Bishop Morlino - Hero or Villian*

Depends on if it is the Main Stream Media reporting Bishop Morlino's decision to assign 3 priests with the Society of Jesus Christ the Priest to cover both St. Mary's Parish and the St. Augustine University Parish in Platteville:

Platteville parishioners grumble (TH headline)

or LifeSiteNews:

Young Wisconsin Catholics Cheer Bishop Morlino for Welcoming Orthodox Priests

I have to admit that I am watching this with interest for a variety of reasons. I am familiar with both parishes in Platteville. Although I will admit more so with St. Augustine than St. Mary's. Bishop Morlino is trying to clean up a rat's nest that goes back to the 70s. & not just in Platteville. & it is not surprizing that he is meeting resistance.

In 2006 he required a recorded homily of his teaching on voting in favour of life and family to be played at every Mass on a certain Sunday before the election. he also sent a letter to every priest in the diocese warning of the "serious consequences" for priests who would contradict the vital teachings of the church in these matters. Some of the dissedent priests weren't happy with his actions & contacted the media. He got wind of the plot to embarrass him & released what was supposed to be a "personal and confidential" letter on the Diocesan website, beating them to the punch. the result was, rather than some dissident priests silencing Bishop Morlino, the full message of authentic Catholic teaching got a wider audience than originally planned.

Then last year he sacked a pastoral associate who advocated dissident liberation & feminist theology. The pastoral associate at St. Thomas parish was dismissed by Bishop Morlino after she refused to recant a 2003 Master's degree thesis extolling the use of female pronouns in describing God & questioning obedience to Church hierarchy. He said he had found her overall teaching mentality "troublesome" as well.

If you read the TH article I linked to, you will notice that no supporters of Bishop Morlino's actions were quoted. Just a couple of the "some members" of the parish that were unhappy with the changes. & something tells me that the lack of communication is from the parishes up, not from the chancery down as the article tries to paint it.

I also suppose the closing (mis)quote is from 1 of the newly assigned priests. It says "As priests, we welcome anyone who has dedicated their life to Christ, but as dogma, we disagree." but doesn't say who said it. I also suspect that he was trying to make it clear that as a Catholic priest it is his duty & responsibility to uphold authentic Catholic teaching. But the way the quote reads, it makes it sound like there is room for disagreement & that it is open to discussion.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. In the short run, you will see some unhappy dissidents leave, but in the long run, you will see 2 renewed, lively & orthodox parishes.

*IMHO Superhero!!!!!