THE CATHOLIC CHURCH:
Australia has its best chance of supplying the next Pope when the reign of incumbent Pope Francis ends following the publication of a treatise on where the Catholic Church is going wrong under his leadership.
The dissertation (far right and below right) penned by Bishop Gregory Sheridan (main picture) was published in today’s edition of The Australian, the daily sister paper of weekly newspapers produced by Catholic archdioceses and dioceses across the nation.
In it Bishop Sheridan argues that Pope Francis is “too liberal” and has failed to promote cardinals willing to put in the effort to convert young people to the church.
A long-time Vatican observer said Bishop Sheridan’s commentary clearly marked him as “a man to keep an eye on within the Catholic Church”.
“And this time, he’s a man of the church to watch for the right reasons,” one said.
“It was once thought that the late George Pell would be the first Australian pope.
“His death certainly altered the odds of that happening, although some hardliners within the church still hold dear to the idea that a posthumous papal coronation is not out of the question when Pope Francis passes on.
“When Cardinal Pell died attention Down Under turned to Bishop Paul Kelly, who also publishes his views in The Australian Catholic, to use the paper’s full title.
“But Bishop Sheridan has now entered the fray and it’s going to be hard for Pope Francis to resist elevating him at some stage to the rank of cardinal, putting him squarely in the running to be the next pope when the time comes.”
The Vatican observer said it also would be hard for the College of Cardinals who elect the pope to resist Bishop Sheridan’s logic that more effort was needed to attract young people to a church that refuses to give women equal rights in its hierarchy, frowns on gay people, bans contraception, refuses to allow women to make decisions on their own reproductive rights, bans IVF for those struggling to have children, and opposes voluntary assisted dying for those seeking to avoid an agonising death from terminal conditions.
“Like Bishop Sheridan, I don’t know why more young people aren’t flocking to our church,” the observer said.
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