Most Reverend David L. Ricken appointed as the 12th Bishop of the Diocese of Green Bay

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The issue with Bp. Morlino isn’t one loyalty to Rome or Church teachings. It isn’t one of following the GIRM and RS. It’s a matter of him coming into Madison with a kick butt and take names attitude. It wasn’t needed here. Overall Madison was not a bastion of liberal theology and unorthodox antics, although there were certainly pockets of it, and Bp. Bullock was doing his best to address this issues, especially in getting the University parish back under diocesesan control. Bullock wasn’t perfect, but things weren’t that bad.

The issue was a lack of trust in the people and priests in Madison. His “kick butt and take names” approach alienated a lot of his senior priests, priests who could have been exceptionally loyal to him and assist him in advancing his agenda. Furthermore, when (possibly lay) administrative positions were open, he filled them with his former staff in Montana instead of looking within the Diocese for good people, and we have them.

He completely bumbled the cathedral situation, and now the city is angry with him, as well as historical preservation groups. He has antagonized the pastors of several affluent parishes so much that their parishoners refuse to help finance the new cathedral.

Finally, in his attempt to glean (name removed by moderator)ut on how to go about raising funds to replace the cathedral, he agreed that the surveys would remain confidential, meaning only the fundraising company could see who said what, and he would only get percentages. Bp. Morlino demanded to see the actual surveys so he could ascertain which priests were loyal to him and which didn’t like him. When the fundraising company cited the confidentiality agreement and told him “no,” he fired them, and now he and the Diocese are under threat of lawsuit for breach of contract.

If only he had come in, surveyed the Diocese, and worked to be a uniter instead of being a buttkicker, he wouldn’t have caused the problems he has today. Good and orthodox priests have been antagonized, and they and their parishes are completely alienated.

Maybe the Holy Father could do everyone a favor and move him back to Helena, or down to St. Louis, or somewhere, because he’s made a mess here.
 
MusicMan said:
The issue with Bp. Morlino isn’t one loyalty to Rome or Church teachings. It isn’t one of following the GIRM and RS. It’s a matter of him coming into Madison with a kick butt and take names attitude. It wasn’t needed here. Overall Madison was not a bastion of liberal theology and unorthodox antics, although there were certainly pockets of it, and Bp. Bullock was doing his best to address this issues, especially in getting the University parish back under diocesesan control. Bullock wasn’t perfect, but things weren’t that bad.

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Well to give you and NewUlum the benefit of the doubt I went and Googled his name and read several articles about him and came to conclusion that he is heavy-handed and confrontational. I appreciate the way he is going about defending core Catholic teachings-I just think it should be a little less abrasive and the way he implements it. His demand that the survey company release the names of the Priest’s that complained about him is chilling
 
estesbob said:
Well to give you and NewUlum the benefit of the doubt I went and Googled his name and read several articles about him and came to conclusion that he is heavy-handed and confrontational. I appreciate the way he is going about defending core Catholic teachings-I just think it should be a little less abrasive and the way he implements it. His demand that the survey company release the names of the Priest’s that complained about him is chilling
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Bishop Morlino is certainly not tolerated in Madison, and the people and media are vocal of their dislike of him.
How are you better Catholics for all your criticism and dislike of (like it or not) your bishop?
I repeat - pray and fast for your shepherd and diocese. The Catholic Church is not run by consensus. If it were, Call to Action would be your leader.
And remember - prayer doesn’t always change the situation, but it ALWAYS changes the one who prays. And to quote a certain politician - “That’s CHANGE you can believe in.”
 
schatzi said:
Bishop Morlino is certainly not tolerated in Madison, and the people and media are vocal of their dislike of him.
How are you better Catholics for all your criticism and dislike of (like it or not) your bishop?
I repeat - pray and fast for your shepherd and diocese. The Catholic Church is not run by consensus. If it were, Call to Action would be your leader.
And remember - prayer doesn’t always change the situation, but it ALWAYS changes the one who prays. And to quote a certain politician - “That’s CHANGE you can believe in.”
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My Bishop is Bishop Chaput.
 
estesbob said:
My Bishop is Bishop Chaput.
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Um, estesbob - I quoted you only because a quick Google of Bishop Morlino seemed to form your opinion of him. Bishop Chaput would certainly not agree with you drawing such a conclusion by such methods, I’m sure.
My comment for prayer were for those whose foot fit the shoe, as it were.
But, ah, thanks for sharing.
 
