VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter
by John L Allen Jr on Aug. 02, 2012 All Things Catholic …
On the very day Müller got a new job, Archbishop Róbert Bezák of Trnava, Slovakia, lost his old one. He was removed from office by the Vatican on July 2, and since that’s a fairly rare occurrence, curiosity continues to swirl around what happened in the case of the 52-year-old Redemptorist, appointed to lead the Slovakian church in April 2009.
Prior to his downfall, Bezák had been seen as a figure to watch in the European hierarchy — one of the continent’s youngest major prelates, someone who appealed to the center-left camp in both the church and in European politics. As is customary, the Vatican has declined to provide any official explanation for dumping him, and, as is equally customary, that information vacuum has generated speculation and conspiracy theories.
Three developments have occurred since I last updated this story in mid-July.
First, the Slovakian bishops met July 17 and didn’t line up in defense of their fallen colleague. A statement said: “The Holy Father made this decision after being personally and thoroughly acquainted with the results of a visitation and communication between Bezák and the relevant [Vatican] congregations. The bishops … accept the Holy See’s decision.” …
•Bezák’s choice of aides, charging they included priests who are known homosexuals or who have illegitimate children.
•Bezák’s willingness to accept candidates for the priesthood who had been rejected in other dioceses, either for their doctrinal views or for suspect personal morality.
•Questions about financial management, including Bezák’s reliance on Slovakian laity linked to political and financial scandals.
•Questions about Bezák’s views on issues such as priestly celibacy, Marian devotion, the ordination of women, abortion, euthanasia and extramarital sex.
•Bezák’s allegedly irreverent manner of referring to the pope simply as “Mr. Pope” in public (in Slovakia, it’s apparently common parlance to add “Mr.” before formal titles), and of allegedly referring to other Slovakian bishops as “old men and fools” while styling himself as “modern” and “enlightened.”
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