Bishops not "divinely" established? Horrors! If that was true, the pope would be...just a sad, deluded closet case in red shoes and an outlandish hat. Can't have that. But why is Father Flannery being attacked now? What could be the cause of this onslaught?Instead, he wrote, “It is more likely that some time after Jesus, a select and privileged group within the community who had abrogated power and authority to themselves, interpreted the occasion of the Last Supper in a manner that suited their own agenda.”Father Flannery said the Vatican wanted him specifically to recant the statement, and affirm that Christ instituted the church with a permanent hierarchical structure and that bishops are divinely established successors to the apostles.
He believes the church’s treatment of him, which he described as a “Spanish Inquisition-style campaign,” is symptomatic of a definite conservative shift under Pope Benedict XVI.“I have been writing thought-provoking articles and books for decades without hindrance,” he said. “This campaign is being orchestrated by a secretive body that refuses to meet me. Surely I should at least be allowed to explain my views to my accusers.”
Surprise,
surprise. The evil pope is the troll behind the curtain. The attack on
Father Flannery is one with the pope's relentless effort to lash out at
gays, nuns, women in general, and any priest who doesn't think the pope
is god's infallible representative on Earth. It's all a turf war pushed
by this dreadful, closet-case pope.
But
I thank the pope for all he does. The man is bringing about the end of
the Roman Catholic church, possibly within my lifetime. Go, popey guy! (Also too, go Father Flannery!)