Sorry, schatzi, but the people of the Diocese aren’t the problem. Bp. Morlino is. I don’t know what he was like in Helena, but I hope he was a lot better, and it sounds like he was. He brought this on himself, we had nothing to do with it. If he had come in and been a builder and a uniter, he would be fine. Instead he came to divide and conquer. Not very Christian, if you ask me.
 
MusicMan said:
Sorry, schatzi, but the people of the Diocese aren’t the problem. Bp. Morlino is. I don’t know what he was like in Helena, but I hope he was a lot better, and it sounds like he was. He brought this on himself, we had nothing to do with it. If he had come in and been a builder and a uniter, he would be fine. Instead he came to divide and conquer. Not very Christian, if you ask me.
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I stand by every comment I posted on this, as I’m sure you do as well.
Have a nice day.
 
MusicMan said:
Sorry, schatzi, but the people of the Diocese aren’t the problem. Bp. Morlino is. I don’t know what he was like in Helena, but I hope he was a lot better, and it sounds like he was. He brought this on himself, we had nothing to do with it. If he had come in and been a builder and a uniter, he would be fine. Instead he came to divide and conquer. Not very Christian, if you ask me.
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So if I am hearing tis corectly, the “Christian” people of the Diocese of Madison take no responsibility at all for the “problem” and that blame lies completly with Bp. Morlino. In my opinon if the people of Madison are such a high grade of Catholics, so as to think their own Bishop is at fault, why would they need uniting? it seems to me that the people of Madison are used to getting what they want, and when someone comes along and changes the way things ae done, the people are unwilling to deal with it.
Not very Christian i you ask me.
 
Lord_Adib_Khan said:
So if I am hearing tis corectly, the “Christian” people of the Diocese of Madison take no responsibility at all for the “problem” and that blame lies completly with Bp. Morlino. In my opinon if the people of Madison are such a high grade of Catholics, so as to think their own Bishop is at fault, why would they need uniting? it seems to me that the people of Madison are used to getting what they want, and when someone comes along and changes the way things ae done, the people are unwilling to deal with it.
Not very Christian i you ask me.
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There are ways to create change and there are ways to create change. The best way is to work within the exiting system, treat people with respect and gradually move it in one direction. Morlino’s approach like has been mentioned before is a divide and conquer one, a his way or the highway. The office of Bishop brings many responsibilities, one is to have respect for those you lead. Morlino’s actions towards others who are not in his inner circle show a high level of disrespect towards others. When you micromanage in almost anything as Morlino is doing you have problems. His approach is a sign of a weak leader as he is not willing listen to others, just have others listen to him.
 
NewUlm1976_2000 said:
There are ways to create change and there are ways to create change. The best way is to work within the exiting system, treat people with respect and gradually move it in one direction. Morlino’s approach like has been mentioned before is a divide and conquer one, a his way or the highway. The office of Bishop brings many responsibilities, one is to have respect for those you lead. Morlino’s actions towards others who are not in his inner circle show a high level of disrespect towards others. When you micromanage in almost anything as Morlino is doing you have problems. His approach is a sign of a weak leader as he is not willing listen to others, just have others listen to him.
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You are right in the fact that with the office of Bishop comes respect of those you lead but as a Catholic comes the responsibility of respectining those in authorty as well. Regardless of Bp. Morlino’s methods, the direction he is taking the diocese is the right direction, and You should support him 100% not becuase yu respect him, but because you respect the OFFICE. Another thing to consider is the reason for his so-called ‘micromanaging’ if no one will suppot him in his mission for the diocese what choice does he have but to do it himself?
 
Lord_Adib_Khan said:
You are right in the fact that with the office of Bishop comes respect of hose you lead but as a Catholic comes the responsibility of respectioing those in authorty as well. Regardless of Bp. Morlino’s methods, the direction he is taking the diocese is the right direction, and You should support him 100% not becuase yu respect him, but because you respect the OFFICE. Another thing to consider is the reason for his so-called ‘micromanaging’ f no one will suppot him in his mission for the diocese what choice does he ave but to do it himself?
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Is it the right direction? All bishops need some level of respect due to the office they hold. Yet the Bishop needs to remember that he is only one part of the Diocese. A good leader delegates, listens, and is open to self-criticism. This means that the direction any diocese should take is a combination of the bishop and the rest of the diocese (priests, laypeople, etc…). All dioceses have their local differences, so it is never a one-size fits all approach. A bishop like Morlino needs to understand the localities and use them as a strength when deciding the direction of the diocese (actually all bishops should use this).
 
