(This article, written by a retired bishop of Latin America, and published in a 2013 issue of Concilium, is one of the best and most easily understood explanations of the problems around governance in the Church, and the struggle between the bishops on the one hand, and the curia/nunciatures on the other)
1. Introduction
This article is based on my pastoral experience as a bishop with responsibilities in the bishops’ conferences of my country.
The local supermarket is a good place to meet people. Almost every time I go there I find myself having a chat with someone in one of the aisles. Yesterday, as I stood in the queue for the express check-out with my few gluten free items, I heard a voice behind me:
“Have you heard anything from the Vatican recently?”
I looked around to see a woman who occasionally attends our church in the monastery, and with whom I have had many chats over the years.
The latest of my Reform Talks took place last evening (Wednesday) at the Stillorgan Park Hotel. On a very bad night about 130 people came, and from my point of view it was a very satisfying evening. After my talk there was, as usual, a very lively discussion.
A friend of mine, who is part of the reform movement in the US, recently asked me the following question: “What do people care about when you talk?
