Bishop Kieran Conry of Arundel and Brighton (UK) makes some revealing statements to the press. Surprise, surprise: he's a dissident. Humanae Vitae? Just someone's opinion. Regular confession? Bad idea. The extraordinary form of the Mass? "Over the top." Talking to young people about salvation? Hopeless — they'd rather hear about saving the planet.
And a revealing turn of phrase: "it comes down to your view of Church." There's usually trouble afoot when you hear someone omit the definite article between those last two words. And this statement, he seems to expect, will disarm any opponents: "Do you accept the reforms of the Vatican Council or not?"
Which, translated from the British, means: "Do you accept the distorted, self-serving version of the reforms of the Vatican Council that I and a generation of bishops have foisted on the faithful?"
Question for the Vatican: Do you guys ever ask the men put forward as candidates for the episcopacy whether they actually believe and will teach and will enforce what the Church teaches???
In 1867, Matthew Arnold wrote "Dover Beach", a haunting poem evoking the "melancholy, long, withdrawing roar" of the Sea of Faith. As a boomer who finished Catholic elementary school in 1964 and then watched my Church falter, I've found the roar all too audible. So here I wait, listening for the whispers of that Sea's invincible return.