Oh, and let me once more give a shout out to Green Bay for the blessing of their new bishop.
Learn from this thread, kids!
 
NewUlm1976_2000 said:
Is it the right direction? All bishops need some level of respect due to the office they hold. Yet the Bishop needs to remember that he is only one part of the Diocese. A good leader delegates, listens, and is open to self-criticism. This means that the direction any diocese should take is a combination of the bishop and the rest of the diocese (priests, laypeople, etc…). All dioceses have their local differences, so it is never a one-size fits all approach. A bishop like Morlino needs to understand the localities and use them as a strength when deciding the direction of the diocese (actually all bishops should use this).
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Certinly he must understand the localites of Madison, and how better for the people of Madison to help him understand this by giving him resistance at every turn?
 
He wasn’t resisted at every turn. He was warmly welcomed by all, including the priests who were in Bp. Bullock’s inner circle, which wasn’t necessarily a wise thing for Bp. Bullock to have had either. Yet, we welcomed him with open arms. The senior priests of the Dioceses hosted him for dinners. Parishes invited him to preach.

Rather than work with them and try to make the existing framework work, he started bringing in folks from Montana. He started antagonizing priests and the faithful. He started trying to move pastors without respect to Diocesesan regulations and Canon Law. Then he issued this personal and confidential letter to his priests threatening them all unilaterally. Would it not have been better to address the dissent with the dissenters personally? No, he chose to antagonize everyone.

After that, he bumbled the Cathedral issue, and then completely screwed up with the Phoenix Fundraising survey.

Maybe accusing him of not being a good Christian was too far, but I have no qualms with accusing him of poor leadership during his episcopate here.

Like Col. Potter said to Hawkeye, “You had good people under you. Why didn’t you let them do their jobs?”

I also have no doubts that Bp. Morlino was excellent in Helena. Different place, different approach, different needs. The bottom line is that his approach in Madison failed, and we’re worse off because of it. Sometimes, in leadership, this happens. Like I said, the Holy Father should move him, let him have a fresh start. And let us heal and move on.
 
MusicMan said:
He wasn’t resisted at every turn. He was warmly welcomed by all, including the priests who were in Bp. Bullock’s inner circle, which wasn’t necessarily a wise thing for Bp. Bullock to have had either. Yet, we welcomed him with open arms. The senior priests of the Dioceses hosted him for dinners. Parishes invited him to preach.

Rather than work with them and try to make the existing framework work, he started bringing in folks from Montana. He started antagonizing priests and the faithful. He started trying to move pastors without respect to Diocesesan regulations and Canon Law. Then he issued this personal and confidential letter to his priests threatening them all unilaterally. Would it not have been better to address the dissent with the dissenters personally? No, he chose to antagonize everyone.

After that, he bumbled the Cathedral issue, and then completely screwed up with the Phoenix Fundraising survey.

Maybe accusing him of not being a good Christian was too far, but I have no qualms with accusing him of poor leadership during his episcopate here.

Like Col. Potter said to Hawkeye, “You had good people under you. Why didn’t you let them do their jobs?”

I also have no doubts that Bp. Morlino was excellent in Helena. Different place, different approach, different needs. The bottom line is that his approach in Madison failed, and we’re worse off because of it. Sometimes, in leadership, this happens. Like I said, the Holy Father should move him, let him have a fresh start. And let us heal and move on.
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Well thank you for your opinion, Im sure the Holy Father will take this into consideration. As for the ‘failure’ in madison, A wise man once told me “It takes two to fight” and in this regard the blame should rest equally between the leader and the followers. Morlino is still a mortal man, and capeable of mistakes like us all. But I still hold firm to the fact that had Morlino’s people supported him despite all of the “antagonizing” things would have gone much better. As to the diocesn policy, remind me who exactly is the one who sets diocesn policy, I was under the impression that it was the Bishop…

In closing consider this quote from Isaiah, keeping in mind the vows all priests take upon ordinatioin. " If you are willing and obedient, You shall eat the good of the land." Isaiah 1:19
 
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