SCOTLAND
Independent Catholic News
The new Bishop of Paisley, Bishop John Keenan, has decided not to move into the detached sandstone villa used by his predecessors, and move instead to a church property in Greenock’s east end, Herald Scotland reports.
In his first wide-ranging interview since being installed last month, Bishop Keenan has told of his concern that those in destitution have been “abandoned by society and the church”, adding he would reflect “a church out on the street not one that’s comfortable in the chapel”.
Echoing Pope Francis, the 49-year-old said there were still structures within the church restricting its ability to reach out to those on the margins of society. Bishop Keenan said: “Exclusion is a scandal for a country that calls itself Christian.”
He has also spoken of the need to strip some power and responsibility in the church away from the clergy and hand it to lay members, adding he supported the Pontiff’s call for a “new reformation” within Catholicism.
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