When one is in the situation of being made a bishop, i.e., a priest, then one came judge the merits of healthy ambition or lack thereof. In a similar way, I as a celibate priest, cannot determine the profound mystery of how to live a holy marriage. I can only give advice gleaned from books on the Sacrament, possibly my own married family members and the experience of knowing and caring for married couples.
I am not in the least surprised that so many good priests turn down the invitation to be a Bishop. There was a very long gap before our present Bishop was announced. Apparently our current Bishop was the third or fourth priest to be invited and had to have his arm twisted. My diocese had a reputation as a poisoned chalice for doctrinal chaos.
The inglorious double fiasco at Plymouth diocese in south-west England hardly encourages any good priests. After a long gap, a new Bishop was due to be anointed in Feb 2024. No doubt invitations were sent to many of the great and the good, Catholic and non-Catholic. A week before the Great Day, it was cancelled. The bishop-to-be was being investigated. He eventually was apparently cleared, but went back to his old parish in Clifton diocese.
Given the Internet, can any prospective Bishop be sure that his youthful (or not so youthful) follies are not going to surface years or decades later? Karla Sofia Gascon was such a brave groundbreaking transwoman.....until his/her old stuff blaspheming against Islam and St George of Floyd was tracked down.
John Richard Neuhaus who was the editor of First Things magazine at the time referred to the 2002 scandals as The Long Lent, which may be where that came from.
Me too, and I'm not sure I would recognize "Long Lent" on its own, although I would recognize with "of 2002". I think I remember some people also calling covid/spring 2020 as "Long Lent"
Couldn't this all be solved by establishing a mandatory retirement age (aka mandatory resignation submission age) for the Dean similar to those for Bishops?
Whenever the priests that my husband and I have a good relationship with say or do something annoying (like purposely introduce my husband with a fake name to a new priest), we tell him that we are praying he is made a bishop. In the aforementioned incident, we told him we would pray for him to be made a Cardinal. It is an effective way of telling a priest that we're annoyed with him.
I found this to be one of the most interesting episodes yet. A great discussion about a nonobvious issue that has a huge effect on the life of the Church. Well done.
When one is in the situation of being made a bishop, i.e., a priest, then one came judge the merits of healthy ambition or lack thereof. In a similar way, I as a celibate priest, cannot determine the profound mystery of how to live a holy marriage. I can only give advice gleaned from books on the Sacrament, possibly my own married family members and the experience of knowing and caring for married couples.
I am not in the least surprised that so many good priests turn down the invitation to be a Bishop. There was a very long gap before our present Bishop was announced. Apparently our current Bishop was the third or fourth priest to be invited and had to have his arm twisted. My diocese had a reputation as a poisoned chalice for doctrinal chaos.
The inglorious double fiasco at Plymouth diocese in south-west England hardly encourages any good priests. After a long gap, a new Bishop was due to be anointed in Feb 2024. No doubt invitations were sent to many of the great and the good, Catholic and non-Catholic. A week before the Great Day, it was cancelled. The bishop-to-be was being investigated. He eventually was apparently cleared, but went back to his old parish in Clifton diocese.
https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/plymouth-news/bishop-plymouth-chosen-pope-steps-9071836
Come Nov 2024, a new bishop-to-be was due to be anointed.....and that Great Day was also called off.
https://www.plymouth-diocese.org.uk/statement-from-bishop-elect-philip-moger-about-his-installation-on-saturday-9th-november/
Given the Internet, can any prospective Bishop be sure that his youthful (or not so youthful) follies are not going to surface years or decades later? Karla Sofia Gascon was such a brave groundbreaking transwoman.....until his/her old stuff blaspheming against Islam and St George of Floyd was tracked down.
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/jan/30/emilia-perez-karla-sofia-gascon-inflammatory-tweets
I hope I am never a "tall poppy" in the garden on any issue in life.
John Richard Neuhaus who was the editor of First Things magazine at the time referred to the 2002 scandals as The Long Lent, which may be where that came from.
What, no bonus episode?
I’m with Ed on calling/thinking about the scandal in 2002 as the Spotlight scandal; I hadn’t heard it called the “long Lent” before.
Me too, and I'm not sure I would recognize "Long Lent" on its own, although I would recognize with "of 2002". I think I remember some people also calling covid/spring 2020 as "Long Lent"
Long Lent was possibly coined by Fr. Neuhaus if I recall correctly. I always found it too cutesy.
I never thought of it as the standard name as J.D. did The (also) late Kathy Shaidle used to bleakly call it The Situation.
Same. I thought everyone called it that. Even a friend who is Methodist clergy refers to it as such.
Ah, I was hoping to find a few Dean mystery fan theories down here
Couldn't this all be solved by establishing a mandatory retirement age (aka mandatory resignation submission age) for the Dean similar to those for Bishops?
What if the extension is a precursor to allowing cardinals over 80 to vote again?
Whenever the priests that my husband and I have a good relationship with say or do something annoying (like purposely introduce my husband with a fake name to a new priest), we tell him that we are praying he is made a bishop. In the aforementioned incident, we told him we would pray for him to be made a Cardinal. It is an effective way of telling a priest that we're annoyed with him.
I found this to be one of the most interesting episodes yet. A great discussion about a nonobvious issue that has a huge effect on the life of the Church. Well done.
Can I just say, I got the mash potatoes reference immediately and I am under 30. Amazing reference given the context haha.