VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI has fired an outspoken Australian bishop who had called on the church to consider ordaining women and married men.
The Vatican said in a statement Monday that the pope had “removed from pastoral care” Bishop William Morris of the Toowoomba diocese, west of Brisbane. That move was strong by the standards of the Vatican, which usually stops short of saying that it has ousted a church leader. More often, the Vatican asks wayward church leaders to resign and then announces the pope has accepted their resignations.
Australian media report that Morris recently published an open letter saying he was being removed for a 2006 message to the faithful in which he argued that a shortage of priests should prompt the church to consider ordaining women and married men.
Morris said the letter sparked complaints to Rome, which in turn led to a Vatican investigation.
The Associated Press
