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At least four Australian bishops have banned or restricted sales of a book by Emeritus Bishop William Morris, which details how he was sacked by Pope Benedict.
Bishop Morris’s book “Benedict, Me and the Cardinals Three”, published by ATF Press, is banned from sale in Catholic bookshops in Toowoomba and Brisbane.
It is only available on request in Sydney’s and Adelaide’s Catholic bookshops. It will not appear on bookshelves at these outlets.
Bishop Morris was asked by Pope Benedict to resign in 2009, but negotiated early retirement in 2011.
The book, which was to have been launched on June 17 in Toowoomba, has appendices of the correspondence between Bishop Morris and the Pope.
Bishop Morris could not attend the Toowoomba launch because of illness, but this has been rescheduled and five further launches are planned in Australia.
The day after the launch, the ATF Press’s Hilary Regan delivered copies that the Toowoomba Catholic bookshop had ordered.
But an hour later he was told by a diocesan official that Toowoomba’s Bishop Robert McGuckin did not wish the book to be sold there.
So it will now be sold from another outlet in Toowoomba.
Two weeks ago, Adelaide’s Archbishop Philip Wilson wrote to parishes in his archdiocese stating that publicity about a local launch did not have his permission or authority.
Adelaide’s Catholic bookshop will stock the book, but will not display it on bookshelves.
In the book, Bishop Wilson slams a lack of transparency in how Vatican officials dealt with him.
He said he was not allowed to see the accusations levelled against him.
Bishop Morris explains that a conservative pressure group in his diocese had a disproportionate influence in the Vatican, based on selective information, which fatally compromised his role as bishop.
He said three influential cardinals, Francis Arinze, Giovanni Battista Re and William Levada, believed things about him that were not true.
Bishop Morris said he fell foul of a culture of centralised power in the Vatican and was seen as a troublemaker.
Another recently launched ATF Press publication, “Potiphar’s Wife: The Vatican’s Secret and Child Sexual Abuse”, is also not on bookshelves in the Sydney Catholic bookshop, but is available if requested.
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