I must be the only fish in the pond who has not made any comment on the Protect the Pope affair (apart from a few oblique references).
James Preece is following an interesting line of enquiry while there are a few who hold hard to the view that we must respect our bishops and that Bishop Campbell is a good man.
Well, as eny fule knoe, ever since the Glencoe massacre, one has never been able to trust a Campbell!
But my take on the sad affair is that, yes, the Bishop does have the right to demand absolute obedience from a member of his religious team.
But, when faced with a blog that is sound in Catholic doctrine and truth, to shut it down must be an act of weakness and pride.
No leader who is strong and confident objects to being challenged.
Absolute???? I do not think so. Human beings are not meant to be unthinking robots. Demands from even bishops must be reasonable. It is also the reason that one can appeal episcopal decisions to one of the congregations in Rome.
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree, but what are you, I'll say you, in this case, going to do about it!
ReplyDeleteWhat about a letter to the good bishop telling him just what you think of his action, copied of course to you own bishop, thats only nice, and also the the Papal Nuncio.
Blast! This could blow my cover and we'll be drummed out of our Church of Nice, five hymn, Protestant sandwich parish - and I'll be in deep trouble from my wife who will miss all her pals!
EFPastorEmeritus2 - Agreed. I do not believe that any Bishop can expect one of his team to obey a command which violates his conscience.
ReplyDeleteI would certainly not obey such a command as, for example, if Cardinal Nichols were to command me to accompany him to a heathen temple and place flowers on the altar, or to shake hands with Greg Pope or Tony Blair.
But then, I am not a Priest.
No, that is not in accordance with Divine Law or the law of the Church which is based on Divine Law. No bishop in the Church has the authority to act unjustly or against the interests of the Church and salvation of souls. In substance (though not in form for obvious reasons) the Bishop has unlawfully and unjustly imposed an extremely severe, unlimited, vague penalty on Deacon Donnelly without the necessary grounds and procedures. This is in contravention of Church law (not to mention the moral law) and Deacon Donnelly should make a formal complaint/query to the Court of the Holy See which would state that the bishop has no authority to purport to act as he has done against the deacon ( and thereby misleading the Faithful and bringing the episcopacy into further disrepute. To "obey" illegal and immoral directions imposed in an informal way by a canonical superior is false obedience. There is no obedience due to superior acting against the law of the Church (and the moral law). Deacon Donnellly was subjected to intimidation over his truthful God-fearing writing which was wholly in accordance with the Deposit of Faith and morals.
ReplyDeleteBishop Campbell has issued a statement which puts things into correct perspective.
ReplyDeleteThe statement is completely contradictory and full of nonsensical bluster. He must think people are stupid. But of course he had to make some sort of defensive statement as the scandal of the closing down of the loyal-to-Deposit-of-Faith-and-morals blog spread through the Catholic world.
ReplyDeleteNot sure that we read the same thing. Just in case you get the wrong impression and think that I may be a supporter of acta and other such nonsense I am the father of two Priests who belong to traditionalist orders hence my nom de plume. You are of course entitled to your own interpretation of the statement but I think you are way off mark.
ReplyDeleteIntroibo, you are indeed blessed to have two sons as priests. I never thought you were a supporter of ACTA for one moment. As to being "off mark" I have been battling with the bishops for over 30 years now and feel totally certain that I am 'on mark'. God bless.
DeleteSorry Richard this old fool was replying to Lynda. I am indeed blessed with 13 children. Two Priests and three of my grandsons are seminarians. God is good.
ReplyDeleteIntroibo - Oops, Phew!
ReplyDelete