Letters

Rockhampton (letter)

Franklin J. Wood

Contents - Feb 2000 - Buy a copy now Editorial: Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference - Michael Gilchrist Legionaries of Christ: new order for a new millennium - Peter Westmore News: The Church Around the World The comunità: a new form of monastic life for Australia - Peter Westmore Defending the faith against secularism and relativism - Bishop Kevin Manning Sydney’s Centre for Thomistic Studies upholds Catholic truth - John Young Lay teachers: backbone of the Catholic system - Tom Kendell Tom Monaghan: the tycoon who sold his assets to serve the Church - Patrick Ward Books: 'Rome Reshaped: Jubilees 1300-2000' by Desmond O’Grady - Michael Daniel (reviewer) Books: ‘Darkness Visible: A Christian Appraisal of Freemasonry’ by Walton Hannah - Michael Daniel (reviewer) Books: ‘Hidden Way: The Life and Influence of Almire Pichon’ by Mary Frances Coady - Mary O'Neill (reviewer) Books: ‘Invisible Crown: A Story of Dorothy von Flue’ by Michael McGrade - Michael Davies (reviewer) Books: 'A Victorian Convert Quintet' by Michael Clifton - Michael Daniel (reviewer) Letters: Catholic survey (letter) - Joe Lopez Letters: Holy buck-passing (letter) - Arthur Negus Letters: Enneagram (letter) - Fr Reg Smith Letters: Missing ‘glue’ (letter) - Joseph Taylor Letters: The Jesuits (letter) - Felix Moore Letters: Rockhampton (letter) - Franklin J. Wood Letters: Conflicting views (letter) - Joseph Said Letters: Abortion (letter) - Patrick V. Healy Letters: God’s love (letter) - Louise Howell (Dr) Letters: Persecution (letter) - George F. Simpson Letters: New women’s magazine Canticle (letter) - Genevieve S. Kineke Reflection: Private revelations: "Keep to what is countenanced by the Church" - Fr Peter Joseph

Bishop Brian Heenan of Rockhampton has issued a report on the future staffing of parishes in his diocese, Building Our Future Together. In the report, parish churches are called "Mass Centres."

I have recently learned that what is actually happening is that there is a grand total of three priests serving the rural regions of the diocese. Lay people in those areas are encouraged to attend lay-led liturgies, lay-led funeral services, etc. The Bishop apparently believes that the best way to celebrate the Year of Jubilee is to starve the diocese of priests and to spurn any suggestion of foreign priests.

In the early years of this diocese, all the priests were foreign. But that fact raises the taboo subject, history - even if it is politically correct to teach high school students Aboriginal history and about the excessive power of the Catholic Church in medieval Europe.

At the same time, 50 percent of Catholic primary school children in the Rockhampton Diocese attend State schools. A few State school principals are ignoring the bishop's above ideas and enforcing the government regulation, which states that the clergy must be involved in RE in State schools. Catholics in the rural parts of the Rockhampton Diocese are wondering: what clergy?

FRANKLIN J. WOOD
North Rockhampton, Qld

Reprinted from AD2000 Vol 13 No 1 (February 2000), p. 18