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Mary visited Rome as a young religious woman when she was being persecuted by local bishops for being too independent. She got a good hearing from the Pope and great assistance from Fr Anderledy who became the Superior General of the Jesuits. If only Bishop Bill Morris could have received the same sympathetic hearing.
Anglican bishops are not appointed more democratically or transparently than Roman Catholic bishops, although there are better-known processes and lines of accountability. And they would have better legal redress should anyone try to get rid of them.
I have known Bill Morris as priest and bishop for 30 years. He is a good man — no flash academic but the most down to earth pastoral guy you could meet. His forced departure from Toowoomba has been some years in the coming. He is right to claim that he has been denied natural justice.
While the Australian bishops' letter indicates that they accept the decision to sack former bishop of Toowoomba Bill Morris, there is nothing to suggest that they agree. In fact they carefully distance themselves from the decision.
The treatment of Bishop Bill Morris risks further blurring the image of the Church. The story told of a good man who encouraged his church, who was resolute in dealing with sexual abuse, but was removed in an untransparent process, will confirm many in their distrust of the Church.
Modern societies rightly put much weight on transparency. Its absence is taken to discredit the institutions in which it is lacking. After the forced resignation of Bishop Morris it will be even harder for Catholics to win a hearing on issues that affect the public order.
Bishop Bill Morris' announcement that he had tendered his early retirement under Roman pressure will arouse debate in and outside the Catholic Church. In these first days of controversy, it may be helpful first to reflect on the impact that the action has on the people most affected by it.
According to predictions based on earlier floods the ground floor of my house was was going to be inundated, so all our worldies were brought upstairs. We waited. It rained. Then on Tuesday morning something interesting started to happen.
The construction of space reveals society's attitudes to different groups of people. A Brisbane council's plan to replace conventional bus shelter seating with horizontal 'bumbars' sends a distinct message of exclusion to the homeless people who sleep there.
The full text of Frank Brennan's January 2010 address to the Australian Association of Catholic Bioethicists, 'Toothless, Trojan or True to Trinitarian Anthropology? Reflecting on the 2009 National Human Rights Consultation'.
A Queensland father removed his children from a Catholic primary school in protest against the graphic sexual education given to his children. Schools are best placed to cover sexual health because students can be supported in developing a mature sexual ethic.
Even if all our recommendations were implemented tomorrow, there would still be vulnerable Australians missing out on essential economic and social rights. Responsibility for meeting these needs cannot rest solely with government. We need to take responsibility for each other.
37-48 out of 59 results.