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| The Mitred Head of a Bishop |
The approach of the 75th birthday of a Bishop,when he is obliged to
tender his resignation to the Holy Father, brings into focus the record
of that Bishop in his sacred office.
Sometimes that record has not been one that one would wish to praise,
but rather condemn - one can think of several cases in the United States
over the years and even quite recently , where this has been the case.
Of course when the situation is in one's own Diocese, the issue is
surrounded with greater difficulty and considerations of giving scandal
loom larger.Yet, at the same time , when the whole apparatus of a
Diocese is geared up to boost the image of the retiree, and the
composite picture becomes wholly false, other considerations arise.
Is a great deception to be to be tolerated?
On the other hand, surely the Church in the particular Diocese has the
right to mark the approaching retirement of its Bishop. It is
unthinkable that it should attack or revile the man ordained and
installed to be at the Head of that Diocese.Again, one would not wish to
be churlish, recounting the litany of disasters, and of effectively
heretical addresses and homilies, and administrative measures not taken
against rogue priests.
It is a complex issue to weigh in the balance. But if I am confronted
again by some of the fabricated drivel I encountered in the Diocesan
Paper at the weekend, referring to the man as a great scholar - which he
is far from being, and lauding his achievements when there are none
worth mentioning that have come to notice in years of close observation
, I shall feel obliged to lay out the record in detail in defence of
the truth. And I have it chapter and verse. But I do not want to do that
- so much the better if he just goes and is replaced by someone who
"does what the Catholic Church does, and teaches what the Catholic
Church teaches"and we can get on with repairing the damage of the wasted
years.
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