Call for laity to be involved in appointment of bishops

Call for laity to be involved in appointment of bishops to local and regional dioceses


Anton McNulty

THE current system of appointing bishops has failed according to the deputy editor of the Irish Catholic who called for a new way of appointing bishops involving lay people to be found.
Michael Kelly told delegates at the Humbert Summer School in Castlebar that the current system has produced ‘a self-perpetuating mediocracy’ and as a result has bred ‘incompetence’ in the Church.
“When a diocese becomes vacant can the Church not, as a Christian community, have an honest conversation about the sort of qualities and leadership that a diocese may need at a particular time? Can we not look around and see the men who have these qualities of leadership? Is the Pope really best-placed to decide with a close gaggle of elderly Italian cardinals who would make the best bishop for a rural west of Ireland diocese?
“I'm not talking about a popular election with candidates and voting-pacts, but, there is an urgent need to make the process of appointing bishops more transparent. Leadership shouldn't simply fall to the next person on the list or the ageing parish priest who has served his time well and not caused any trouble,” he said.
Mr Kelly said the Catholic Church in Ireland operates in a veil of secrecy and as a journalist the lack of information released meant it is difficult to report.
“The abuse of secrecy in the Catholic Church and its accompanying behaviour - lying, stone-walling, half-truths, happy-talk, failure to consult and the rest, are evident in so much of how the Church operates.
“The Catholic hierarchy meets quarterly in Maynooth, sometimes there is a press conference, more often there is not. Requests for a copy of the agenda of such meetings are always denied, carefully-worded statements are issued and attempts to 'manage' press conferences when they do occur make a mockery of any talk of openness,” he said.
Mr Kelly also queried if a scenario would arise when ‘the contents of a three-day meeting are relayed to the faithful by more than a one paragraph statement’.
“The utter devotion to secrecy displayed regularly by the Church's hierarchy and most clerics and religious is having a devastatingly detrimental affect on the morale of lay people within the Church,” he added.
Kelly also criticised the handling of Pope Benedict XVI’s refusal to accept the resignations of Bishops Eamonn Walsh and Raymond Field and the lack of an explanation.