Bishop and editor

Press, 29 April 1981, Page 20

Bishop and editor

Sir,—Re the Bishop AshbyMr Kennedy article, the Bishop’s quoted speech "... I intend to open up my diocese to the Holy Spirit” is arrogant and presumptuous, implying that for centuries the Catholic Church was closed to the Holy Spirit, awaiting his arrival on Earth. Mr Kennedy has been blind to the real changes the x Bishops of that Church have f brought about. Father Donnelly

was right (Radio debate Kennedy/Donnelly) when he affirmed that the modern Church had changed its teaching on the moral law since he was in the seminary. Mr Kennedy only wakes up when a rugby ball is in front of him. Vatican II changed the Church and now the Bishops collectively defy the Pope while demanding obedience from the laity. Pope John Paul II knows Marxism. He has lived under it. When did the Bishops and HART protest about Afghanistan?—Yours, etc., V. H. ANDERSON. April 24, 1981. Sir,—in a recent General Election the editor of “Tablet” took it upon himself to advise all Catholics to vote Labour for the salvation of New Zealand. (At that time he also opposed sporting contacts with South Africa.) He lost subscribers who did not need to be told for whom they should vote. Mr Kennedy, apparently now trying to woo back support from the Right, has chosen (in opposition to the guidance of the Catholic Bishops of New Zealand and South Africa) to support the tour and condemn HART. Alas for Mr Kennedy, the Labour leader, Mr Rowling is reported (“The Press,” April 24) to have “expressed strong support for HART, the New Zealand anti-apartheid movement.” So perhaps Catholics and their clergy are not as “useless and generally naive” about politics as Mr Kennedy declares us to be. Yours, etc., The Rev. GEOFF GRAY. Whataroa, April 24, 1981.