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Post by monkeyman on May 24, 2010 3:45:42 GMT
Yeah its an interesting one Michael G. Usually the mere mention of an SMA Father being elevated to the Episcopate makes me want to "run for the hills". Is it possible to be worse than Bishop Walsh though? I take it that Rome is using this appointment to take the attention off some future appointments which may not be acceptable to the media or to the liberals among the clergy-that's my guess. There are already rumours about who is getting the vacant see of Cloyne but enough about that for now.
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Post by hibernicus on May 24, 2010 10:28:12 GMT
In some respects it would indeed be possible to be worse than Bishop Walsh. He was pretty good at giving permission under the indult, and some of his social justice initiatives were good. I suspect the decisive point is that having been out of Ireland he is seen as less likely to have problems in the past. The interesting thing will be whether Bishop walsh's diocesan administration will "capture" any successor. One interesting point is that it doesn't sugest there is likely to be a large-scale merger of Irish dioceses; Killaloe and Clogher would have been good candidates for such a merger with their neighbours. Perhaps some of the small dioceses in the west will go, but there won't be a speedy reduction to 12.
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Post by monkeyman on Jun 1, 2010 1:53:06 GMT
• [His appointment] adds an important figure from religious life to the episcopacy, perhaps easing what many observers have long regarded as a breach between some of the more progressive religious orders and the church’s official leadership structures; • It adds a politically and theologically moderate voice to the English-speaking hierarchy, someone especially concerned with the church’s peace-and-justice teaching; • It also adds a bishop well positioned to help Catholicism navigate the demographic transitions underway, preparing for a future in which the church’s center of gravity is increasingly in the southern hemisphere. Monkeyman, is this another grey-shirted media-friendly Vatican II clone? God forbid. I don't know Michael G. But I think the people of Killaloe need to say the Rosary more often. The outgoing protestant Bishop and I mean that!, has left his diocese a spiritual wasteland. Do you know in response to a question regarding the availablity of the Latin Mass on the radio recently, he side he had only been asked once in 16 years for it? This does not correspond to the truth. On a least 3 occasions he gave permission for Mass to be said at the "Little Ark" in Kilbaha and there were several other celebrations in the Cathedral and the Franciscan Friary. His predecessor (Harty) ignored a sizeable petition in the days when we had to create petitions. I'll just take it his memory is not what it used to be. And while you might say that he has been generous (unbeknownst to himself it appears) his attitude towards the faith has been shocking. I have sat through 2 too any confirmations in the last few years where all but gave the impression that he didn't believe all that much himself. His outspokeness one might say is brave but then again, how brave do you need to be to parrot the medias gripes against the Church? I'm not sure Hibernicus that you could get worse than Bishop Walsh.
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Post by hibernicus on Jun 2, 2010 22:36:04 GMT
Alas, if you look at some of the antics of certain US bishops you will soon see it is possible to get worse than Bishop Walsh, and I have a nasty feeling that that is indeed what is going to happen in coming decades. There is a concerted attempt by the DOCTRINE AND LIFE crowd to argue that a "high" doctrine of the priesthood and the Eucharist is the root cause of the clerical abuse scandal, and the answer lies in protestantisation. (See a couple of articles on the subject in the recent issue). Given that the secular media are also pushing this line, I suspect we'll hear a lot more of this. I am not a great fan of Bishop Walsh, but having thought over and over again that things can get no worse and found they have done so, I am a bit sensitive on this issue.
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Post by Alaisdir Ua Séaghdha on Aug 19, 2010 11:22:41 GMT
I agree with Hibernicus that things could get worse, but from the point of view of this thread, there is more likely to be more expansion of the trad Mass in the Killaloe diocese rather than the opposite.
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