What can be read into this? (Main Forum)

by Brian Coyne , LINDEN, NSW, Tuesday, May 15, 2012, 11:59 (373 days ago) @ Jane

I don't know the man but in the six or seven years I've been in the Parramatta Diocese in a position as an editor you tend to pick up the stories. I've also been getting some feedback since the announcement. The general assessment would seem to be "at least it's not a right wing nutter" which it could easily have been. As I wrote last night this is a pretty "safe" appointment. Bob McGuckin is reputed to be quite orthodox but in a very "safe, company man" sort of way. It certainly is not to be interpreted as any form of apology to the people of the Toowoomba Diocese for what was done to Bill Morris — no "by your leave"s there let alone "mea culpas" or "mea maxima culpas". The jury still seems to be out as to whether it is an attempt to rein in the Queensland Bishops and Church. Were there no suitable Queensland candidates worthy of elevation? Does it confirm the rumours circulating for ages that the Nuncio and those charged with responsibility for finding candidates are finding considerable reluctance on the part of the many to take on the responsibilities of a bishop, particularly in these large rural and outback dioceses? Toowoomba borders the Wilcannia-Forbes diocese and shares many similar challenges. The appointment appears to have the hallmarks of a leadership trying to "circle the wagons" in a deeply demoralised Church rather than an appointment that might be interpreted as one coming from a confident institutional leadership seeking to go out and embrace humanity and continue the "building of the kingdom". There seems little confidence that an appointment like this indicates the institutional leadership are anywhere remotely close to yet addressing the challenges facing Catholicism across Australia. Bob McGuckin is reported to be a fishing buddy of the Bishop of Broken Bay and the betting is that the consecrators will be Archbishop Coleridge (ex Canberra-Goulburn/Melbourne recently installed as Archbishop of Brisbane and Queensland Metropolitan), David Walker (Broken Bay) and Anthony Fisher (Parramatta) with the Archbishop the Principal Consecrator. As a couple of wags said "not a Queenland Bishop within Cooee". The positive vibe that's being drawn from the appointment is that it seems to indicate that Pell continues to be essentially sidelined as the dictator of all the episcopal appointments across this nation. His voice is listened to along with all the other bishops but he no longer has the sort of exclusive power he had for a few short years under JPII to be virtually dictating all appointments in this nation.

Brian Coyne
[Editor & Publisher]