Dear friends,

A week or so ago I began hearing rumours that Bishop Bill Morris from Toowoomba was under some kind of investigation from the Vatican. I didn't initially have enough substance to run a full story but there was enough there to run a satirical cartoon. Subsequently an independent journalist from one of the mainstream media organisations contacted me to say she also had been aware of the rumours for some weeks and she had contacted the Bishop's office to try and ascertain if there was any substance to the rumours. She concluded there wasn't and I passed that information to the readers of Catholica.

I am afraid that has not stopped the rumours. From widely differing sources (both geographically and from different ends of the political spectrum) I have continued to receive messages indicating that there is some substance to these rumours. At the time of the initial rumours I had sent an email to Fr Brian Lucas, secretary of the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference seeking some kind of response trying to ascertain if these rumours had substance or not. I did not receive a reply from Fr Brian and put that down to the fact that the story had died when I published the information from the journalist in Toowoomba.

It is difficult to know what to do in these situations. Ethically, I don't want to be engaged in the business of fueling rumours and I don't want Catholica to be cast in that light either. The secretary of the ACBC is probably not the best person in Australia to be contacting to try and get some confirmation or denial about these stories that are circulating. In light of these continuing rumours and in the interests of transparency as to my position, this morning I decided to fax a letter to the Apostolic Nuncio in Australia, Archbishop Ambrose De Paoli. Following is the text of my message…

25 June 2007

Most Reverend Ambrose De Paoli
Apostolic Nuncio in Australia
2 Vancouver Street
RED HILL ACT 2603

Your Excellency,

Several weeks ago I was alerted to a story concerning Bishop Bill Morris being under some kind of investigation by the Vatican. I didn't have enough information to run a full news story but there was enough substance to run a satirical cartoon. A little later I received an email from a secular journalist in Toowoomba who indicated she was also aware of the rumours and that she had "investigated" the story by ringing the bishops' "right hand man" and he assured her the rumours had no substance. I subseqently ran a short piece basically publishing the information that she had passed on to me.

In the last few days I have received messages from widely separated sources indicating that indeed there is some substance behind these romours which have been circulating for some weeks. My own journal is principally not a news journal but a journal of opinion and an initiative from a group of like-minded lay people who are endeavouring to reach out to the educated sections of the 85% who have become highly disillusioned with the institutional Church. As there is little in the way of independent reporting of religious affairs in this country at the moment we do break news from time to time when it comes to our attention and if it is of particular relevance to our readership.

One of the latest rumours which came to light from an extremely right wing source who posts on the CathNews discussion board is that Archbishop Chaput — the extremist and fundamentalist Capuchin Bishop from Denver — has been the one delegated by the Vatican to undertake the investigation of Bishop Morris. If there is any substance to this rumour I certainly view it with enormous alarm and I am sure the Church will have a major revolt on its hands in this country. I suggest to you, Your Excellency, that there are an increasing body of educated Catholics in this country who are no longer prepared to be treated as "little children" and idiots. These people also are increasingly less inclined to see our bishops treated as idiots and little children as the late PJPII and the Vatican attempted to do at the Oceania Synod.

I respectfully bring to your attention that these rumours are circulating and I believe this is a matter for your office's attention rather than the attention of anybody in the Australian ecclesial leadership. At the very least I think you need to take steps to quash the rumours if in fact they are rumours or your office and the Vatican needs to be aware that there are an increasing body of educated Catholics in this country who are no longer prepared to put up with the games the Vatican has played with its people and bishops in this country for so long.

Yours sincerely,

BRIAN COYNE

Brian Coyne is the editor and publisher of Catholica Australia.

We welcome your thoughts in response to this commentary in our forum.

Brian Coyne can be contacted at: Brian Coyne <editor@catholica.com.au>

©2007 Brian Coyne

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