Catholic Bishops of England and Wales announced yesterday that Pope Francis
had appointed Msgr James Curry, Parish Priest at Our Lady of Victories,
Kensington, a salubrious parish in West London, as Auxiliary Bishop of
Westminster Archdiocese and Titular Bishop of Ramsbiria (Ramsbiriensis).
This news will come to no surprise to anyone paying attention to Church politics in
the United Kingdom. Msgr Jim, as he is known, has been long considered a
favoured member of the “Magic Circle”, a self-selecting small pool of like-minded
“insiders” who come through lines of patronage that can be traced back to one
man. Archbishop Derek Worlock, the progressive former Archbishop of Liverpool
and mentor to the current Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols.
What is perhaps more of a shock is that it has taken so long to arrange his
// we are left wondering //
When the public face of the institutional Church is a bureaucratic mask, the laity must learn for themselves what the mask hides. 'Twas ever thus, I imagine.
One of the reasons I have become a subscriber is because the laity need to stand up and demand more from our priests. I’m in one of the Dioceses mentioned and I am starting to ask for more and will continue to do so. It’s up to us folks.
I'm a male Catholic revert in my 30's and I agree that the Church in England and Wales has shifted focus away from encouraging lapsed Catholics back. The reputational damage from sexual abuse is immense and with the gradual de-Christianisation of the west, the Church is relying on immigrant communities and limited reversions for it's survival. A Church without an active laity is not incentivised to address it's issues, except to avoid further scandal.
Wider demographic changes also will change how the Church operates. Future Pope's will be elected from emerging economies and will challenge Catholic European orthodoxy. I suspect this lead certain groups to become more independent within the church as to protect practices and lifestyles that will be…
Thanks for this summary Mark. It resonates with observations of my own. Hope I am wrong, but sad to say, the 'managed decline' model' seems to be in operation in my own diocese and parish too 😔 St John Henry Newman, please pray for us.