THE Catholic contingent of Warwick has rallied behind their fearless local leader who may be sacked for defiance.Bishop of the Diocese of Toowoomba William Morris admitted in a metropolitan paper yesterday he could be forced to stand down for discussing the prospect of allowing women and married priests into the Catholic Church.
An investigation into the pastoral letter he penned was launched two years ago when he was reported by a group of conservative Catholics who ensure the customs of the church are adhered to.
The group, known as the “temple police”, dobbed in the Bishop when he stated he would “continue to fight for what I believe is the truth”.
Bishop Morris was not available for comment yesterday but was quoted in media reports as saying he hoped the investigation would conclude this year.
“There are plenty of temple police around at the moment,” Bishop Morris said.
“They're not a large majority. They believe in their conservative views and if they don't agree with something, they'll write to Rome.”
And set their scribes to work is exactly what they did.
In response to the fears the Bishop could be sacked, St Mary's Parish Pastoral Council chairman Paul Ashton outlined the group's view.
“I can't speak for everyone in the parish but there are a significant number of people who have talked to me about this,” Mr Ashton said.
“From the Parish Pastoral Council's point of view, we are very supportive of Bishop Morris and his forward thinking. We have written to him in the past and showed our support for what he is doing.”
Mr Ashton said the Catholic Church had dwindling numbers of priests and no young men coming through the seminaries.
“We already have a big problem with no parish priest in Killarney and Allora and this issue will only grow,” he said.
“In 10 years time we will have far fewer priests and who's going to do weddings, burials and Christenings?
“If the Vatican said tomorrow, 'yes, you can do it', then I think the big majority of people would be ready to support it.”
Mr Ashton stressed the Bishop had not taken action.
“Bishop Morris certainly is not going to start ordaining women tomorrow but he wants to open this up for discussion and see how parishioners think they'd cope with having women and married men as priests,” he said.
Mr Ashton said the debate was a sign of the times but reminded worshippers of the history of the church.
“We need to keep in mind that for the first 400 or so years of the church, priests were allowed to marry. It was only later on that the rules changed.
“A man-made change can be changed back.”
He said a small minority, the “ultra-conservative group of people”, would fight the notion of change.
“Bishop Morris is a progressive, thinking man and it is not his intention to offend. He wants to open discussion,” Mr Ashton said.
“Looking at the practical aspect, we just don't have the numbers of young men in seminaries and we need to consider changing our rules to ensure the future of the church.”
He certainly is not going to start ordaining women tomorrow.+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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(Source: DNC)