Free Republic

The Importance of the Hierarchy in the ChurchIn a diocese neighboring the one in which I live there was a recent controversy when the archbishop insisted that one parish regularize its canonical status by submitting to him authority over its finances, authority previously held by a lay board. The parish refused, and ultimately the archbishop removed its priest. What was most interesting and disturbing about the situation was not the problem with the status of the parish in itself, but the fact that many Catholics in the area sincerely could not understand why this "detail" mattered, and why the archbishop...

New status for Cardinal Arinze Vatican, Apr. 25 (CWNews.com) - Pope Benedict XVI has raised Cardinal Francis Arinze (bio - news) to the rank of cardinal-bishop, making him one of the ranking members of the College of Cardinals. The cardinal-bishops hold the top ceremonial status within the College of Cardinals. There are normally six cardinal-bishops, and since Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (bio - news) had held that rank, his election to the papacy had created an opening, which is now filled by Cardinal Arinze. Cardinal Francis Arinze, the 72-year-old prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, had previously served as Archbishop...