Bill Morris (bishop)
|
The Most Reverend Bill Morris DD |
|
|---|---|
| 5th Roman Catholic Bishop | |
| Diocese | Diocese of Toowoomba |
| Installed | 20 November 1992 |
| Term ended | 2 May 2011 |
| Predecessor | Edward Francis Kelly, MSC |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 28 June 1969 (Priest) at St Stephen's Cathedral, Brisbane |
| Consecration | 10 February 1993 (Bishop) at St Patrick's Cathedral, Toowoomba |
| Personal details | |
| Birth name | William Martin Morris |
| Born |
8 October 1943 Brisbane, Queensland, Australia |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic Church |
| Parents | William Alexander and Sylvia Morris |
| Occupation | Roman Catholic bishop |
| Profession | Cleric |
| Alma mater |
St Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace in Brisbane; Pius XII Provincial Seminary, Banyo in Brisbane |
|
Styles of William Martin Morris |
|
|---|---|
.svg) |
|
| Reference style | The Most Reverend |
| Spoken style | relstyle=Bishop Emeritus |
William Martin "Bill" Morris (born 8 October 1943 in Brisbane) served as the bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Toowoomba in Australia from 1992 to 2011. In May 2011, the Holy See removed Morris from pastoral care of the diocese, attracting international press coverage.
Morris was educated at St Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace, in Brisbane before studying for the priesthood at Pius XII Provincial Seminary in Banyo. He was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Brisbane in 1969. His parish appointments included Sunnybank, Nambour, Mt Gravatt, Goodna and Surfers Paradise. During 1979 to 1984 he served as secretary to Archbishop Francis Rush in Brisbane and also as Diocesan Director of Vocations.
In 1992, Morris was appointed by Pope John Paul II to head the Toowoomba diocese. His consecration took place at St Patrick's Cathedral on 10 February 1993. He became known for his pastoral leadership and his work with diocesan cases of sexual abuse. In 2009 he dismissed the principal of a Toowoomba Catholic primary school and two Catholic Education officials for failing to report to the police an early complaint from a schoolgirl.
There were reports of liturgical unorthodoxy and controversy about his support of the Third Rite of Confession.
In 2006 Morris released a pastoral letter that discussed the declining number of priests in remote parishes like Toowoomba. The letter called for discussion of the ordination of married men and the ordination of women. To call for such a discussion could be interpreted as a challenge to the teaching of John Paul II's apostolic letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, which said that "the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women." The letter also suggested that the Catholic Church might consider recognising "Anglican, Lutheran, and Uniting Church orders".
In December 2006, Morris received a fax requesting that he come to Rome by February 2007 for meetings with three cardinals; Giovanni Battista Re, then head of the Vatican’s Congregation for Bishops, William Levada, then head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and Francis Arinze. Morris did not attend, citing "pastoral reasons", and offered to present himself in May.
...
Wikipedia