The newly appointed Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, when questioned by Italian journalist Gianni Cardinale early in Advent (on the subject of certain atheists who support the Pope on some issues to do with Islam), spoke out on the matter of DISSENT. He had this to say: “If I can put it in a sound-bite, the Church doesn’t really worry about atheists, because they’re out of her spiritual jurisdiction, so to speak. Much more worrisome are those inside the Church who work to distort the faith and moral principles, or who oppose the Pope and his design for renewal of the Church.”

At about the same time, the Bishop of Toowoomba, Most Rev. William Morris, published his Advent pastoral letter. It is a tale of desperation, proposing a litany of dissent. It is a picture of the stretching of pastoral resources – of available priests – like an elastic band to breaking point. The Bishop calls it the “in-between” time. But it is not all “gloom and doom” he says. Why? Because, he said: “we have witnessed a flowering of lay-led ministry at a local level.” However the “long term task” he admits “remains as yet unaddressed”. One can understand why. On his own figures the whole diocese in 2014 will have only 18 priests – all but 3 of them – 65 years of age or older, with 10 having the option to retire. That some of these may have died of exhaustion or frustration in the meantime does not appear to be in the equation. So what does Bishop Morris propose as a solution now?

“Given our deeply held belief in the primacy of Eucharist for the identity, continuity and life of each parish community, we may well need to be much more open towards other options of ensuring that Eucharist may be celebrated. Several responses have been discussed internationally, nationally and locally

ordaining married, single or widowed men who are chosen and endorsed by their local parish community

welcoming former priests, married or single back to active ministry

ordaining women, married or single

recognising Anglican, Lutheran and Uniting Church Orders

While we continue to reflect carefully on these options we remain committed to actively promoting vocations to the current celibate male priesthood and open to inviting priests from overseas.

What is certain however is that Easter 2014 is irrevocably approaching!

Please take some time to give these matters serious though and reflection.”

That an Australian Bishop of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church should present such options (none of which, of course, are “options” at all!) as some sort of solution to his “priest shortage” in an official Diocesan Document is almost unbelievable. But no - there they are! That he should exhort his flock to give them “serious thought and reflection” indicates just how far NewChurch thinking has permeated and compromised the Faith in the State of Queensland.

Over the years Qld Catholics have been so conditioned to the idea of “priestless parishes” that, as they become a reality in more and more areas, it is accepted with a shrug as having been inevitable. The depth of knowledge of the Faith among the vast majority of Catholics educated in the “Catholic” school system over the last couple of generations has been so shallow that to many of them the proposals presented by Bishop Morris would not appear so outrageous at all.

The ideas of “women priests” and “married clergy” have been bandied about for so long in the NewChurch thinking of so many, it is just a matter of time before they too become a reality. A number of Australian bishops, Bishop Morris among them, have pandered to these notions. This is apparent in the Bishop’s Advent letter when he refers to the “current celibate male priesthood” - as if it could change at any time. Never mind the fact that the Holy See has spoken with regard to “women priests”. As the late Holy Father John Paul II definitively stated in Ordinartio Sacerdotalis, “the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women.” It will never happen. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith confirmed this teaching as an infallible part of the ordinary magisterium: “to be held always and everywhere and by all, as belonging to the Deposit of the Faith.”

As for “married priests”, this is a matter of discipline and tradition. However at the Synod of Bishops held in Rome in 2005 it was discussed and rejected. Even bishops of the Eastern Rite churches in communion with Rome – who allow married clergy – were strongly against any change in the tradition of a celibate priesthood.

Should priests who have left the active ministry wish to return to active pastoral life then they would have to accept the rule of celibacy and their return would have to be authorised by Rome. It would be foolish indeed to think that the number of men to whom these conditions were acceptable would have an impact at all on numbers needed for the Toowoomba Diocese. Bishop Morris may as well delete this ‘option’.

Bishop Morris states that his “proposals” have been discussed “internationally, nationally and locally.” Locally we can understand, considering the paucity of faith education among Queensland Catholics over the past 30 or so years. We can even visualise an enthusiastic NewChurch Parish Council proposing the ordination of one of their own: a scenario that could go something like this: “Now that we haven’t got a parish priest why not ordain Bill Brown – he’s a decent enough bloke – everyone knows him - been taking up the plate for years – does his bit for Vinnies – has been doing the ‘lay-led liturgy’ course – so now that his wife has died it will give him something to do – I’m sure he’d be more than happy to take the job on.”

