background and events which led to my being asked by Pope Benedict XVI to resign as Bishop of Toowoomba when I had a meeting with him in Rome on June 4, 2009. "I did not agree to resign, but negotiated with Pope Benedict to take early retirement, which was announced on May 2, 2011." The book has been fraught with controversy, with its publisher claiming current Bishop Robert McGuckin blocked it from being stocked at the St Paul's Centre in Toowoomba last month. A spokesman from the bishop's office denied the allegation, saying the only issue had been whether the book should be stocked before its official launch. It has returned to the shelves. Empire Theatres chairman Professor Peter Swannell will launch the book tonight. Prof. Swannell was a major supporter of the ousted bishop and described his dismissal as "outrageous" in his regular Chronicle column on May 4, 2011. "There is no other word to describe the outcome forced upon Bishop William Morris through his treatment by Pope Benedict and his cronies in the Congregations for Bishops, Divine Worship and Doctrine of the Faith," he wrote. Bishop Bill's book launch
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