Posted on 04/30/2005 8:21:18 PM PDT by BizzeeMom
On Valentine's Day, a dozen or so Belleville priests gathered to discuss what kind of bishop would best be suited to lead their diocese.
Belleville's former bishop, the Rev. Wilton Gregory, had been installed as the new archbishop of Atlanta just a month before.
The members of the Presbyterial Council had been asked by Cardinal Francis George of Chicago to assess three things: the qualities they would like in their next bishop, the current state of the Belleville diocese and the future needs of the diocese.
(Excerpt) Read more at stltoday.com ...
Can you believe this guy?
Bernardin legacy bump
He didn't like Louisiana and he let those cajuns know he didn't like having to "waste" his extensive theological education on people who regularly sucked the brains out of crawfish.
I'm happy for your relatives, I'd be kissin' the bus, too!
Some are furious that the input from the clergy members was ignored and that George may not have been consulted.
________________________________________________
In the days, weeks and months to come, I believe there will be more Bishops and Cardinals replaced by Rome without the consent of the Priests or laity.
I hope Braxton is one of them and that his tenure in Belleville is short.
I've had the impression Belleville is fairly conservative; don't understand who would go over Cardinal George's head to put Braxton in there.
From the article:
According to three priests who were at meetings with Braxton in March, the bishop-elect said he would like a priest to live in the residence with him for prayer and conversation.
"We don't have any priests to spare," said Stec. "Our priority needs to be to keep the parishes going."
What do you know about Braxton? I am in the North and never heard of him.
He was an auxiliary bishop here in St. Louis under Archbishop Rigali for a few years before he went to Louisiana.
My husband and I went to Mass at the Cathedral in St. Louis one weekend (quite a few years ago) and he was the celebrant. The homily centered around his close relationship with the late Cardinal Bernardin, and how the Cardinal had passed his legacy on to Braxton. As a sign of that legacy, the Cardinal gave Braxton his ring, shortly before he died.
Bishop Braxton kept a pretty low profile in St. Louis and then was shipped off to Louisiana where he seems to have been keeping that tradition. But now in Belleville he's stirring things up. Curioser and curioser.
Priests and laity have never been consulted. Only the kingmakers change. Rigali is now the kingmaker, and Braxton served under Rigali as an auxiliary.
It is not standard operating procedure, and this is a slap at Wilton Gregory, previous bishop of Belleville, who, apparently, lived rather modestly. Braxton is a bit of an aristocrat, who asked, at a shrimp peel in Lake Charles attended by my father-in-law, that someone please peel his shrimp as "he didn't do that sort of thing."
Braxton is being groomed for higher office, possibly a curial appointment or an archdiocese. You folks are merely a stepping-stone.
His idea of importing African priests has been tried by other bishops, with more or less success.
America is a culture shock to these men.
I may be wrong, but I don't believe priests and laity are consulted when a placement of a new bishop is made by Rome.
They're not. If Cardinal George does this, he is the exception.
I am not sure anymore since Vatican II. Before VII, I'm sure they were not consulted. This sounds like a NO practice. I placed that in my post because it was in the news article, if you read the whole article you would see it.
I was just trying to call attention to it too. These priests sound quite eccentric to me.
Braxton is being groomed for higher office, possibly a curial appointment or an archdiocese.
****
But but but.....he's the protege of a Call to Action guy. Why promote him?
"Is it standard operating procedure for new bishops to remodel their residences,..."
Can't speak to 'bishops' but have been in a few priest residences; the very best of whom appear to need nothing more than a fresh coat of paint - flat white - if even that.
If the bishop required some company there are a fair number of retired priests who no longer can serve in a pastoral capacity whom I suppose could accomodate this need. Seems like an odd request to me though.
I guess we will see in the near future. I think B-16 is getting his men in place. I also think that Cardinal George will be in Rome shortly.
Rigali likes him. And Rigali is even tighter with BXVI than he was with John Paul II.
Rigali seems to be an affirmative action kingmaker: he has promoted more Hispanics and blacks than Bernardin did, hands down. Most of these appointments are deserved, to be sure. I fully expect over half the bishops of Texas to be Hispanic in ten years.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.