Bishop Morris gives no references as to where this idea of a parish “choosing and endorsing” a man for ordination has been discussed internationally or nationally. Nationally? Surely not at the Australian Bishops Conference! ... Perhaps at the National Council of Priests?

The Bishop’s other option, that Anglican, Lutheran and United Church Orders be recognised, is plainly absurd. Either Bishop Morris proposed it tongue in cheek or his ideas on ecumenicalism are wildly astray. Has he cleared the suggestion with his Metropolitan Bishop – Archbishop John Bathersby – or with the Vatican? Or, indeed, even with the heads of those Churches in the Toowoomba area? One would think they would be bemused and bewildered by the notion that while attending to their own ministries they should also take on the job of Catholic priests! Or does Bishop Morris have in mind their mass conversion to Catholicism?

In his Advent letter Bishop Morris refers to “the primacy of Eucharist for the identity, continuity and life of each parish.” Why is it that NewChurch people – clerical and lay alike – can always be identified when they drop the pronoun ‘the’ when referring to ‘the Eucharist’ or ‘the Church’ –as in the phrase ‘we are Church’. Why is the word ’Mass’ disappearing from their vocabulary? How often these days do you hear a priest refer to ‘the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass’?

Of course the Consecration of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ – the Eucharistic sacrifice - within the celebration of Holy Mass is the primary act of the sacrificial priesthood. It is the Mass that matters. The Protestant Reformation got rid of the notions of priesthood and sacrifice that are central to the Catholic ordination rite. Thus, since the Reformation there is no Mass, no priesthood within the Protestant/Anglican denominations. Ministers of other Christian religions who wish to be priests have to be ordained in the Catholic ordination Rite.

In fact the whole desperate tone of Bishop Morris’s Advent Letter – turning to active dissent as a solution to a problem that has obviously been looming for years – describes a reality that does not auger well for the future of the Faith in the Toowoomba Diocese. But then Bishop Morris is no stranger to dissent. Years after the Third Rite of Reconciliation (when offered in the normal parish context) was banned by the Vatican, it was still the norm within some Toowoomba parishes.

The tragedy is, of course, that what is happening in Toowoomba is symptomatic of the crisis of Faith throughout the whole state of Queensland. The situation in the Rockhampton Diocese is just as serious as in Toowoomba. There it is exacerbated by the policy of priests having the option to retire at age 60 should they so desire. The elastic band approach to the shortage of priests is under increasing strain in Rockhampton as in all other Queensland Dioceses.

The Queensland Bishops show determination to rely on “lay-led liturgists” and ‘Pastoral Assistants’ to keep parish life functioning with priests more and more frequently arriving only to celebrate Holy Mass and hear Confessions. It is all too sadly reminiscent of what happened in the early colonial days. (Except, of course, that then there were no ‘lay-led liturgists’ about, the Faith was strong and unadulterated by NewChurch pollution and was kept alive by the recitation of the family Holy Rosary in the home every evening).

When discussing the problem of the lack of vocations to the priesthood in Queensland, a deeply concerned Toowoomba parishioner has sadly observed that: “God removes His Grace in the face of disobedience and dissent.”

The “Catholic Leader” in its issue of January 14 has tacitly endorsed the Advent Pastoral Letter of Bishop Morris! By printing the Letter verbatim, without one critical word and adding a few extra statements by Bishop Morris, the “Catholic Leader”, mouthpiece of the Brisbane Archdiocese, has provided credence and support for the Bishop’s dissention “options”. This is not in any way surprising. Why? Because the Brisbane Archdiocese is heading for the same sad fate as Toowoomba and it knows it! Not perhaps as quickly but, humanly speaking, inevitably. In his added comments Bishop Morris said he asked Catholics in all his 35 parishes scattered over his “vast diocese to keep talking about alternative models for ministry.” Would it not be better for Bishop to recommend a series of continuing Novenas to Our Lady for priestly vocations and to institute Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament on a regular basis in every parish? We must correct an error in our article above. We must have misread the Bishop’s figures. We said that the number of active priests in the Toowoomba Diocese in 2014 would be 18. In his comments in the “Catholic Leader” he said the figure was six! Only a third of our figure. The death of a diocese looms.