Bishop courts papal displeasure

Dunedin Roman Catholic Bishop Colin Campbell could be in line for a "rap over the knuckles" from the Pope for strongly criticising a new translation of the official prayers, responses and music used in Catholic Masses, a Dunedin academic says.

Bishop Campbell's public criticism of changes endorsed by the head of the church, Pope Benedict XVI, was "unusual", University of Otago Associate Prof Greg Dawes, an authority in modern Roman Catholicism, said.

Bishops should be free to have an independent point of view, but that was not always the reality, he said.

Over the past 100 years, there had been moves to "reduce bishops to branch managers reporting to head office" and criticism was not always tolerated.

When clergy disagreed with Rome, they usually "ignored instructions" but kept quiet about it.

By choosing to go public, Bishop Campbell might get a rap over the knuckles, Prof Dawes said.

The Catholic church has just released a new English version of the Order of Mass which priests and congregations must use. It has been used in New Zealand since December.

In an article first published in the widely circulated Catholic magazine London Tablet in September, Bishop Campbell criticised some of the changes, saying he had "big question marks" about the changes and the process by which they had been introduced.

He said he particularly opposed the requirement to include the word "men" when reciting the Nicene Creed, a profession of faith dating back to 325AD.

The changes requires congregations to say Christ came down from heaven for "us men and for our salvation".

Bishop Campbell said he hoped most people would continue to pray "for us and our salvation", leaving out the word men.

"Let us be clear about this.

Christ died for all - not some, not many, but all. It is an embarrassment to our Catholic Church and its claim to inclusiveness. To persist with only saying 'men' in the creed is offensive and and disparaging to our womenfolk who make up the majority of our faith family."

There was a "blatant inconsistency" in using the word men, he said. In the original Latin, the word used was homines, which more correctly translated to "people" rather than "men".

In the article, Bishop Campbell said he based his views on an informal survey of parishioners in the Dunedin diocese.

Of the 180 replies, 17% had positive comments about the changes while 83% were negative.

The article was reprinted in this month's edition of Tui Motu, an independent Catholic magazine published in Dunedin, and in the latest edition of the New Zealand Catholic magazine.

Tui Motu editor Fr Kevin Toomey said he decided to reprint the article because he personally agreed with Bishop Campbell's views and felt they were worthy of a wider audience.

"What he has said reveals a genuine response from people, and their frustration. This is the issue of the day which needed a good airing and Colin has done that."

Fr Toomey said he did not believe the comments would get Bishop Campbell into trouble with the Pope. But he said it was unusual for bishops to publicly criticise changes a Pope had endorsed.

"It takes a little bit of guts to do that."

Bishop Campbell was attending a conference in the North Island yesterday and was unable to be contacted.

allison.rudd@odt.co.nz