Archdiocese of Sydney’s George Cardinal Pell have already spoken about the controversial dismissal of Australian Bishop William Morris from his diocese in Toowoomba, Australia in an interview with Catholic News Agency. In the interview he said:

“It was a tragedy. It should never have come to this. Rome was very patient. You could say the dialogue had continued on for 13 years and unfortunately Bishop Morris felt unable to give satisfactory clarifications. Catholics stand with the Pope as the successor of Peter and his role is to strengthen his brothers and to defend the apostolic tradition, and it’s now Catholic teaching that women cannot be ordained priests. That’s not an optional belief; it’s now part of the Catholic package.”

Cardinal Pell was very much balanced and charitable with his views and assessment with the controversial Bishop according to CNA.

“He’s a very good man. He had a lot of pastoral strengths. He’s got a lot of good points. He’s done of lot of good work. He’s got quite a strong following in the diocese.”

Cardinal Pell despite having kind words for the Bishop, was also frank with the recent events.

“But the diocese was divided quite badly and the bishop hasn’t demonstrated that he’s a team player. I mean even at the end he didn’t wait for the official Vatican announcement. He sent around messages to every parish, to all his priests, the Australian bishops before the official announcement and since then he’s made a number of public announcements which haven’t been helpful.”

About the Critics of the Pope with regards to Bishop Morris’ dismissal,

“There’s been a predictable chorus from a minority but such is life.”

CNA also asked Cardinal Pell’s opinion about the Catholic Church’s firm hold to its Apostolic tradition, he said:

“You know, life moves on, but also I think it will be a useful clarification for people that Catholic doctrine is there to be followed and bishops take promises to defend the integrity of Catholic teaching. Young people don’t see the Catholic Church as being inevitably in decline at least in most parts of Australia. We’re doing what Christ wants, and I think that if you do that you’ve always got to be optimistic. There’s life and energy and promise.”

Who is Bishop William Morris?

William Martin Morris was the former Bishop of Toowoomba, Australia for 18 years. He was appointed Bishop by Pope John Paul II in 1992 and took office in 1993. He was then became controversial for his Pastoral Letter in Advent of 2006 when he openly called for the Ordination of Women and Married Men as Roman Catholic Priests and suggested that Protestant Ministers could offer Mass to compensate for the lack of Priests in his diocese. The Catholic Church denies any woman or married man to the priesthood because of Celibacy in the Canon law. The Vatican led an investigation about this controversy which took several years before finally bringing down the decision a month ago. Aside from his stance which Vatican found incompatible with the Apostolic teaching of the Church, Bishop Morris has also been known to prefer wearing shirt and tie instead of the traditional clerical garbs. Knowing beforehand that he will be removed from office, ordered a pastoral letter be read to the entire diocese stating his disappointment with the Vatican’s order to remove him, which he described as a deprivation of “natural justice”. As a result of his much publicized disagreements with the Vatican which was seen as an unprecedented move by a Bishop, the Diocese had no vocation for recent years, had divided the clergy among the supporters and dissenters and confused the faithful about what the Catholic Church stands for. Morris was removed from office on May 2, 2011.

As I understand it…

First of all there is no such thing as Temple Police or Church Gestapos that roam around various dioceses dressed in ordinary clothes, hops from one church to another, attends mass and reports to Vatican any skeletons they can find in the closets of clerics as what others theorized. Activities of priests and Bishops are always public so there is always the possibility that anyone could report them to the Vatican if they found something wrong with them. The Catholic church does not utilize such calumny or deceptive manner of regulating order within its rank. It is as if these theorists are suggesting that the Catholic Church doesn’t trust their own pastors..

We have to understand that this matter was not taken lightly by the Vatican. The Pope doesn’t just dismiss a bishop by virtue of whim. The Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has investigated this matter and has weighed it carefully. It’s not easy to replace a bishop with a snap of a finger. Replacing a Diocesan pastor is the last thing that the Vatican would do. But Rome has no choice because what’s at stake here is not only the person being investigated but also the faith of thousands of faithful who will suffer the consequences from such deviation from Apostolic Teaching of the Church.

The Bishop must not only act as the visible leader of the faithful, he must also be the voice of reason, the custodian of truth and the teacher of the Apostolic Tradition. He should be the one final voice of authority in his diocese when it comes to the Catholic Teaching. He must teach his faithful the faith, passed on from the Apostle to their successors. He must be one with the Pope, not only in allegiance but also in tradition and doctrine because the primary task of the Bishop is to teach.

In my own limited understanding, a bishop cannot anymore function as an effective diocesan pastor once he willfully deviates from the teaching of the church precisely because there is a great risk that his errors would be passed on to his clerics, and eventually to the faithful which can sow confusion or worse, defiance against Rome that can lead to schism. This is what the Church is avoiding.

Bishop Morris claimed that he was not advocating and encouraging the things he said in the Pastoral letter of 2006 but instead opening debates and discussion about it. But these things doesn’t need a debate, discussion or any consideration because it has been clarified ever since the reign of Pope John Paul II; women cannot become priests and that Celibacy is here to stay for good.

In cases where in the need for doctrinal clarifications arises, the Catholic Church initiate councils that would define certain articles of the faith or clarify new guidelines that needs to be promulgated. In the Council of Constance, the Catholic Church convened to resolve the Avignon Papacy that brought great strife within the Church. In the Council of Trent, the Catholic Church Condemned Martin Luther and the Protestant Movement and named them anathema or excommunicated. And during the first Vatican Council, the Catholic Church affirmed the Infallibility of the Pope. Many more councils throughout the Centuries defined the faith, resolve issues of clarified apostolic traditions that we hold now. They did not create these articles of Faith. The Faith was already there, revealed by Christ. The Councils only define them and clarify them, therefore cementing it as a finite part of the doctrine of our faith.

In the case of women Priests and Celibacy, there is no need for a council to discuss and debate it as what Bishop Morris have put it. The stance of the Church is clear and no further explanation is necessary.

We may not know the real score that led to the decision of Rome because these things are wrapped in great confidentiality and care. Unfortunately Bishop Morris made it public. But whatever the reason is, the Pope or any pope for that matter, always prioritizes the faithful who are often wounded in these kind of situations

I agree with Cardinal Pell, Rome has been kind and patient with Bishop Morris. If Bishop Morris lived during the time of the Origen, Athanasius, and Tertulian, he would probably be in anathema right now and his name would be appended to the word heresy.

We continue to pray for Bishop William Morris and his supporters that they may come to terms with accepting the Catholic Church’s decision.

George Cardinal Pell, Primate of Australia and Archbishop of Sydney finally speaks out about Bishop William Morris’ dismissal almost a month after the latter was renounced by the Vatican

His eminence, Bishop William Morris, former Bishop of Toowoomba who faced Church investigation, and recently dismissal from office after his controversial Advent Letter in 2006 was seen by the Vatican as an encouragement to ordination of women priests, married men and protestant ministers. Seen in the picture is the former Bishop who prefers wearing shirts and ties instead of clerical garb.