"It is...Our will that Catholics should abstain from certain appellations which have recently been brought into use to distinguish one group of Catholics from another. They are to be avoided not only as 'profane novelties of words,' out of harmony with both truth and justice, but also because they give rise to great trouble and confusion among Catholics. Such is the nature of Catholicism that it does not admit of more or less, but must be held as a whole or as a whole rejected: 'This is the Catholic faith, which unless a man believe faithfully and firmly; he cannot be saved' (Athanasian Creed). There is no need of adding any qualifying terms to the profession of Catholicism: it is quite enough for each one to proclaim 'Christian is my name and Catholic my surname,' only let him endeavour to be in reality what he calls himself." -- Pope Benedict XV, Ad Beatissimi Apostolorum 24 (1914)

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Priest close to Pope calls for mass resignation of Irish bishops

By Mark Greaves on Wednesday, 20 July 2011
Priest close to Pope calls for mass resignation of Irish bishopsBenedict XVI meets Ireland's bishops in 2010 (CNS photo/L' Osservatore Romano via Reuters)

A theologian who is a former student of Pope Benedict XVI has called for every Irish bishop appointed before 2003 to resign.

Fr Vincent Twomey, emeritus professor of moral theology at Maynooth seminary, said the Irish Church had been “without any leadership effectively for the last 15 years”.

He said that all bishops appointed before Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin in 2003 should stand down even though there were many good bishops among them. “We need new leadership,” he said.

Fr Twomey told RTE radio that he was “incandescent with rage” after reading the Cloyne report. He said the conduct of Bishop John Magee and other officials was “mind-boggling”, describing it as “incompetence, inertia, and lies”.

“I can understand the outrage. The people most upset by this are the people who have stayed faithful to the Church. They have been let down, to put it mildly,” he said.

The report recorded stark disagreement among bishops over whether Bishop Magee should resign in 2009.

At an emergency meeting of the Irish bishops’ conference, Archbishop Martin argued that Bishop Magee should resign while Cardinal Seán Brady insisted he should stay.

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